Gideon Legal Chatbot Software

Chatbot Software for Law Firms

intake

Messaging, Marketing

All Saints Day: Hallmarks of Good Clients

The quest for most lawyers is to acquire the best possible clients, who always pay in full.  I know, right: from your lips to God’s ear.

But, how do you know if a client is a ‘good’ client, before working with them?

Just as you can look for ‘red flags’, indicating that clients would be a poor fit for you law firm, you may be pleasantly surprised by some attributes of your potential clients, which will make their hire by you ‘no-brainers’.

What does that list look like?

-Potential clients who are inquisitive about the legal process, but aren’t bossy about what they want you to do, likely better understand your role as a guide into the legal system, than the sort of client who wants you to just bend to their wishes all the time.

-Potential clients, who are inquisitive about the payment process, and the total cost of representation, aren’t potentially bad clients – they’re just asking the right questions.  You can start to worry if they begin to hunt for discounts.

-Potential clients who have reasonable expectations, and don’t rush you, are likely to give you some space to breathe, when you do start to represent them.

-On a related note, potential clients who aren’t asking you to do things before the attorney-client relationship is agreed to, have a good understanding of how the attorney-client relationship works – and have a certain level of respect for your work, even before it’s begun.

-Potential clients who do things for you when you ask for them during the intake process (like scheduling appointments, paying fees and signing things) are likely to become the sorts of clients that get you things when you need them, when you start representing them.

Better to find out in advance, about who your best clients will be.  And there are clear markers that will help you to identify them.

Messaging, Marketing

Boo Hoo: Scary Clients to Avoid

Effectively vetting clients is one of the more important things you can do as a law firm owner, because those bad clients can haunt you for years and years.  The best policy is to never take them on.

But, what are the signs you should be looking for?

Here’s a list of potential clients to avoid:

-Potential clients who have worked with more than 1 other lawyer, especially with respect to the matter they want to hire you for.

-Potential clients who ask for discounts, or don’t pay promptly.  (Asking a lead to pay for a consultation is a good way to test their bona fides.)

-Potential clients who seem to think they understand the law better than you do.

-Potential clients who ‘overshare’ on the web, including via social channels.  (A thoroughly modern  problem.)

-Potential clients who contact you incessantly, including outside of work hours, with the expectation of an immediate response.

You’ll likely be able to develop a larger list of ‘red flags’, unique to your own experience – but, this catalogue can become a good starting point for you, in your quest to better vet your leads.

Messaging

Talk It Out: Communicating with Potential Clients About Communicating with You

Lawyers generally like to avoid upfront conversations about money and communications, as they try to cross the finish line to signing on new clients.  The reason, probably, is that they feel that that will slow up the process of conversion.  And, that’s possibly true – the less time you spend talking about those things, the more likely it is to speed up the conversion process, because you’re removing a couple of hurdles.  Of course, that can lead to problems later on.  In terms of pricing, no one likes to be surprised by terms; and, while you might get lucky, with a client willing to pay a heretofore unseen rate, chances are there is likely to be some pushback.

And, you’ll probably regret your decision to not be forthright about addressing client communications, when you get your first 3 am text.  Yeah, it happens.

But, the fact of the matter is that lawyers have more power over their representation models than they think; they just need to speak it into existence – literally.

That’s why it’s so important to talk about communication preferences at the outset of the representation, so everyone is on the same page.  And, ideally, that is done via direct communication, and backed up by a clause in, or an addendum to, the engagement agreement.

You can also solicit client feedback on communication preferences, if you prefer to offer a more dynamic solution.

But, the point is that, if you want your clients to use certain communication parameters in the course of the attorney-client relationship . . . you just have to ask.

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.

Marketing, Messaging, Technology

Quality Control: Why Chatbots Are Great for Qualifying Clients

Law firm lead qualification, oftentimes, does not get much beyond: Is the potential client alive?

Some attorneys will take any potential clients – and, it doesn’t even matter if they have shown an ability to pay.  Now, this doesn’t happen because lawyers don’t know how to vet clients.  Most attorneys have a very distinct criteria for the sorts of clients they want – the problem is, that it never leaves their own heads.  As has been shown, time and time again, lawyers are not great communicators – including with respect to their own staff.

But, once a law firm can define down its preferred client criteria, that can be a very powerful tool.

Now, many attorneys would look to develop a list of client qualifiers, so that they could feed it to their staff, and have them run through it with the potential clients, on the phone, or via email.

But, there is a more immediate, and efficient solution: Allow for a technology tool to moderate those conversations, and to automatically vet potential clients, without the need for using support staff.  A chatbot is a great tool for this, as it can create a conversational interface using a qualification script.

With a chat tool performing intake for your law firm, your potential leads remain engaged; and, your staff is freed up to perform other activities.  In this environment, rote work can be taken off of law firm staff, who can then upskill, and perform higher-level functions.

Chatbots are an efficient way to vet leads, using a tool that those leads prefer, and that allows your staff to generate revenue for you, in other ways.