Most law firms know that marketing is a critical component of success, but keeping clients moving through the sales funnel can be challenging for busy attorneys who are already stretched thin with billable work. 

Using marketing automation with a client relationship management (CRM) software is an excellent strategy for keeping prospective clients from slipping through the cracks or turning to competitors when they’re waiting to hear from you. 

Here are a few ways that marketing automation keeps your leads engaged in your sales funnel and does the legwork involved in turning them into active clients without adding extra tasks to your to-do list. 

Automated email and text marketing 

Trying to locate and communicate with prospective clients to bring them on board can eat into your billable hours and leave you feeling like you don’t have enough time to focus on everything that requires your attention.  

By using a legal CRM’s automated text message and email marketing, you can create customized messages that get the ball rolling with clients. This moves them swiftly through your sales funnel and reduces the likelihood that they’ll move on to one of your competitors. 

Automated marketing isn’t just a solution for communicating with prospective clients, it’s also an smart way to communicate with your current clients. You can use automated marketing to send reminders for appointments, engage with content marketing, and request reviews from clients once you’ve completed their matter. 

Streamlined intake 

The client intake process is time-consuming and can often lead to hours spent working with a potential lead, only to discover that they aren’t a good fit for your firm.  

The right legal CRM solution can streamline your intake process by allowing you to create custom intake forms that are tailored to the unique needs of your law firm. 

When you use automation to create custom intake forms, you can create qualifying and disqualifying questions that either move leads forward to continue the intake process or send them an automated email thanking them for their time and informing them that your firm isn’t a good fit.  

Custom intake forms take time-consuming work off your plate so you can focus on more high-value work. Moreover, these forms provide the added benefit of making the process easy to navigate for prospective clients. 

Text and video messages 

While traditional methods like email marketing may be useful, they’re not a stand-alone marketing solution. Your firm needs tools that will make communication with clients easier and help foster client relationships.  

A great legal CRM will provide you with text and video messaging options that will help to build relationships no matter where a prospective client is in your sales funnel. These personalized messages will take your marketing much further than an ordinary email can because they are more likely to be opened and viewed. 

Automatic follow-ups 

Many people who are looking for an attorney aren’t going to spend days or weeks deciding on legal representation—they need help now, and if your firm doesn’t respond quickly to an inquiry, it’s likely your lead will start looking elsewhere (if they haven’t already).  

Marketing automation can help you lock in new leads by allowing you to create custom email drip campaigns for follow-ups with prospective clients who have visited your website or filled out an intake form. 

When you use automatic follow-ups to keep the lines of communication with prospective clients open, it will be clear that your firm is responsive and prompt with communication, making prospects more likely to move forward with you than with a competitor.  

Even better? These follow-up messages can be as tailored and personalized as you wish.

Reporting and analytics 

A key component of an effective marketing strategy is sourcing actionable data to keep you in the know about:  

• What you’re doing well 
• What can be improved 
• What direction you should be moving in 

Without that information, you risk marketing with a blindfold on.   

A legal CRM can help you make the right moves by providing dashboard analytics that allow you to see everything you need at a glance—or embark on a deep dive into your metrics. The right legal CRM will provide data on: 

• Intake progress 
• Staff productivity 
• Lead engagement 
• Case metrics 
• Marketing return on investment (ROI) 

Enhanced task management 

In the legal field, time is of the essence. And not only for your matters, but for your marketing tasks as well.  

Marketing tasks must be completed efficiently so that you keep both leads and current clients engaged throughout the sales funnel and matter lifecycle.   

CRM software should include task management features that keep you and your team on the path to success with new clients. The best legal CRM software will have features that include: 

• Internal deadline alerts for your staff 
• Automated workflows to streamline your processes  
• Calendar syncing to ensure that deadlines are met 
• The ability to connect your CRM with your practice management software 

Tools that make it easy to sign on the dotted line 

When it comes to bringing on new clients, it can be frustrating to spend hours or even days waiting for them to sign on the dotted line so you can get the ball rolling.  

A great legal CRM should connect with secure and legally-binding one-click eSignatures that allow your clients to sign any essential documents needed from their mobile device or computer. Your clients will appreciate the convenience, and you’ll benefit from the time you save when you don’t have to chase them down to sign.  

Another benefit of one-click eSignatures is that if your CRM is linked to your practice management software, you can have signed documents automatically uploaded to client matters, keeping your matters organized and reducing time-consuming and error-prone manual data entry. 

Stop losing potential clients and start bringing them on board with CosmoLex 

From automating your intake process to making client intake a snap to creating automated marketing campaigns to bring new leads into your sales funnel, CosmoLex’s legal CRM can help your firm stop losing leads to competitors and increase your profitability.  

Using CosmoLex CRM in tandem with its robust practice management software can also give you an edge in maintaining current client relationships, reaching out to former clients, and keeping all your matters organized, freeing your team up to focus on high-value work instead of time-consuming processes. 

Ready to enhance your CosmoLex experience with powerful CRM software? Schedule a demo now.