There was a time when individuals contracted the services of a law firm, paid, and… well, that was that. These days, however, clients no longer want the client-attorney relationship to be nothing more than a financial transaction. Instead, they want and need more valuable and meaningful interactions with the firms they entrust their legal problems to.
Providing this kind of ongoing client engagement is becoming a necessity for firms both large and small. While there will be differences depending on a firm’s size, practice area, and client relationships, there are concrete elements that all firms will need to consider.
Keep reading to discover some top client engagement strategies for law firms.
1. Share Your Firm’s Story and Mission
Stories are memorable and relatable. They give your firm an all-important dose of humanity behind the slick legal website, professional office, and sharp suits. But all too often, law firm marketing strategies focus on what a firm can do for its clients without providing the story behind its desire to do so.
Help your clients understand the “why” that brought you here, practicing this particular legal specialty. At the same time, incorporate your clients into your story and give them a starring role in your mission. This shows your ability to relate to your clients, understand their frustrations, and form a shared vision for the future.
2. Practice Active Listening
Legal clients can often be very vocal about what they want and don’t want from a law firm. But to act on this feedback, you need to be listening carefully.
What do your clients say about your firm? How do they compare you to your competitors? Effective customer relationship management depends on this kind of feedback, so don’t ever take it for granted or ignore it.
Instead, make sure to respond as soon as possible. This communicates that you’ve heard what they said and you’re committed to improving the client experience. And if the feedback is negative, consider ways to solve the problem rather than just seeking to placate the client.
3. Provide Helpful Content
Clients buy solutions, not products–and never is that adage more apparent than with legal services.
As such, a key function of legal marketing should be to provide helpful, authentic resources and advice to address your clients’ need for answers. Informative blog posts, newsletters, videos, and social media updates all help your firm position itself as a source of reference and authority. This then builds the kind of trust and loyalty that clients and potential clients will remember when it comes to contracting your services.
A regular stream of helpful and relevant content also keeps you at the forefront of your clients’ minds for better client retention. Offering case studies, highlighting legal-related news stories, and breaking down legal arguments ensures that your existing clients will continue to look to your firm for answers.
4. Be Direct
Direct mail marketing is a well-established and very effective way to grow your law firm. It works by targeting individuals in need of your legal services almost as soon as they need them. With excellent leads defined by your practice area and preferences, you can get in front of the right people at the right time with the exact message they’re looking to hear.
That said, you need to also take a direct approach to getting your legal clients on board once they’re aware of you. For large and small firms alike, chatbots are the ideal solution for capturing potential client details when they land on your website. Chatbots also help streamline prospective clients and direct them to the correct service without the need for an initial discovery call.
5. Take a Social Approach
Your presence on sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can also make a huge difference to client engagement. These platforms are where clients and potential clients head when they need answers and referrals, making social media marketing an integral part of all law firm marketing campaigns.
People also take to social media when they want to express their concerns or share praise about a company. Monitoring your social media for client feedback, and then responding and resolving issues will set you apart from your competitors and help you forge an even deeper relationship with clients.
6. Use the Right Tools
If you’re starting to think that keeping track of all this sounds difficult then you’re right. Manual tracking can work at first, but modern tools such as a customer engagement platform within your customer relationship management (CRM) system are essential for helping you stay organized.
The right tools and technology can also take some of the load off as you’ll be able to automate your strategy for a more seamless, customer-focused experience. You can even use customer engagement software to keep your client up to date with any changes or advancements, and to offer them added services where relevant.
Of course, you will need to find the right balance between human and automated interaction. But with many of the repetitive tasks of managing a law firm taken care of, it’ll be easier to devote your time to building a lasting relationship with your clients.
7. Call in the Experts
Who better to show you how to achieve maximum client happiness than with a company dedicated to helping law firms like yours?
Here at CaseHunter, we’re proud to report that the vast majority of our customers have been with us for more than five years. Our excellent customer retention record is thanks to our data-driven approach to sourcing and providing quality leads for legal firms. With unique and thorough methods for identifying and vetting real-time data, our leads are always second to none.
But we’re only the best because we want the same for the firms we work with. If you decide to use our services, you’ll never be just another customer to us. We treat all the firms we work with as partners. We’re focused on your success the way a partner would be, and we take the time to understand you and your clients as a way to maximize your success.
In short, customer relationship management is our specialty and we’ll make it yours too!
Effective Client Engagement Strategies
As we’ve outlined here, a lot of client engagement involves effective communication. From initial leads and website hits to follow-up responses and solutions, every opportunity you get to interact with your clients matters.
That’s why it helps to have a partner who can help you get the right message to the right people at the right time.
For more information on how our law firm marketing strategies can help you, contact us here at CaseHunter today.