Peer to Peer Magazine

14 Integration of data about clients is also valuable when it comes to winning new business or expanding the relationship with an existing client. Knowing that a colleague has prior connections with a prospect allows law firms to leverage that relationship and get their foot in the door. Leveraging the success that your firm's IP practice in Dallas has had may persuade general counsel that she should let your New York office handle their employment litigation business. When a firm's scattered data coalesces into actionable relationship intelligence, when the firm has the ability to keep track of every stage a client is in, those relationships are inevitably enriched. However, in order for client data to be truly actionable, it must first be accessible, and that's where the leveraging the right cloud technolo comes into play. The Right Technolo Enables a Data-Driven Approach While all this client data is key to learning more about how to nurture current client relationships and grow new ones, large volumes of disparate data can be difficult to wrangle. An overwhelming amount of data that is difficult to access, organize and manage can obscure important performance indicators, promote inefficiencies and create "blind spots" within your organization. Without a clear way to harness data and convert it to actionable insights, firms will experience poor prioritization of objectives, less effective action, and missed opportunities. Increasingly, firms are turning to more scalable and flexible cloud technolo to help manage this complexity. However, security remains a concern – especially with a CRM solution that holds sensitive client data. In fact, in the previously mentioned InterAction survey, over half of firms said clients are asking about their technolo and security in RFPs. Here is where the flexibility and efficiency of a hybrid cloud model allows firms to have more control over their data. In a hybrid cloud environment: Firms can store data where they prefer—on their own premises, in a 1 natural workflow, essentially eliminating end-user adoption challenges and allowing them to capture, update, and reference the information where they already work. Easy, intuitive access to a law firm's client and prospect data can form a more complete relationship picture. For instance, when CRM data is embedded in Microsoft Office, client insights are surfaced exactly when and where they are needed. Firms can access client information anywhere at any time, have better insight into where clients are in the phases of their relationships with various partners, and provide new ways for professionals to nurture and optimize those relationships. Firms can also use this important data to keep track of and manage the relationships and interactions a client has within the firm over time, across multiple offices and practice areas, and with current and former employees — whether they are at their desk, at home or on their way to a client meeting. By capturing and analyzing this information and making it readily available to everyone across the firm, attorneys, marketers and decision-makers can get a more holistic view of the client's relationship with the firm, speak more intelligently about it, streamline processes, and provide better client service — even if it's not within the person's area of expertise or practice. Clients appreciate that their law firm is in lock-step with their own business objectives and operates as a cohesive unit. When the right hand knows what the left hand is doing at all times, it's better for everyone. Think of how powerful it is to know, as you go into a meeting with a client, that your colleagues in a different practice have already met with the same client days before on another matter, or that a colleague in another office is having similar but separate discussions about a specific legal matter. Having these insights can be invaluable. They demonstrate to clients that you are focused and well-informed about their business issues, and that your firm has an integrated, client-focused approach to relationships across divisions and locations. private cloud, in an external cloud or a combination of both. Firms have the ability to move that data when and where they want to, knowing it will remain secure. Managing and updating applications require much less hands-on effort on the part of IT staff at the firm. So far, smaller law firms appear to be adopting cloud technologies at a faster rate due to the lack of significant in-house IT resources. However, with a hybrid cloud model, firms of all sizes can benefit from the reduced IT burden of cloud-based applications with the full data control their clients are demanding. Based on recent trends, we can expect more firms will adopt these solutions because they allow them to take advantage of the latest solutions that help them be more effective at developing business. Enabling the Business of Law Technologies such as a CRM system help law firms build strategic business development departments and create strong sales initiatives by giving them greater insight into client needs and wants. However, it is crucial that firms move beyond traditional CRM systems to an integrated client data platform with insights embedded across the firm: • Embedded CRM data delivers a global snapshot of all firm interactions that are taking place with individual clients, enabling the firm to spot opportunities and potential risks, and effectively manage the relationship. • Integration of client data across applications takes the guesswork out of managing clients effectively by providing instant and automatic visibility into critical client insights where users are already working. • Sophisticated relationship intelligence features allow firms to better manage 2 3

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