When you want to win new business for your firm – relationships matter! In a recent conversation, a highly successful attorney mentioned that the business development opportunities that work best for him are predicated on relationships. This attorney finds that people who know and trust him tend to give him business. Every professional should seriously consider how he or she would apply relationship intelligence to replace a key client – because one day they may take their business to another firm.
Since part of your role as a partner and attorney is to find your next work, relationship insights or relationship intelligence is critical to the future success of the firm. That’s why you need to understand the benefits of using a client relationship management system that delivers relationship insights.
What’s Different in Law and Professional Services Firms?
Client relationship management (CRM) or law firms and professional services organizations firms is very different from the generic corporate CRM model. This is because the business models of most firms differ widely from their corporate brethren. For example, firms do not sell discreet, manufactured goods or simple services – they market the skill, expertise and judgment of their professionals. In addition to the differences in what firms sell, there are also significant differences between professional services firms and their corporate brethren in terms of:
- Who does the selling
- How firms sell and,
- Where and when firms sell.
This is why law and professional services firms need a solution that is designed to deliver the client information and insights a firm needs to help the firm nurture and maintain existing client relationships and develop new relationships – this is called Relationship Intelligence.
Client information your firm needs – delivered with ease
Relationship intelligence results when a firm can aggregate and easily access the firm’s collective knowledge about people, companies and relationships – as well as their experience and expertise. Smaller firms can deliver some level of relationship intelligence by sharing relationship knowledge during informal hallway or office conversations.
However, as a firm grows and expands geographically, a high level of human interaction across the firm is difficult to maintain – necessitating technology that delivers relationship intelligence firm wide.
What are the Benefits of Relationship Intelligence?
How can a firm utilize relationship intelligence to grow their business? Our new whitepaper, “Understanding Relationship Intelligence and its Benefits,” provides eight tangible examples of benefits law and professional services firms can enjoy once they can harness the firm’s collective relationship knowledge to deliver relationship intelligence with InterAction.
By delivering relationship intelligence with InterAction, the benefits firms can take advantage of include:
- Limiting Client Defections through Client Management
- Increasing Cross Sell and Upsell Revenues
- Leveraging Relationships to Win New Business
- Eliminating Missed Relationship Opportunities
- Avoiding Embarrassing Losses from errors that can alienate clients or prospects
- Reducing Relationship Losses Associated with Employee Turnover
- Eliminating Inefficiencies Caused by Bad Data
- Working the Way Your Firm Works.
Is your law or professional services firm is struggling harness the power of relationships to grow your business? If so, you will enjoy “Understanding Relationship Intelligence and its Benefits,” as it explains each of these benefits in detail and provides many thought-provoking examples of how relationship intelligence provides benefits to firms today.
Can your firm afford to limit your relationship intelligence?