Cultivating strong client relationships is incredibly important for IP law firms. Your chosen IP management system should help you build and bolster those relationships, argues Claire Yates, Client Services Manager at Equinox, part of the Questel group.
Strong client relationships help law firms retain clients, build reputations, and grow portfolios. By making it easier to work collaboratively with clients, your IP management system (IPMS) can play a pivotal role in fostering robust working relationships and establishing confidence in your services.
We know from working closely with users of Equinox Law Firm and Equinox Law Firm+ that simple, dependable communication tools can make a big difference in maintaining business relationships. Our IP management software is full of features to help law firms keep their clients up-to-date with projects and confident in their progress.
The Client Portal
Clients expect regular updates on the progress of their portfolios. When your firm is focusing on the IP management process, and deadlines are looming, it can be challenging to devote time to delivering updates.
Providing independent client access to project status allows around-the-clock visibility of progress, taking pressure off your team and making communicating updates more convenient for all parties, especially those across time zones.
While regular meetings, calls, and emails will remain the backbone of developing client relationships, the Client Portal in our Equinox IP management software supports and bolsters your correspondence process. It allows your clients to check progress independently and securely at any time and enables you to meet increasing client demand for real-time access to portfolio data.
"The ability to provide our clients with access to their portfolios through our Equinox IP management system also means that we are not spending time generating reports and providing clients with updates as they can review their portfolio themselves."
Tahleigh Gibbs
Redchip Lawyers
Trademark Attorney
Automated client communications
Writing, sending, storing, and organizing emails takes considerable administration time. However, communication cannot be compromised, as clients expect you to deliver regular updates and respond promptly to their messages.
Our Equinox IP management software includes integrated and automated correspondence tools to simplify this process. You can set up email templates and link them to your tasks. As you complete a task, the IPMS generates the relevant template, so you only have to fill in the final details before sending.
Integrations with existing comms tools
Whether your chosen email platform is Microsoft Outlook or Gmail, your IPMS should integrate with your existing tools so you can generate template emails in your email system or directly in your IPMS as preferred. Software integration ensures your whole team—from paralegals to partners—can save time managing correspondence.
Once you send a case email, our Equinox IP management software automatically stores and organizes it within the case records. By combining templates, automatic email generation, and integrated email services, we considerably reduce the administrative burden of our users.
Running reports
Finally, to earn, maintain, and retain strong client relationships, updating clients on project progress is a cornerstone of client portfolio management. Regular progress updates are vital for keeping clients up-to-date, updating leadership internally, and ensuring your team reaches its full potential.
Your clients, leadership, and team all need reports—but your reporting needs can differ. We built our Equinox IP management software to make it easy for users to access and extract information. Not only can you customize the dashboard of every team member to give them immediate access to the information they need but extracting data on-demand is also simple with our reporting tool.
IP tech can help nurture client relationships
Whether you have ten or a thousand clients, choosing an IPMS designed for law firms is vital. By offering portfolio visibility, harnessing powerful automation, and integrating data and IP services, you can create a seamless experience for your clients, build confidence in your services, and establish and nurture stronger working relationships.
We know you take pride in looking after your clients. Why not contact us today to find out how our specialist Equinox IP management software for law firms can help?
Claire Yates is a Client Services Manager at Equinox, a part of the Questel group.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.