Can you ever return to feeling as if you’re safely making the most effective decisions possible about your firm’s future?
We all know there are no guarantees. But we do tend to operate on what feels like generally safe assumptions, such as the belief that the entire world cannot shut down all at once. Yet, in 2020, the unthinkable happened. And now, law firm leaders everywhere are questioning the wisdom of long-held beliefs and looking for reliable ways to bolster decision-making processes. The good news is you can now reach higher levels of confidence and profitability than ever before. Your law firm’s data will lead the way.
Track Legal Metrics for Accurate Assessments and Effective Planning
Education, expertise, and hard-won experience help us speculate on the many possibilities ahead. But only through obtaining precise, accurate, and in-depth assessments of real-life actions and consequences —i.e., tracking and analyzing law firm data—can you generate truly reliable insights.
Business leaders everywhere recognize how valuable data has become. In July and August of 2020, Dell Technologies surveyed 4,300 business leaders across the globe. Nine out of 10 agree that extracting valuable insights from data will be more important than ever before, and 96% of “Digital Leaders” say their ability to collect, analyze and act on data has made it easier to adapt and survive. Legal analytics can empower your firm to:
- Maintain a 360-degree view of firm health. Gain greater visibility into caseloads, collections, productivity, and other factors, leading to more accurate forecasts and budget allocations, more equitable workload distributions, and higher profitability.
- Price bids strategically and prove your firm provides outcome-driven services. Legal analytics help over 70% of users demonstrate a competitive advantage to clients, a recent legal industry survey found, with 52% also using data to gain competitive intelligence for pursuing new business.
- Pinpoint profitability drivers such as client satisfaction and retention to improve client experience. Data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire new customers, six times as likely to retain customers, and 19 times more likely to achieve above-average profitability, according to a recent McKinsey report.
- Draw causal inferences and make fact-based decisions. For example, you can determine what performance goals and what types of work lead to the most revenue gains. You see what works and what doesn’t, so you can target beneficial actions and avoid repeating mistakes.
A Technology-Integrated Approach Also Frees up Time to Focus on Clients
With the right technology, your systems work together to automatically collect, analyze and report firm data. You get more accurate, up-to-date analyses faster while eliminating the manual labor involved to save time and effort.
You can also use technology to expedite daily workflows such as prebill review and approval and automate activities like time entry and report routing. You can continually monitor data and control firm processes, freeing up the time and resources to ensure your clients remain top priority, come what may.
Start Obtaining Useful Law Firm Metrics.
To start using your law firm’s metrics effectively and regain your firm’s competitive position in the legal landscape, consider five key questions:
- Where do all your data points currently reside? Consider all software applications and paper-based systems at play when compiling data and constructing reports. Where do people go for the information they need to reach decisive conclusions?
- Can every stakeholder easily access data relevant to their role? A large part of this is about ensuring the right numbers get to the right people at the right time. It’s also about making sure data easily understood. e.g., Interactive charts and graphs on role-based dashboards that track and compile relevant KPIs are much more helpful than pages and pages of static numbers in cramped columns.
- What data and reporting details do decision-makers need but can’t currently access? Go big! This is about building confidence. It’s not a time to be stymied by limitations. List everything your team wishes they could analyze.
- What does your current data tell you about the changes your firm experienced during the prior year? When you shine a light on your history, you illuminate your future.
- How do your answers inform the development of a data-driven strategy for using your firm’s resources, time, and technology more efficiently?
