Session on 16th April 2025
In this week’s Platforum9 Session, Charlotte Ford, Head of International BD and Relationships at Charles Russell Speechlys, shared her valuable insights on how law firms can develop and implement effective Client Relationship Management (CRM) strategies. Drawing on over 20 years of experience in international legal services, Ford offered practical advice on using CRM systems to drive growth, enhance collaboration, and create a data-driven approach to business development.
Beyond Contact Databases: The Evolution of Legal CRM
Ford began by highlighting how CRM has evolved from basic contact databases to sophisticated tools that support the fundamentally relationship-driven nature of legal services. “It’s worth reminding ourselves what we mean by CRM,” she noted. “Ultimately it is about client or customer relationship management… and it has changed.”
While early CRM systems might have been little more than repositories of email addresses and phone numbers, modern solutions have transformed into “powerful tools that can help you manage interactions, track relationships, and ultimately drive growth.”
This evolution reflects a broader recognition that law is fundamentally “a relationships business,” requiring systems that support the nuanced and often complex network of interactions between firms, clients, and intermediaries.
Setting Realistic Expectations and Implementation Goals
A key insight from Ford’s discussion was the importance of setting realistic expectations when implementing CRM strategies. Law firms often fall into the trap of expecting new technology to solve all their problems immediately—what she described as expecting “a magic wand that is going to do everything for us.”
Instead, Ford advocated for a more measured approach: “The firm has to ask what does it want out of it… and almost going back to that buy-in, the more that you want out of it, the more you’re going to have to put into it.”
She cautioned that being overly ambitious, particularly in the initial implementation phase, can backfire: “If you are expecting it to do too much, particularly at the beginning, you may almost find it has the opposite effect and people don’t buy into what you’re trying to do with it.”
This pragmatic perspective applies not just to CRM but to legal technology adoption more broadly. Setting clear, achievable objectives and recognising that implementation is an iterative process rather than a one-time event creates a foundation for sustainable success.
Driving Adoption Through Clear Responsibility and Demonstrated Value
A persistent challenge with CRM systems in law firms is securing buy-in and consistent usage from busy professionals. Ford emphasised two key strategies to address this challenge:
First, establishing clear responsibilities: “Being clear on what is expected from different people involved in the process, whether that’s the lawyers or BD or secretarial staff… your CRM is only going to be as good as what you put into it.”
Second, demonstrating tangible value: “Sharing with them the data, the analysis, what comes out of it… it becomes much easier to ask for better input, better quality data if you can show the why.”
This approach creates a virtuous cycle—as lawyers see the value derived from the system, they become more willing to contribute to it, which in turn enhances its value. Ford’s team keeps “the CRM open all the time” as “part of my day-to-day job of tracking and seeing the alerts,” reinforcing the system’s role as an essential work tool rather than an administrative burden.
Breaking Down Silos Through Collaborative CRM
For international firms like Charles Russell Speechlys, with offices across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, CRM plays a crucial role in breaking down silos and enhancing collaboration. Ford described how their system serves as “a central point to collate and track” relationships across different jurisdictions and time zones.
“Having a central point to collate that and to track that is increasingly important so we don’t have people acting in silos and maybe duplicating or misunderstanding a certain relationship,” she explained.
This collaborative approach extends to the firm’s network of relationships with other law firms in jurisdictions where they don’t have offices. Ford noted that making relationship data visible across the firm “becomes an encouraging tool… to get people to put their data in because they want to see what others are doing and they want others to see what they are doing.”
Leveraging CRM for Strategic Intelligence
Beyond tracking interactions, modern CRM systems can serve as platforms for gathering and analysing strategic intelligence. Ford described how Charles Russell Speechlys uses their system to support an “active client listening program” that helps identify emerging trends and client concerns.
“We’re always aware of having a horizon scanning conversation with our clients and other contacts so that we can understand what’s keeping them awake at night, what’s coming on the horizon, and how we can react with a degree of agility to be there to support them,” she explained.
The firm enhances this process by using AI tools to analyse the intelligence gathered, enabling them to identify patterns and trends that might not be immediately apparent through manual review. This approach transforms CRM from a passive record-keeping system into a proactive strategic asset.
Embedding CRM in Law Firm Culture
Perhaps most significantly, Ford emphasised the importance of embedding CRM into the firm’s culture from day one. Charles Russell Speechlys works with “junior lawyers from day one” to incorporate CRM usage into their training, establishing expectations early in their careers.
This cultural integration is reinforced by partner champions who lead firm-wide initiatives around data quality. “We actually have a genuine passion for data and understanding that data is going to help us grow client relationships and grow as a firm,” Ford noted.
By making CRM part of performance reviews and KPIs across the firm, they ensure that it becomes an integral part of everyone’s role rather than an afterthought or a task solely for the BD team.
Measuring Success and ROI
For firms investing in CRM systems, demonstrating return on investment is crucial. Ford outlined several metrics her team tracks to demonstrate value:
- Workflow: Tracking referral opportunities coming in, new matters that result, and opportunities sent out
- Relationship growth: Monitoring new contacts added and the strength of relationships
- Interaction frequency: Measuring relationship meetings and other interactions
- Collaborative activities: Recording joint client events, articles, and knowledge-sharing initiatives
This multifaceted approach to measurement acknowledges that building relationships is a long-term endeavor. “It’s really important to look at other data sets, not just the referrals,” Ford explained, “because hopefully then you start to build that story for when the referral traffic comes along.”
The Future: AI-Enhanced CRM
Looking ahead, Ford identified AI as “a real driver for the next stage of CRM” development. AI technologies can address one of the most persistent challenges in CRM implementation—the burden of data entry and maintenance.
“If AI can help with automation of collating that data and also using the data, I think that’s something that we’re all quite excited about,” she noted. While the specific implementations will vary, the potential for AI to reduce administrative burdens while enhancing analytical capabilities represents a significant opportunity for law firms.
Conclusion: CRM is a Strategic Asset, Not Just a Database
Ford’s insights highlight how effective CRM has evolved from a simple contact management tool to a strategic asset that can drive firm growth, enhance collaboration, and provide valuable business intelligence.
The keys to success lie in setting realistic expectations, clearly defining responsibilities, demonstrating value to drive adoption, breaking down silos, gathering strategic intelligence, embedding CRM in firm culture, and measuring success through multiple metrics.
As AI capabilities continue to enhance these systems, the firms that have already established strong CRM foundations will be best positioned to leverage these new technologies to create even greater competitive advantages in an increasingly complex and relationship-driven legal marketplace.
