Boost Your Law Firm Business Development with Case Management Software

Law firm business development — tasks like customer relations, marketing and networking — requires a human touch. Unlike time-tracking, billing and managing your email — all of which are automated by Smokeball’s case management software — business development requires empathy, interaction and insight.

Business development tasks are also high on the list of attorneys’ favorite non-billable responsibilities. In a 2021 Thompson Reuters survey, 85% of attorneys say they want to retain or keep client relationship development as a responsibility; 83% new business development; and 80% practice development. Now that you know your team is eager to participate in business development, where should you start?

Smart business development means using what you already know about your law firm and your clients to generate more successes. By narrowing your focus, you increase your chance of success. Here’s how Smokeball can help.

See your most profitable clients and cases at a glance

There are those clients who bring cookies to every meeting and have the best dad jokes on the planet. Then there are the ones who generate tons of billable hours. While you definitely want to work with clients you enjoy, profitability is crucial to the long-term health of your firm. Thankfully, the data to determine which client is which is built directly into Smokeball.

When you automatically track your billable time in Smokeball, that data is applied to a wealth of tools throughout our case management software. That includes Law Firm Insights, reports that show your profitability by matter and matter type. These invaluable details don’t just inform your next steps for business development — they allow you to adjust your billable rate and hours worked on every matter, then invest those profits in your business. Even fixed-fee firms can find value in Smokeball’s Law Firm Insights; if you discover you’re working 20 hours on a case and only charging a client $2,000, isn’t it time to adjust your fees?

Tailor your marketing

Now that you know which audience you want to target, you need to hit them with the right message. Make sure your firm’s branding and website are up to date, and that messages reflect the current value you provide every client. Smokeball Integrations like Campaign Monitor help you create email marketing campaigns based on your contact tags within Smokeball, organizing your efforts and helping you create personalized messages that resonate.

Manage leads effectively

Your marketing attracted a ton of leads — great! Now it’s time to nurture them into clients. Smokeball’s built-in leads management system lets you treat your leads as you would a client, tracking communication and documents while generating reports. Set up automatic reminders using Smokeball Tasks and Workflows to make sure you never miss an opportunity. And once that lead becomes a client, convert their lead into a Smokeball matter in a snap.

Create more time for business development

Just because your team is interested in business development doesn’t mean everyone can spare the time in their day — if they’re filling out forms manually, scrambling to find missing documents and filling out timecards. Because Smokeball case management software automates those formerly-manual, sometimes-tedious tasks, your entire firm has more hours in the day for their favorite business development activities. You can also delve into performance levels by matter or by employee to see if it’s time to develop your business by taking on a partner with a different specialization — or if your current team needs additional coaching.

Brainstorm, organize and delegate your law firm business development tasks with the 2022 Smokeball Business Development Cheat Sheet. It’s a quick way to ensure your law firm is taking advantage of all the business development opportunities at your disposal — backed by data from our case management software.

Want more business development tips? Check out these ideas for family law practices and turning leads into new clients. And follow Smokeball on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for our latest blog posts, events and more.

Need tips for effectively growing your team?

Download Smokeball’s in-depth guide, “Hiring and Managing Staff to Increase Law Firm Profitability.”