Customer relationship management (CRM) systems help organizations stay on top of tasks, interact with current and prospective clients, run automated email marketing campaigns, manage contacts, and analyze data. For law firms, in particular, CRMs also help streamline the process of onboarding new clients, scheduling appointments, generating legal documents, and so on.
To help lawyers enhance client communication and move through legal processes more effectively, today’s top legal CRM software products include a variety of case management features and capabilities. And with a fast, intuitive user interface (UI), lawyers can see the status of current and prospective clients in a matter of seconds, with just a few clicks.
So what is the best CRM for law firms in 2022? Let’s take a look at the top solutions available.
Best legal CRM software
CRM platforms come in many different shapes and sizes. If your firm is just getting started with CRM technology or is looking to replace its legacy system, check out these five industry-leading solutions:
Salesforce
Salesforce is credited as the first-ever cloud-based CRM platform, and it offers a suite of features and capabilities valuable to almost any business.
Lawyers prefer Salesforce because of its simple UI, advanced data reporting, automated text and email notifications, and the platform’s overall ability to scale and customize alongside business growth. So if your firm’s client base is growing rapidly, Salesforce is a solid option.
But if you run a small operation, it may not be worth the extra costs that come with Salesforce’s status as a high-end solution provider. Niche law firms with minimal employees and clients are probably better off going with something cheaper.
Lawmatics
Lawmatics is known for its impressive UI, client intake functionality, and marketing automation tools.
The platform offers two different pricing options. One provides lawyers with just the client intake elements, while the other provides client intake plus marketing campaign automation. With its visual pipeline, Lawmatics makes it easy for users to manage and nurture sales leads. And the application’s marketing tools allow you to create personalized, automated email drip campaigns for different client personas.
However, Lawmatics doesn’t have a mobile version of its platform. And compared to tools like Salesforce and Clio Grow, the customization abilities for this application are lacking.
Pipedrive
This CRM is perfect for law firms looking to expand their client base. It comes with a visual pipeline that enables lawyers to quickly check the status of sales leads at every stage of the funnel. It also helps lawyers prioritize sales tasks and highlight missed opportunities.
Beyond its advanced sales features, Pipedrive has less to offer than other popular legal CRMs. And it can get pretty pricey on the enterprise level.
HubSpot
HubSpot is perhaps the most popular digital marketing tool across all industries, but many people don’t realize that it also offers a sophisticated CRM system.
In the past few years, lawyers have started noticing the benefits of incorporating HubSpot CRM as their core legal CRM system. There’s a completely free version of the software, and virtually no limits when it comes to customization. Plus, the platform will integrate seamlessly with almost any third-party app.
If you’re looking for more client intake and case management capabilities, HubSpot may not be the best fit. This platform also may not have the necessary infrastructure to support highly complex sales processes.
Clio Grow
As the most widely used CRM software among law firms today, Clio Grow has everything you’ll ever need from a CRM.
The platform includes case management tools, designed to streamline processes in all legal areas—from personal injury, to intellectual property, to bankruptcy. Lawyers can quickly and easily send documents to clients, get signatures, automate repetitive tasks, keep track of employee performances, and so on—all from a single dashboard.
Like Salesforce, Clio Grow is on the more expensive side, and certain automation features are only available with higher membership tiers. Also, it lacks some of the advanced reporting capabilities offered by other CRM providers.
So what is the best CRM for law firms? Here at Codal, we’ve worked with many organizations and implemented a wide range of legal technologies. And in our opinion, of all the CRM solutions listed above, Clio Grow is the best legal CRM solution as of 2022.
Here are a few more popular legal CRMs worth mentioning:
How to evaluate CRM solutions for your law firm
Picking the right CRM for your legal service will depend on a variety of factors, like how big your organization is, how many clients you have, and how your existing technology stack is built. When evaluating CRM solutions, here are some key elements to keep in mind:
Core features: What’s included with the platform? In addition to basic CRM software features, most lawyers are looking for automated document management, expense tracking, appointment scheduling, and practice management.
Cost: How much will it cost? Some CRM solutions are free, while others charge a monthly subscription fee, which can be as expensive as $300 per user.
Ease-of-use: Is the system easy to navigate? To ensure smooth workflows, a CRM platform should be fast, intuitive, and mobile-friendly.
Customization: How much control do you have over the information displayed on your CRM dashboard? A solid CRM application will allow you to customize pages, pipelines, and reports to align with your firm’s strategy and internal processes.
Integrations: Can you connect your firm’s ERP, CMS, and other business-critical apps to the CRM? Building out integrations allows you to automate the flow of data between disparate systems.
Integrating CRM and other legal technologies for your firm
By implementing an advanced, customized CRM solution, you can drive operational efficiency, improve the client experience, reduce costs, and increase revenue for your law firm.
But it doesn’t stop there. There are many new, innovative legal tech solutions available to lawyers, from document automation tools, to predictive analytics platforms, to AI-powered chatbots—and the list goes on.
With Codal as your digital transformation partner , you can focus on running your firm while we plan and execute a data-driven strategy, aimed at improving scalability, gaining a competitive edge in the legal industry, and solving debilitating business problems—whether it be an outdated client experience or a lack of internal efficiency.
After learning all about your business, its clients, and the surrounding market, we’ll identify the best digital technologies for your firm—then integrate those solutions into your technological infrastructure, train employees on new workflows, and provide ongoing support and maintenance to ensure long-term success.
