Case studies from using Clio – how I help my legal clients. Part 2 of my Spotlight on Clio series!

I’ve used a few different legal case management systems over my 20-year career working as a PA and I must say that Clio is one of my favourites. It’s one of the reasons I became a Clio Ambassador as I think it has so much potential to help legal professionals. In this blog post, I’ll be giving some practical insights into how I help my legal clients using Clio. This is the second post in the series, so if you missed the first, you can catch up here.  

I’ve been using Clio for just over 1 year now and with Clio Manage and Clio Grow, I have helped my clients with a wide range of activities. One of the key differences I’ve noticed from using Clio is that by automating and structuring processes they’re easier to track and see through to completion. If an invoice hasn’t been paid or I need to follow up on a matter with a client, then these tasks are clearly highlighted for me to action.

In case you’re wondering what a ‘Matter’ is, this is referred to in the legal world as the case or, I guess you could call it, project, that the lawyer is working on.  This might be in a conveyancing department “Purchase of Old Kent Road” or in a commercial department “Review of Data Protection Agreement”.  All matters usually have a numbering sequence used to differentiate between individual matters for the same client. 

Clio Manage – For managing client relationships in the legal sector

Clio Manage is a comprehensive CRM system, designed for the legal sector. It streamlines and automates the time-consuming processes of time tracking, invoicing and reporting.

Here are some of the tasks I help my clients with that are made easier by using Clio Manage:

• Issuing, tracking and chasing invoices;
• Recording time spent on client tasks;
• Raising and tracking new matters or issues;
• Saving and tracking relevant emails (I can do this directly from Outlook);
• Organising and storing documents;
• Sharing documents via Clio Connect;
• Creating document templates and adding custom fields so information can be populated when a document is created;
• Adding new custom fields – these are used to capture useful information relevant to a certain contact or matter;
• Reporting – e.g. creating matter lists so that my client can see which matters need closing;  
• Querying and reporting on WIP – I use the filters for billable, non-billable and unbillable WIP to track spend for a client using monthly reporting; and
• Exporting WIP on a matter – this is really helpful for those clients who like to receive more detailed breakdowns

Clio Grow – For client intake and CRM

Clio Grow is designed to help with onboarding new clients and managing those relationships. It’s a critical tool for streamlining processes that can be quite time-consuming and organising them in a logical manner.

Here are some of the tasks I help my clients with that are made easier by using Clio Grow:

• Onboarding new clients;
• Adding and tracking potential leads to pipelines;
• Coordinating and tracking client communications;
• Closely monitoring client pipelines, identifying customer trends and tracking opportunities; and
• Running reports on marketing ROI, referral revenue and overall business growth;

Case studies

In this blog post, I wanted to explore some real-world examples of how I have helped my legal clients using Clio Grow. Here are just two examples from the last year where Clio has made a big difference to my client.

1. Tracking the pipeline with Clio Grow

Recently one of my clients signed up to Clio Grow. They usually onboard over 10 clients a month and so needed a comprehensive tool for nurturing these new relationships.

Previously, we had used Pipedrive for this, together with Asana, however, my client recognised that Clio’s new product Clio Grow was the perfect solution for ensuring the customer journey could be as seamless as possible and it would be easier for us to keep track of the pipeline.  Plus it keeps everything together under one roof.

One of the critical factors in helping to make that decision was the joined-up way in which customers are moved through that pipeline from introduction > call > quote > hire > work undertaken > invoice > review.

2. Improving the customer journey with Clio Grow

I’ve also recently started working with a new client who was becoming overwhelmed with the volume of her work and is struggling to keep track of all her current matters.  She uses Clio Manage but wanted better oversight of the current status of each of her cases.  

She’s also signed up to Clio Grow and wanted me to help get her set up.  We had a zoom call to discuss what she wants to use Clio Grow for and what her current customer journey process looks like. After this, I logged into Grow and made a start, here’s what we’ve achieved so far:

1. Using my clients existing sequential email templates as a base, I added pipeline headings. Think of this a little like using Trello – all the matters live in their corresponding column by their status.
2. I created some new email templates.
3. I created a workflow, which involves a series of appointments, tasks, emails, documents and forms.
4. We create a new form from Clio which will be sent out at the start of a new case for the other side to complete – capturing information via custom fields – information in these fields are then populated into various document templates.
5. I added the new custom fields such as ‘Claim Ref’, ‘name of Claimant’, ‘name of Respondent’ etc.  Once these fields are filled in at the outset, they will auto-populate to any document where that custom field has been added.
6. I added the document templates into Clio Manage. The reason we put them in Manage is that they can be downloaded and edited (this isn’t so easy in Clio Grow but Clio Manage is the perfect tool for the action).  The document templates that live here are mainly for intake purposes so don’t usually need many amends e.g. an engagement letter.
7. I exported a matter list for my client to run through so that we can close any finished files. I’m left with a list of open matters which can be imported into Clio Grow. I will then add each matter into the relevant column on the pipeline.  

Going forwards, my client will use Clio Grow to see a case through from start to finish, moving the matter across the pipeline as the case progresses.

By using Clio, I’ve helped my client to develop a structured approach to moving their customers through the pipeline. As a result, she no longer feels overwhelmed by this element of her business.

Would you like to find out more about Clio?

Hopefully, these case studies have given you an idea of how Clio can make a difference, using practical examples from my work with legal clients. However, if you’d like to discuss how Clio could help in your own business, I’d be happy to help. As an affiliate partner of Clio, I offer a free 30-minute call with any lawyers who are interested in finding out more. If you’d like to book a free consultation, please get in touch.

Coming soon….Using Clio Grow for onboarding

This is the second post in my Clio blog series. If you found this useful, then my next post will likely be of interest too. I’m going to be talking more about using Clio Grow for onboarding and in particular how I have helped my clients to streamline their onboarding process using Clio Grow. Be sure to revisit the blog soon for the next instalment.