Facebook is the future of CRM
Since when did the 1995 CRM (client relationship management) manual say managing your client relationships was easy? It seems like back then - and even now to some extent - experts were telling us that the long and winding road to CRM success went through database hell. I won't tell anyone that you as a busy, practicing attorney still don't want to know what CRM is, let alone how to work those impenetrable interfaces of the firm's CRM database. You do just fine without it, at least that's what you tell us marketing folk, because you already know who your clients are and they know who you are, and you have their phone numbers in your Blackberry/Android and that is all you need. Come back, you say, when it is all "set up" and you can just push a button that makes clients smile, open up their wallets, and spring for the dinner tab at Firenze By Night while talking about old times.
So let's get back to easy CRM. One of my current favorite authors is Clara Shih. Clara is a VIP in my eye because she wrote the book Facebook Era, Tapping Online Social Networks to Market, Sell, and Innovate (not just once but twice-read the second edition). In Facebook Era, Clara writes that Facebook is the future of CRM. And that got me to thinking if her theory also applies to the legal profession. Social networking sites LinkedIn, Facebook, Avvo and Twitter have become client relationship management tools for individuals and, although still limited for robust CRM use, they are effective at managing basic client information. Read more here.
From my experience working with law firms in the Bay Area, getting attorneys to use CRM databases is like working for the Peace Corps - after I learn their language, solve a few problems, provide training, leave manuals and shake a lot of hands, they will smile back, give me a happy send-off, wave, then go back to doing things the way they did before I arrived.
Well not so with the Facebook Era, or at least that is the promise. One of the biggest pains in CRM is having to update contacts all of the time. As one secretary told me once: why should I update her (client name's) record - she knows better than I what her new address is and title? And you know that CRM databases go out of date as much as 50% within just a couple of years. As if you weren't already suspicious of the firm's contact system, well now you know. Isn't it better to let your clients keep their own profiles current? All we have to do now is make sure we are linked to our favorite clients - via LinkedIn and Facebook at the very least, and we can contact them anytime, anywhere we want.
In today's world, we are the keeper of our own online profile, the care and feeding of our vitals and whereabouts. Getting connected in the Facebook Era means never having to manage fleeting client data in a dusty old CRM database at home. If George Assistant General Counsel at Acme Parts gets a promotion, you will know about it and send off a congratulations via Linkedin mail before the press release hits the airwaves. Not bad for the future of CRM.
OK, before we get too excited, what about the rest of that CRM good stuff - the idea that you can save important information about your clients like their favorite movie, kid's names and birthdays, golf handicap, activity tracking, competitive information, upcoming ticklers, sales information, and so forth? Yes, what about it? Attorneys seldom keep track of this information anyway and don't have time to use it when they do. How is the Facebook Era going to change this? Well, Facebook and Avvo is just the beginning. CRM should never be difficult and does not have to be complex. You attorneys have too much to take care of already, like making sure your clients don't lose a multi-million-dollar lawsuit today, stuff like that. Social Networking has made the easy part of CRM even easier. As the Facebook Era moves forward, what we were promised in 1995 about CRM will be more accessible, and that is when the future of CRM will finally get interesting.
