Lessons Law Firms Can Learn from Fortune 500 Companies
Every law firm is a business in disguise. The best attorneys are willing to learn from their peers in the business community. In particular, those who work at Fortune 500 companies have plenty to teach attorneys. Here is a look at what legal professionals can learn from the country’s top companies.
Focus on Data
The smartest business professionals wait until they can analyze all of the available data before making a decision. Do not steer your law firm in any direction until you have done the same. You should be able to pull together information and analyze your law firm’s business metrics without impediment or delay. If you cannot obtain or analyze data in a reasonable amount of time, it is time to find a new data processing/retrieval solution.
Online Marketing Might be the Missing Piece to the Puzzle
The country’s leading businesses understand the value of marketing. Though your firm does not sell any products, you can still benefit from an inbound online marketing push. Everything from social media marketing to blogging, banner ads and search engine optimization (SEO) will help steer traffic toward your website. These virtual visitors have a good chance of converting as they have already demonstrated an interest in your services.
A Focus on Cybersecurity
A data breach has the potential to permanently shut your doors. The last thing you should have to do is attempt to explain data theft to clients. The best companies are willing to spend for top-notch cybersecurity protection. This is not to say every attorney should become a computer geek. Rather, it is better to be proactive instead of reactive to safeguard data. If you shift your data to the cloud, be sure to vet the vendor ahead of time to determine if they have a reliable disaster recovery plan. Find out where the physical servers are positioned. Do not commit until you have a sense of the group’s redundancy plans.
Customer Relationship Management
Fortune 500 companies use content relationship management tools, commonly referred to as CRM tools, to assist organizations manage clients and prospects. These platforms make it easy to track referral sources, keep the prospect pipeline primed and predict quarterly revenue with accuracy. In fact, some CRMs have been specifically designed for law firms.
Flexible and Accessible
The nation’s leading companies are willing to spend for worldwide access to software and systems. Unfortunately, most law firms have been slow to implement remote access. This is where the cloud comes in handy. Make the move to the cloud and your legal team can access important data while on-the-run. This way, your entire team can access all relevant documents, email, contacts and other essential data from any point on the globe with web access.
