1. Assess the features you need in a law firm CRM
If you don’t have CRM software or the one you have doesn’t meet your needs, then ask yourself what features your firm would benefit from. Go back to that Marketing Plan and determine what you want to do. If you don’t know what features will accomplish that, yet, take a look at the Features list below. It should give you a good idea of what is out there.
2. Determine its customizability
Once you find software that has the features you’re looking for, determine if you can customize those features to fit your needs? How difficult is it to make the law firm CRM fit your needs? Or, alternatively, does it come ready-to-use (or almost ready-to-use) right out of the box?
3. Find out how easy it is to learn and work with
This matters in all kinds of ways. First, you’ll need to learn it yourself so you can get comfortable with it as a solution for your firm. And if you anticipate needing to train other people on the software, make sure you and your colleagues will have plenty of resources available. Comprehensive documentation should help you learn how to use your fancy new tool without too much issue. And if it is tricky to learn (and, probably, even if it isn’t), a good law firm CRM should offer free training.
4. Evaluate how well it will integrate with your current software
Does it integrate with your LPMS? What about your email, or your calendar? Processes can get really cumbersome if your new law firm CRM exists on a digital island. That means more things for you to download, transfer, and pay attention to. Integration with Office 365, or G Suite is often extremely helpful, if not a necessity.
5. Try before you buy
After you’ve narrowed down your choices, give them a test run. Most have a free trial. When putting new law firm CRM software through its paces, see if it works by importing just a few contacts, rather than your entire client list. See if you like the interface and the experience with 30 clients first before you try it with 3000.
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