Gideon Legal Chatbot Software

Chatbot Software for Law Firms

Technology

Technology, Marketing, Messaging

Slappers Only: Automated Responses Require Some Tact, and At Least Some Personalized Followup

Back in college, I used to play this great game for Nintendo 64, called ‘Goldeneye’.  It was a James Bond game, and the object was to shoot people with a variety of guns.

Until it wasn’t.  The game had a delightful feature, called ‘Slappers Only!’.  Basically, nobody had weapons.  So, everybody went around just slapping the shit out of each other.  That was awesome if you were the slapper, not so much if you were the slappee.

And, I kind of feel like I’m the slappee on social media services when I get automated messages from new connections.  You know, I’m just minding my own business on LinkedIn, I connect with someone new who has invited me to make our online business friendship official – and, immediately, I receive a breathless message about how their business could REVOLUTIONIZE MY WHOLE FUCKING LIFE, in all caps, of course.

So, if I shook your hand at a networking event, you wouldn’t yell this at me, right – which begs the question: What effect does this tactic have online, other than to make me hate you?

The moral of the story, of course, is: if you’re going to use automated messages, just access some chill.  Use that to warm up a new connection, rather than flying them on a rocket ship ride to the sun.

Also, after you send that very introspective and relaxed introductory email, maybe followup with a more personalized one later.

Or, just do that instead.

Marketing, Messaging, Technology

Turn on the Faucet: Drip Campaigns Can Be Used for a Lot of Different Things

A ‘drip campaign’ is a series of marketing messages.  And, those messages could be sent via a number of different platforms, including email and text.  Drip campaigns can be used to stay in touch with different segments of your contacts (including former clients and other referral sources), or following up on requests.  And, the advantage of automating messages like these is tremendously useful, because you can remove human effort from the equation, as well as the cost associated with it.

The great thing is that there are a number of uses for drip campaigns, including the following (not an exhaustive list):

-You can send a monthly client alert – you just need to pull together the content.

-You can send a quarterly enewsletter – (ditto).

-You can build a client journey for intake, including for making and following up on appointment scheduling.

-You can send a payment link or document signature request, and followup on those on a recurring basis.

-You can build a messaging sequence for closing a file, and staying in touch with those former clients.

Remember all those emails and phone calls you used to send manually, to followup and stay in touch . . .

Forget about it!

Marketing, Messaging, Technology

Next on the Docket: Gideon Launches Lead Docket Integration for Filevine CRM

Chat tools tend to pair well with customer relationship management (CRM) softwares.  Chat softwares – especially chatbots like ours that can qualify and schedule leads automatically, without attorney or staff intervention – allow law firms to effectively engage clients, without any manual effort.  The best place to push those leads is a CRM software, in order to get them moving them through an established pipeline, on the way to becoming new law firm clients.

It’s like peanut butter and jelly, or peanut butter and chocolate.  Well, I guess it’s like peanut butter, and . . . anything?

Gideon software integrates with various tools, including Clio, Litify, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.  But, our latest integration is something special.

We’ve just released an integration with Lead Docket, the CRM owned by Filevine; and, it’s the first Lead Docket integration to offer field-to-field mapping from an external system.  What that means is that we can now exactly match fields in Gideon with fields in Lead Docket, making for a completely seamless data transition.  And, that includes information related to lead source and marketing campaign.

It’s a sight to behold; and, you should see it.

. . .

If you’re a Lead Docket or a Gideon user, schedule a demo today, to learn more about our latest offering: https://www.gideonlegal.com/schedule-a-demo/.

Technology, Marketing

If You Build It, They Will Convert – Part 3: Managing Workflows

Law firm workflows should be automated, to the extent possible.

Softwares for managing workflows are prevalent – so, options abound.  But, lawyers often equate the notion of ‘high-touch’ service (which they also highly value) to in-person communications.  However, the fact of the matter is that you can be ‘high-touch’ without personally engaging a legal consumer – including via the use of followup messages, and by providing quick turnaround on action items.

I mean, think about it: What’s the better customer experience?  Your client waiting for your phone call or a series of email messages to schedule an appointment – or, scheduling via an automated calendar application.  It’s pretty clearly the latter.  Speedy and efficient reactions may not be ‘high-touch’ interactions, as law firms often designate them – but, those interactions are ‘high-value’ transactions.

So, when you’re implementing workflows, determine which interactions actually require a person; but, don’t add people when you don’t have to – because people cost more than software.

In an intake workflow, for example, you may only need an in-person interaction to determine whether a potential conflict exists, or for an initial consultation.  Everything else (initial intake, qualification, signing, payment – as well as followups for same) can (and should) be automated.

The less you (personally) have to do in any given workflow, the more time you have to generate new high-value clients, or work on the high-value work from the clients you already have.

Automations opens you up to opportunities.

Messaging, Marketing, Technology

If You Build It, They Will Convert – Part 2: Launching Workflows

The most important thing you can do to implement law firm workflows is to get buy-in.

Ideally, you don’t want to just drop a new workflow on your staff, and be like: good luck, y’all.  That would be a terrible idea.  But, one that law firms often engage anyway.

So, in the best-case scenario, you take those steps we went over last time, to manually generate workflows, and you build that out in conjunction with your staff.  That should be a team effort, because everyone has something to contribute, based on the specific interactions they have with your law firm leads, and clients.  If you do that, you remove the element of surprise, which can be devastating for the launch of a new initiative.  That’s why most law firm change management efforts are stillborn.

But, from there, it should remain a team effort.  Implementing the workflows should involve everyone.  Folks need to know what will be automated, and where they need to step in.  Everyone should have an understanding of the tools needed – electronic (software-based), and others.  Everyone should have an intimate idea of their responsibilities, but will also be aware of the entirety of the workflow.

Now, process management does not end there.  Law firms should continue to iterate on workflows, to ensure that they are high-performing – in the same way you would manage your staff.  Because, in the end, workflows just need to work.  So, keep an open line of communication as to suggestions for improvements to workflows that staff can spot.  And, continue to review your workflows on a regular basis, at least annually.  You can also use data analytics, which are more and more prevalent in legal software these days, to test the viability of your workflows in the real world.