What’s your firm’s process for dealing with a potential new client? While large law firms may have sophisticated systems of vetting potential new clients that include detailed conflict of interest searches and approval committees, Edie Zimmerman of Legal Software Solutions, suggests your consider automating your screening process.
“Some practice management databases allow the ability to create endless custom fields to capture the exact answers to the exact questions deemed important by your firm.”
With the right software, Zimmerman says, a firm can:
• Analyze where cold calls are coming from,
• Track referrals,
• Qualify potential clients, and
• Create a workflow that will trigger a chain of events. For example, your screening process could be designed so that once a screening form is completed, it is sent via instant message to the appropriate lawyer who can then immediately accept or reject the potential new client. What happens next (e.g., running a conflict of interest search or sending a turndown letter) would be based on the lawyer’s response.
“Having the ability to start a chain of events based on how information is answered would be quite useful,” says Zimmerman. “A firm should not have to mold to the software, but vice versa.”
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