One thing busy law firms have in common is that there are countless projects and clients competing for their attention. There’s no way for them to remember every important detail about their clients and their business. Relying on your memory, no matter how well-intentioned you are, will fail you eventually.
When there’s no system for recording and tracking contact information, lawyers show up to meetings or take calls without being prepared. This leaves clients feeling forgettable and consistently puts you and your team in a stressful and disordered position.
At backdocket, we know that a system for managing your contacts can be transformative and make communication effective, personal, and nearly effortless for your team. And by design, our practice management software allows you to make sure no interaction or pertinent information gets lost in the shuffle.
We’ve created a free guide with tips to help your law firm’s communication processes.
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Backdocket is a practice management software specifically designed to meet the needs of small- to mid-size law firms. Communication is at the heart of growing a law firm, and that’s why we offer contact management tools to make sure nothing or no one slips through the cracks.
If you’d like to learn more about the many benefits of using backdocket, contact our team today and schedule a free demonstration.
If you’re at the stage in your firm’s growth where you feel like you’re constantly thinking about how to manage your law firm, it may be time to consider using practice management software.
At backdocket, we understand that every firm is unique, and only your team can determine what your pain points are. But to help with the decision around using practice management software, here are a few questions your team can discuss:
If you’ve answered, “yes” to any of these questions, backdocket’s practice management software can help.
The old saying, “no pain, no gain” is only true when you can assess your pain points and make necessary change. When you can see where you’re struggling and better understand what your business needs to thrive, then you’ve gained something invaluable.
As mentioned above, every firm and their pain points are unique. And what’s unique about backdocket’s practice management software is that it’s customizable to your firm’s needs. We know what processes help firms become successful, and we know enough to understand the importance of meeting each firm where they are and where they hurt.
Think of it like cold medicine. You might have a stuffy nose and that’s all. But most of the medicine at the drugstore treats a cough, sneezing, and five other symptoms you don’t have. Your physical pain point is congestion, and you only need something for that.
While our practice management software anticipates processes that are tried and true, we know your firm needs to address very specific deficiencies. That’s why we put the power in your hands to collect, track, and organize data to make your business run smoothly.
At backdocket, we’ve worked with many law firms to help address challenges similar to what your firm is facing now. We’ve seen it all, and we have weaved each challenge into the design of our practice management software. Being a small- to mid-sized law firm might feel overwhelming at times, but with the right systems in place, the sky is the limit for your firm’s growth.
We built our practice management software to help firms operate more efficiently, and we are proud to see the law firms we partner with reach new heights after making the decision to rely on backdocket.
Contact us today to learn how we can do the same for you.
There’s a lot of talk these days in the legal industry about practice management, and all the buzz is for good reason. A firm’s system for managing clients, reports, documents, finances, and operational matters is foundational to growing your firm.
But there’s more to establishing a solid foundation than managing the cases you sign. There’s a history behind each case. Each was once a lead, and from the moment you acquire any lead, it’s essential that its path to conversion is tracked and nurtured. Leads are like gold, and your process should be the Fort Knox of leads where you store all of the valuable information you need to convert leads into cases.
Think of lead management like this: your marketing efforts plant a seed that grows into a lead. Paying for marketing without a plan for how to manage it and grow it into a case is like throwing your money away. To see the fruits of your marketing labors, you MUST invest in a system for managing and converting your leads.
At backdocket, our practice management software takes the entire lifecycle of a case into consideration. That means managing the pre-retention phase, before a prospect hires your firm, and that lead grows into a budding new case. This part is critical to your success and can generate more new cases than you can fathom.
Here’s what your firm should consider when refining your lead management process:
Getting your intake process right positions you for success. When you get all the pertinent information you need from a client, you’ll save time while showing your client that you’re listening to every detail they give you. Backdocket can prompt you to ask the right questions and keep that information in a centralized, easily accessible document for all team members to see.
With a growing law firm, it quickly becomes difficult to manage the heavy workload. Prospects can easily get lost in the shuffle and slip right through the cracks, never making their way through the intake process.
Make sure you are getting the cases you want by staying connected to your prospects and always on top of their statuses. This is also something backdocket can provide while you focus on other important matters.
At backdocket, we love helping firms grow, and our practice management software can help you organize a lead’s status, whether they’re a prospect, conversion, or a current client. Improving your firm’s efficiency and communication is what we’re passionate about, and we want to help you.
If you’d like to learn more about how backdocket can help you get more cases, contact us for a free demonstration.
Happy New Year from all of us at backdocket. It’s time once again for law firms to reflect on the past year’s successes and shortcomings. As your firm considers what worked and what fell short of your goals, the information you review can help inform your goalsetting for the new year.
We’d like to help you with that by offering a few suggestions for your 2022 resolutions.
The best way to eliminate inefficiencies and save your law firm time and money is to automate as many processes as possible. In fact, automating intake, document generation, reporting, workflow, and client communication can save your firm countless hours each week. It’s a win for everyone at your firm and for the clients who deserve your team’s focus.
Sharing documents and data with your team through the cloud ensures you’ll have the flexibility to work from multiple locations and on different devices. Also, collaborating this way ensures everyone stays on the same page every step of the way, because you’ll see updates and changes as they’re happening.
Leaving your data up to a fallible local system that could crash, get a virus, or simply delay your ability to communicate is no longer wise or necessary. A cloud-based system is the way to go. Keep your data safe, sound, and seamless.
Identifying your firm’s KPIs and keeping track of them is critical to your firm’s growth. Without establishing and monitoring the key performance indicators, you are blindly navigating without a compass. When your terrain at your firm and in your market changes (and you can guarantee it will), you won’t find your true north without having an automated, easy, centralized system for tracking.
This allows you to stay on top of things and to divvy up KPIs between your staff members based on their specific roles. That way, everyone is invested, but no one is overwhelmed and distracted by their job. Whether financial or operational, automating the tracking of key metrics elevates your team and can be transformational for your firm.
All of the resolutions we mentioned above can go a long way to help your firm operate effectively and efficiently. Our practice management software is the key, so let backdocket help your firm keep those 2022 resolutions.
We make dashboarding and reporting easy to do and provide unlimited cloud storage so everything important to your business happens securely and in real time.
We can’t wait to assist in automating and organizing how your firm operates. Contact our team anytime to schedule a time to discuss how we can help you keep those resolutions year after year. Let’s make this a game-changing year for your firm!
Like other businesses, most law firms want to grow. But growth requires flexibility and a willingness to change. Business leaders within firms largely understand this, and they have unique insights on the strengths and weaknesses of their firms when it comes to expansion.
The most recent Small Law Firm Business Leaders Report from Thompson Reuters highlights some of the most pressing concerns law firm business leaders have about the limitations on growth. These insights offer every firm leader the opportunity to reflect on their own organization’s limitations and how to break through them.
Here are three key areas that business leaders see as obstacles to their firms’ growth.
Many business leaders at law firms indicate through the survey that they understand the importance of adopting new technologies to facilitate growth. These technologies include management analytics, E-billing, document automation, and collaboration tools. However, many firm business leaders express reluctance to adopt these technologies anytime soon.
At backdocket, we work closely with small- to mid-size law firms to ensure our practice management software meets their needs now and as they grow. We can attest to the dramatic impact implementing new, flexible technology can have on law firms’ processes.
Firms are increasingly finding themselves in more competitive markets with firms who have already adopted these tech tools. The risk is that firms who don’t use tech tools like practice management software will have their growth stymied by their failure to keep up with the times.
Many business leaders don’t feel like they have the full support of the partners at their law firms, particularly when it comes to making big changes to processes. Though business leaders may feel supported to innovate in their role, that support doesn’t always extend to legal service delivery models.
Legal service delivery model is a term used to describe the way legal work is offered to clients. It includes everything from consultations to document review processes.
The pandemic forced many law firms to adapt to new delivery models quickly. However, as we move into a post-pandemic world, it’s clear from Thompson Reuter’s report that business leaders don’t feel empowered to push the envelope beyond what was necessary to navigate the upheaval of 2020 and 2021.
One of the biggest limitations listed by law firm business leaders was the lack of financial and human resources support at their firms.
Adequately staffed financial and human resource departments give law firms the tools they need to grow. Financial teams focus primarily on firms’ bottom lines, while human resources help ensure the health of a firm’s teams and individual employees.
An investment in these departments is an investment in the future of a law firm. Hopefully, firms will be less opposed to the costs of these investments once the dust settles from pandemic-fueled shutdowns and market concerns.
The common thread in these three obstacles facing firms is a reluctance to embrace change. Whether that’s hesitancy adopting new technologies, in innovating how services are offered, or expanding a firm’s workforce, the obstacle is firms’ desire to keep things the way they are.
This is nothing new—in the legal industry or in business at large. Law firms become comfortable with how they operate and understandably are reluctant to deviate from what seems to be working. Unfortunately, growth requires change, and that’s a tough pill to swallow for many law firms on the cusp of significant growth.
At backdocket, we have strong, positive feelings about adopting new technologies. We believe many firms don’t realize how easily new tools can be integrated into the mix. We’ve designed our practice management software to make improvements to firms’ processes right out of the box. It’s intuitive and easy to integrate into every team member’s workflow.
If you’d like to learn how our software makes your firm more productive, more communicative, and more profitable, contact the backdocket team today to schedule a free demonstration.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are business metrics used by law firms to measure specific goals within all areas of business like financial, marketing, business development, etc. These data-driven KPIs show you how effectively you’re meeting objectives and goals and what to adjust along the way.
In other words, KPIs serve as a compass for your firm.
Setting unique KPIs that match where your firm is and where it’s headed is critical to your success, but so is including your entire team in the process.
Just as important as what you’re tracking, who’s doing the tracking matters, too. Think about each team member, what their role entails, and give them their own KPI to track. Provide incentives for them when they reach their goals. They will feel responsible for the firm’s success in a very personal way. And when everyone is involved in setting and tracking goals this way, your law firm won’t miss a beat on the path to growth and success.
An example of tasking team members with a unique KPI might be to have someone from accounting track a specific financial KPI. That’s familiar territory for them and you’re likely putting that specific data in very capable hands.
Regardless of who does what tracking, having a system in place can be a transformative experience for everyone at your firm.
Having a centralized system that’s not only easily accessible to everyone on your team but that is also user-friendly and digestible for everyone, is an important first step.
At backdocket, our practice management software provides a dashboard that is customizable to the needs of the firm and to the individual team members. Their personal dashboards make it easy for them to access the KPIs and business metrics relevant to their role. This is the absolute most efficient way to share tracking responsibilities across your firm.
Our team focuses on helping small- to mid-sized law firms manage their practice. If your firm is on the small side right now, then choosing to track a few essential metrics to start is great. But as you succeed and grow, you may want to add more KPIs to the mix, and you will need to keep tabs on all of it. The possibilities are endless, especially when your system for tracking is centralized. Operating without that system can result in stagnant cases, missed revenue, and send your firm down a rabbit hole of inefficiencies.
In a previous blog, we go into some detail around KPI metrics, from the operational and financial basics to the endless KPI possibilities associated with your firm’s growth and complexity. At every stage, backdocket’s practice management software puts the compass for your firm’s success in your entire team’s hands.
If you want to greatly improve how your firm works, contact us today to schedule a free demonstration. We want to help make it easy for everyone at your firm to read and interpret important KPIs by streamlining your team’s data organization.
The only way to know whether your clients are satisfied with how you’re handling their claims is through consistent communication and by listening. Your relationship with your clients depends on more than the legal services you provide, and believe it or not, more than getting big results.
Put simply, results without a connection will do nothing for your firm’s long-term growth.
While there are many factors that go into handling a claim, nurturing the relationship between firm and client is key. Because good customer service prompts referrals and online reviews. Without them, a law firm has no foundation for growth.
Previously in another blog on client communication problems, we mention empathy as an often underrated and important aspect of customer service that can get lost in the shuffle. This tenet of customer service will help you overcome any communication gaps and keep your firm growing forward. Along with this advice, there are a few other best practices that can be helpful in building happy client relationships.
Being proactive is one way to show your client you care. And making sure you speak plain language instead of legal jargon so that they feel informed goes a long way to avoiding breakdowns in communication.
Avoid interruptions when your client is speaking. Pay close attention to their emotional well-being. Their verbal and non-verbal communication will tell you more than you can imagine about who they are and what they need.
Avoid disappointing your client by establishing how and when you will communicate with them. Can they call, text, or email? How will you communicate with them? And when? Setting expectations will help prevent confusion and frustration.
Perhaps you ask how do I do all of this communicating while focusing on the legal aspect of their claim? The answer is straightforward.
Through backdocket, your customer service can run like a well-oiled machine (but a machine with feelings of course), freeing up your firm’s resources. Our practice management software can centralize notes about your clients, set up automated communication for appointment reminders, and gauge your clients’ satisfaction every step of the way. This not only monitors your clients’ satisfaction, it improves it.
This is what every successful law firm knows they should be doing, because when customer service is NOT automated and streamlined, it’s subject to human error. This leaves your client satisfaction to chance and can lead to countless missed opportunities for client referrals. But if you automate the process, your clients will feel taken care of, and they’re going to refer you to their friends and family. It’s that simple.
If you’d like to learn more about how backdocket can help your firm improve your customer service, contact us today to schedule a free demonstration.
The last couple of years have presented serious challenges for all businesses, including law firms. The pandemic forced many firms to revisit how their teams work and how they can navigate a sluggish and unpredictable economy.
Moving forward after the turbulence of 2020 and 2021 will undoubtedly present more challenges to law firms, a reality that’s reflected in the most recent small law firm business leaders report from Thomson Reuters.
The survey polled chief officers, executive directors, firm administrators, and finance managers at small law firms (with 50 or fewer attorneys) to get a sense of their concerns in the current economic climate.
Not surprisingly, outside economic circumstances topped the list, but law firm professionals are also concerned about internal issues and their firms’ abilities to properly leverage technology.
The overall state of the U.S. economy is clearly a concern for many business professionals at small law firms. General economic pressures topped the list of perceived risks to law firm profitability, with nearly one-third of respondents citing it as a high risk and 55% citing it as a medium risk.
However, it’s not just overall economic trends small law firms are worried about. Sluggish local economies, litigation costs, and business occupancy costs are considered high or medium risk by at least two-thirds of survey respondents.
The second-highest risk for law firm profitability cited by respondents was underperforming lawyers. Twenty-seven percent of respondents considered this a high risk, and another 39% categorized it as a medium risk.
Lawyer recruitment and retention along with overall employee productivity were cited as either high or medium risk by more than half of respondents. Law firms are also concerned about the economic situations of clients, with late payments and client credit risks specifically listed as a high or medium risk for the business professionals polled.
Insufficient leverage of technology was only listed as a high risk for 9% of those surveyed, but 39% considered it a medium risk to profitability. It’s not surprising that 82% of small law firms plan to increase the use of technology to manage their overall costs.
The reasons respondents said they hoped to better leverage technology included cutting costs, reducing time to complete tasks, providing competitive advantage, and reducing human error.
At backdocket, we know how beneficial the right technologies can be for law firms’ bottom lines. Firms that don’t fully utilize technologies to be more efficient and provide the best service possible are putting themselves at a major disadvantage.
Large law firms might be able to withstand economic ups and downs without adopting new technologies, but it’s clear that small- to mid-size firms don’t have that luxury. They need every advantage possible to compete and grow.
At backdocket, we work closely with growing law firms to make sure our practice management software is improving the way they work. If you’d like to learn more about the many benefits of using backdocket, don’t hesitate to contact our team today to schedule a free demonstration.
Busy personal injury law firms often find themselves in reactive states, especially when communicating with clients. Instead of reaching out proactively to their clients, they’re constantly responding to client calls.
This can lead to clients feeling like they’re their own case manager, and it creates productivity bottlenecks for team members who respond to client calls.
At backdocket, we believe there’s a better way: consistently calling your clients to touch base on their medical treatment and developments in their cases. This simple but often overlooked process can save your firm time and lead to happier, healthier clients.
We’ve created a free guide to establishing a consistent client contact process at your firm.
Backdocket is a practice management software specifically designed to meet the needs of small- to mid-size law firms. When you’re growing a firm, efficiency and organization are essential, which is why backdocket offers tools to help law firms overcome the challenges they’re facing.
Regardless of a law firm’s staff size or caseload, task management is a vital part of ensuring that cases are handled efficiently, and clients stay happy.
If your law firm already has a process to manage your team’s tasks, it’s always helpful to review it periodically to ensure optimal performance. And if your firm has never even thought about this process, then it’s time to get started.
Staying organized is essential when you’re handling a client’s claim. The last thing your law firm wants is to be the one slowing down the case. When you have a fleshed-out task management system in place, you won’t be struggling to keep up; instead, you’ll be the one leading the way—as it should be!
At backdocket, we’ve worked with many law firms to ensure their tasks are easily accessible and tracked through our practice management software. We’ve based our customizable dashboards on the needs of our clients, which is why they’re so beneficial right out of the box.
These five primary steps to successful task management help the law firms that use backdocket be more efficient and collaborative with their teammates:
Having the ability to assign a task to specific team members and sort tasks by the specific case ensures that you’ll always know the status of a claim. You can easily identify bottlenecks and help overwhelmed team members get the help they need.
It’s important to know exactly what you need to accomplish on a given day, so you can stay on top of your to-do list. At backdocket, we accomplish this by sending a daily digest email with a list of tasks that need to be completed.
If other team members aren’t notified of new tasks or when a task is reassigned to them, your firm risks falling behind in moving a case along. This is where notifications can make all the difference. As soon as a team member’s portion of the task is complete, the person responsible for the next portion of the task should be notified.
So many of us rely on Outlook or Google to stay on top of our responsibilities. This is why your task management process should be integrated with these platforms. At backdocket, we give users the opportunity to sync tasks to and from Outlook and Google.
Sometimes, you just need a snapshot of a claim’s progress. This is where status tracking is invaluable for law firms. When you use backdocket, you can quickly see whether a task is pending, in progress, completed, or behind schedule.
If you’re looking for a solution to your law firm’s growing pains, then backdocket is here to help. Powerful task management tools are just one of many reasons why our clients become more efficient and communicative at work.
At backdocket, we help our clients by giving them a platform that tracks contacts, intake, claim management, calendars, check approvals, merge templates, lead management, and so much more.
Learn more about our customizable dashboards and how backdocket can grow your firm by contacting our team for a free demonstration.
