One of the most common pitfalls for smaller law firms is staying on top of client communications.
As you begin to reach out to more people and word of the good work that you do spreads, you may find yourself inundated with emails and phone calls that all need to be effectively managed.
The problem can grow even as you add more members to the team, with irregular filing practices leaving client communications fragmented and inaccessible across the firm.
You need a clear, caring voice for your firm that can reassure clients and let them know that you value them.
What are the main communication barriers faced by small firms?
Clients are keen to have their needs met and their voices heard and small firms often lack the manpower to meet these demands.
When workflows are disjointed, it is possible for important bits of communication to slip through the cracks.
This is compounded by members of your team being absent for holiday or sickness, at which point the cases they are working on can stall or falter as the communication is disrupted.
It is then that the temptation may arise for the owner of the firm to try to oversee everything, but this often causes further delays with communication if everything needs to go through one source.
As your small law firm seeks to expand, you risk losing that unity of voice that led to its early success and this can negatively impact client communication.
Finding an effective technological solution to unite your client communication is vital for law firms that want to succeed in an increasingly fast-paced world.
How can confidentiality be maintained in client communication?
When considering adopting technology to make client communications easier, some small firms hesitate over the perceived risk to confidentiality.
It is true that an email tucked away in the very bottom of your inbox, unread by anyone, not even yourself, is highly confidential, as its contents have not been parsed by a single living soul.
However, there has to be a way for emails to be actionable while retaining confidentiality.
That level of trust and security is where Smokeball specialises.
We know that your clients expect the utmost confidence in how their communications are handled and our secure, cloud-based platform ensures that all your documents, case files and communications are stored with the highest level of security.
This means that communications can be open and accessible to everyone in your law firm without compromising the integrity of the case itself.
Our AI, Archie, provides reviews of conversations with clients so that nothing gets missed, even if work shifts between different people in your firm.
The confidential communication also goes both ways as Smokeball’s collaborative tools allow clients to securely access their documents, view case updates and send messages directly through the platform.
This cuts back on the cybersecurity risks posed by conventional communications, which is a vital step forward given how active cyber criminals have become lately.
While your firm may be small, the work you do has a major impact on the lives of your clients, so you need a communication system that can robustly adapt to any challenge.
Book a demo to find out how client communication can be more effective regardless of how big or small your firm is.
