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Technology
Remember, Technology is a Supporting Player, Not the Star
November 2005
The sheer amount of technology available to law firms today is mind-numbing. Marketers, who always want to be first, are often quick to embrace new technology as a way to differentiate their firms. While it's good to be a leader and innovator, an ounce of caution is advised. Often, technology is touted as the perfect problem solver: the thing that will make our life easier, increase our business, and keep all of our records up to date and accessible to everyone. And it is possible to use technology to achieve these things. But you must keep in mind that technology for law firms is a means to an end, not the magic cure-all. Here are a few things to keep in mind when contemplating a new piece of marketing technology.
Will it be used? Sounds obvious - we buy the product, train everyone one, and voila! But while this sounds good on paper, will it work in reality? Do you really think that the attorney who still resists using e-mail is going to access that client Intranet, let alone encourage his or her client to use it? CRM systems are an incredible resource - if the data is regularly maintained. Remember the old adage - garbage in, garbage out. I am not advocating that you shouldn't try. I'm just advising you to honestly gauge where the majority of your people are and how they will use the technology before you invest a lot of time and money into it. You need to assess how much technology is a part of your corporate culture and at what speed you can move. I previously worked with an accounting firm that invested in a sophisticated Intranet site that would allow firm offices around the world to share information on a particular global client. There was a secure site for each client company that accessed various global news services, public records, SEC filings, and had a calendar to record meetings and outcomes. The idea was each client service professional would add in any interactions he or she had with the client, and the rest of the team could view this to use for their interactions with the client. We would always look informed. We would have the most current information on which to base decisions. We would be sharing information across the globe. The only problem was, none of the client service professionals used the site. They felt it was a waste of their time to enter the data and the information was too involved to simply be assigned to an administrative assistant for entry. Had the technology been slowly rolled out and made a part of the culture, it may have succeeded, but the way it was implemented, it was doomed to fail.
Is it appropriate to use? Whether it's a speaking engagement or a closing argument, there is a vast array of support technologies to choose from: PowerPoint, video deposition, 3-D trial aids, just to name a few. These are great tools and they can be remarkably effective. But never use technology just for the sake of using it. Evaluate why you are using the technology and how it will support the main message. I recently had an attorney do a CLE presentation on real estate purchase agreements. But as she developed the presentation, we realized dumping the outline into a PowerPoint presentation wasn't going to be the most effective tactic. Instead, she chose to project a Word document, filling in the outline during the course of her presentation so the audience could follow along with her thought process. Her evaluations came back with excellent results, partially because she used technology to support, not overshadow, her topic.
Can it be used? When evaluating technology, you need to consider not only your attorneys but also your clients. If the majority of your clients are Fortune 500 companies, they're probably ahead of you in the technology arena. But for instance, at our firm, a number of our individual clients don't even have an e-mail address and would be baffled by the term "blog." While my web design company has some great ideas for e-newsletters and blog campaigns, many of our clients just aren't there yet. The younger generations are extremely tech-savvy and I have no doubt this is the way of the future, but you don't want to outpace your current clients. You may have to offer electronic and traditional options for a little while until everyone catches up.
Technology is our servant, not our master. Take the time to understand not only how it can be used, but evaluate how it will be used. You may need to use smaller steps to get your attorneys and clients where you want them to be. Develop a comfortable pace, show results, and even that technology troglodyte down the hall (we all have one or two) will eventually come around.
About the Author
Anne Parys is the Director of Marketing for Rothman Gordon, P.C., a Pittsburgh-based law firm.