Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for Law Firm Marketing

Last week I had the privilege of addressing the Associaton of Legal Administrators (ALA) West Palm Beach Chapter on the topic, "Courting Your Clients: The Administrator's Perspective." One of the questions that came up was about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software services that are suitable for law firm use. Here is list of some of the leading CRM providers.

Act! by Sage, Premium 2008
http://www.act.com/

Contact Ease
http://www.colevalley.com/

Goldmine
http://www.goldmine.com/

InterAction® Lexis-Nexis
www.interaction.com

Microsoft Dynamics
www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm/product

SalesForce
www.salesforce.com

Tracking your leads is a critical element in successful law firm marketing. You will want to record how you found your prospect, the date they became a prospect for your legal services, and future dates for follow up action.

Turning a prospect into a client for your law firm is essential to your practice expansion. Don't leave this important process to chance!

NEW: In response to a question posed by a reader, the choice of a software package depends on the number of users, offices, and your budget. Goldmine and Act! are widely used within small to medium businesses. They can be purchased at Office Depot or Staples starting at a price of about $200.

Other applications are typically priced by the "seat" or number of users, and typically involve installation of software and possibly hardware. Interaction is used by very large law firms. SalesForce.com is different in that it is Internet-based, so there is no software or hardware required. You should speak with each vendor directly to determine which service is right for you. Contact us if you need help in the evaluation process.