So, to recap – business are facing unprecedented change forced on us by the COVID pandemic, and the lockdown. We’re being forced to make big changes, fast …. and we really don’t like it!
We’re being challenged to break things and make them better.
So what might a law firm think about?
Sales Process
Do you have a sales process that is rigorous, data driven and measurable? Do you know where your clients come from, how they find you, and have a process that takes them (in a systematic and trackable way) from enquiry to closed?
A couple of years ago, we were using Hubspot, an “off the shelf” sales tools, but it wasn’t quite working for us. In response we developed a module for our Portal (the tool we use to communicate with our clients) which created a Sales Pipeline, represented as a Kanban Chart, showing all our current prospects and their progress towards a sale.
It allows us to track progress, hold our sales team to account on that progress, and provide data for analysis and insight.
(For clients wondering, it’s a module available for internal use, and not displayed to clients! Get in touch if you want to know more.)
Is there scope to develop or improve your sales process? How does it need to change, now that face to face interaction is much less common?
Management Accounts
Do you know exactly where your business is? Do you know how much you made last month, which department/lawyer made it, and how that compares to the position last year? Do you know how much cash you’ll have in the bank next month, in 3 months, in a year? And can you “flex” these projections, taking into account all the uncertainties we face?
I’m embarrassed to admit that, before I met Catherine (the Cashroom’s founder, our Chariman, and from the outset, my Finance Director in a previous life as managing partner of a law firm), I didn’t know the difference between profit and cash, a balance sheet was a mystery, and I had never looked at a cashflow projection in my life!
But I suspect I wasn’t the only one, and I’m probably still not. If you’re one of these people (or suspect you might be(!)) the most important innovation you can make in the post COVID business world, is to have prepared regular, reliable and helpful management accounts.
Reliable and up to date management accounts and management information makes everything easier. It makes the uncertain, more certain and makes it easier to deliver changes and innovation – because, if you know where you are, working out where you’re going, how to get there, and what you need on the journey, is so much easier.
Business Processes Improvement
Is there something in your business that drives you nuts? A process or a procedure that’s grown up over time, driven by “its good enough for now”, with no regard to the bigger picture? Well sort it now!
Even if its “OK” ….. “”if it’s not broken, break it and make its better”!
And, if it’s got anything to do with the flow of money and cash through your business, how you run your accounts team, and how you ensure compliance with the rules … we can help!
For more information about The Cashroom please visit our website: https://www.thecashroom.co.uk/
This article was submitted to be published by The Cashroom as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
