Thursday, July 26, 2012

Your CRM Journey - Part 3: Travel Companions

It’s always more fun to travel with a friend, so you may want to invite some other folks along for the ride. CRM is a team sport. Trying to go it alone is not only incredibly painful – it’s impossible.

Get key people in the marketing department involved. During the rollout you will want their help with things like planning, communications and training. After the rollout you will need them to be involved in ongoing meetings with the attorneys to answer questions and help them grasp how CRM could actually be a business tool that can help to bring in Clients – rather than just a glorified Rolodex.

And why not find a few lawyers who may have sense of adventure. You may actually be pleasantly surprised to find some (but start looking now because it may take a while). You can't pull this off without support from firm leaders – and without most of the other attorneys in the firm participating, it can all fall apart.

Most importantly, be aware that you may run into some hills and valleys along the way, so it can be extremely beneficial to build a bridge with your IT department. They can be great guides. They often know the territory because they have been down similar paths in the past. But even with all of this help, you are still going to need a good map …  

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