Has your law firm's CRM data quality been called to testify?

As law firms speed ahead implementing new digital marketing, content and business development strategies, some old and new challenges can rise to the surface. Lawyers, especially new partners, are becoming more adept at using content to generate digital leads and may start to request more detailed reports and dashboards showing how their clients and prospects are interacting with their content. However, marketers are wary of providing full access to CRM data due to the inherent quality issues with large company and contact databases.

Marketing teams charged with maintaining the CRM are understaffed and overwhelmed with all the data flowing into the CRM from new laterals, online subscription forms, social media. On some level, most lawyers marketing and BD professionals understand that the data isn't perfect, but that doesn't ease the pressure to explain why a particular GC is listed at their new and old company. Or why an email to top client isn't being delivered.

After making great strides in digital marketing and content campaign programs, many firms are now getting stuck in the mud. The mud that is a dirty CRM. The become unable to further streamline their business development efforts, gain valuable insights into client relationships and business development activities, and identify the well qualified leads that will ultimately help drive growth and increase efficiency.

Many marketing teams are taking a step back to reevaluate their data quality processes and standards. Keeping every single company and contact accurate is an unrealistic and unachievable goal.

Instead of creating a comprehensive data governance program across the entire universe of companies and contacts, Martech teams at top law firms are approaching the problem by applying different criteria to segment their data into several quality standard bands. Each band has a detailed outline that includes the data cleansing, deduplication, and enrichment to ensure accurate and complete data to meet the KPIs for that band. This allows the firm to focus on the relative value and importance the records in that band and not waste value and scarce resources on boiling the ocean of contacts.

Data Quality and Enrichment Planning Worksheet

Have you been asked to put together a comprehensive data quality and enrichment program for your law firm CRM system? Not sure where to start? Download our planning template or reach out to our experienced consultants for help.