Playbook
Law Firm Text Messaging
Text messaging can save your law firm time and help you document more billable hours.
It also streamlines communications and provides a better overall client experience. We’re giving you this text messaging playbook to show your legal team exactly how to best implement business texting strategies that have worked for other successful firms.
This guide was created for small firms with 5 to 30 associates in mind, but the tips we share will also work for larger firms with upwards of 100 employees or for solo practitioners.
3 Essentials Before Your Law Firm Starts Text Messaging
1. A list of your clients’ phone numbers.
You likely already have a list of client phone numbers. Here’s how we’re going to compile and format your contact list, so it’s easy to import into Text Request later. Take any numbers in your phone, email list, customer relationship management software (CRM), or existing spreadsheets, and put them into a new sheet that is organized by:
Phone numbers in column A
Client names in column B
Export the spreadsheet as a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file, and you’ll be ready to pop those numbers into Text Request with one drag and drop later. Having all your clients’ numbers in one place going forward will make your text messaging more efficient. It’ll also streamline and organize communications, saving you from future headaches.
2. Tools to track your interactions with clients.
Between your paralegals, accountants, and attorneys, there are a lot of different interactions with clients taking place, including:
Legal documentation and case notes
Invoicing and billing
Creating workflows and automations
Efficient record keeping for all of these things will make your life easier and your practice more profitable. Here’s the tech we recommend for your legal services to make that happen:
Clio: Manages legal tasks including client intake, contact management, calendaring, document management, timekeeping, billing, and trust accounting
Quickbooks: Auto-tracks income and expenses to streamline accounting
HubSpot: Everything your firm needs for marketing, sales, content management, and customer service in one place
Zapier: Creates automations based on a client’s behavior, like when they submit a form
We have integrations for each of these tools.
Having the right software in place to track and manage all your firm’s moving parts will empower your business texting strategies.
3. Profiles on review platforms where clients can find you.
Reputation is everything for your attorneys. People want to know they’re going to have a good experience with your firm and stand a good chance of winning their case. That’s why gathering reviews needs to be a regular part of your marketing strategy. Otherwise you’ll lose out to the lawyers who are outpacing you in reviews.
The more positive online reviews you have, the higher you rank in search results and increase your chances of beating out competitors. Get listed on Google Business and Facebook to start, so you can connect your page to Text Request later and earn more online reviews through text.
After that, you’ll be ready to boost your amount of online reviews using the text messaging strategies we cover below.
12 Ways to Add Texting to Your Law Firm’s Day-to-Day Processes
1. Make your current business phone number textable.
That way you can text and call with the same business number, even from your personal smartphone. This will save your current clients a ton of confusion and time. They won’t have to learn a new phone number, and all your current marketing assets can stay the same—like business cards with your number on them and everywhere else you advertise.
How does it work? We’ll spare you all the tech details, but the gist of it is you give us permission to add our texting platform to your phone number. The process doesn't take long, and has no effect on your current voice services.
Each attorney can then get their own new line for their paralegals and staff. You have the choice to add multiple of these lines to one account, and manage permissions, so staff can only see the lines you want them to.
2. Get the word out that clients can text you.
Now that your law firm can text, you need to tell both new and existing clients. But this is not a one-time effort. Consistently saying “Need help? Just text us!” through multiple marketing channels is what will make it stick. Do this on your:
Website
Social media
Brick-and-mortar store
Digital ads
Flyers
Clients expect convenience now. So when you advertise that they have direct access to you with text messaging, you’re naturally going to start converting more of the people who come to your website or view your ads—which leads to our next point.
3. Acquire more new clients with SMS lead generation.
Along with calls-to-action for potential clients to text you, you can also use tools like SMS Chat to directly invite people to start conversations with you.
SMS Chat is a widget that people can use to text you directly from your website. Any responses go to their phone, and you get to keep their number for follow-ups. The widget can be formatted to match your firm's colors, and even include a call-to-action of your choice, like:
“Text to talk to one of our attorneys.”
SMS tools like these consistently convert leads at a higher rate than traditional web forms.
4. Add text messaging to your client intake process.
Part of establishing text messaging as a part of your client communications will be using texts during your intake process. Make it a point to text clients first, so they know that’s how they can communicate with you going forward.
Text messaging also gives you a great way to vet new clients to make sure they’re a good fit. Ask screening questions to see if it’s worth a phone call, or refer them to one of your professional contacts if the client is better off talking to someone else.
Even after you finish the vetting process, sending documents via text, like retainer agreements and HIPAA-compliant authorizations, will keep the intake process moving along.
Texting is also great for small nudges if a client forgets something along the way. SMS moves things significantly faster than email, since clients keep their mobile phones on them at all times.
5. Schedule reminders for meetings and court dates.
If clients don’t show up when they’re supposed to, you lose valuable time you could have spent making progress. SMS reminders help prevent this. They can be used for everything from regular one-on-one phone call updates and check-ins, to court dates.
Our integration with Clio makes setting these reminders a cinch, including:
Reminders for a set time before the meeting (e.g. 30 minutes or 24 hours, whatever you prefer)
Notifications for when the meeting is created
Notifications for if their meeting is rescheduled
Notifications for if their meeting is canceled
Text clients to let them know you’re running late, or if the meeting location needs to change. The more you keep them updated, the more you can stay on top of your own schedule and get the most out of your day.
6. Document the time you spend helping via SMS.
Any time you spend on a case, including client communications and advice, you’ll want to document for billable hours.
Text Request has timestamps on every message so you can keep up with how much time you spend texting a client. All messages are permanently recorded, and you can even download and print conversations for physical records.
7. Collect client payments securely through SMS.
Most clients want to pay you, they just get caught up in their daily tasks and forget. Our Payments feature gives you a way to remove that hassle for them. Clients no longer have to mail a check or stop by your firm. Instead, they just click the payment request you send via text and everyone is good to go.
The setup process is simple and even allows you to use your current payment processor. Being able to manage everything from requesting payments, to sending reminders, and checking request statuses all in one place, means more money faster.
For the best results, include text messaging in your collections process for reminders and share links to your payment portal.
Clients will love being able to pay you from wherever they are, and your overhead will be lower. Everyone wins.
8. Share case status updates.
Our platform is encrypted and has ongoing security management to protect your clients. That means you can safely share updates on the status of their case via SMS.
If an update is deeply personal, you can always schedule a phone call via SMS instead. Your client will appreciate you knowing the difference between when an update can be shared over a text vs. when you need to schedule a phone call to talk about it.
9. Set up autoresponders to manage after hour questions.
A case may keep your clients up at night, but that doesn’t mean your sleep needs to be interrupted by their questions. Use autoresponders to set up text responses that trigger once your office hours are over.
“Thanks for contacting [Firm]. We’ve received your message, and someone will respond first thing in the morning. Our office hours are from [time] to [time]. Use this form [link] if you’re a new client looking for representation.”
The best autoresponses will include an action for a new client to take, like completing an inquiry form or scheduling a phone meeting, so they don’t move on to a competitor.
Autoresponses are also a big part of keywords, which are words clients can text to opt in for more information on a certain topic. You advertise keywords across your marketing channels with a call-to-action, like:
“Text INJURY to [number] and learn how [Firm] can represent you.”
An autoresponse will trigger when a potential client texts the keyword, and you can chose for it to say something, like:
“Thanks for texting INJURY to [Firm]. Use this link [link] to set up a phone call with one of our attorneys.”
Autoresponse like these work around the clock to convert leads and answer questions—which is great when most people are going to reach out late at night after they get off work or have a break from family.
10. Gather more reviews from happy clients.
Your lawn firm won’t show up in search results without Google reviews. It’s that simple. Gathering reviews ongoing is an absolute must if you’re going to compete with other lawyers.
Here’s how to earn more reviews:
Connect your Google Business or Facebook page to Text Request
Insert custom reviews links into your texts asking clients for feedback
Monitor and respond to oncoming reviews from inside Text Request
Text messaging is the fastest way to reach your current clients for reviews, and Text Request gives you one place to manage them.
11. Combine your email marketing with SMS strategies.
Email has most likely been a huge staple of your law firm’s communications up until this point—and we’re not going to tell you to stop using it in exchange for text messaging.
What we will tell you is that we have a bunch of lovely integrations to help combine your email with your SMS marketing strategies, including:
Each of those integrations has the capability to sync your contacts with Text Request. That means anyone who subscribes to your email newsletter will also be added to your Text Request contacts.
Cross-pollinating your lists and planning marketing campaigns around both will increase overall engagement with your clients. The more places clients see your message or update, the more likely they are to actually remember it.
12. Provide the ultimate client experience, by texting from your business line wherever you are.
Texting is already part of your clients’ daily lives, and it’s their preferred way to communicate. It’s a great solution for clients who have language barriers, or who struggle to get you details for a case over the phone while at work or with family. Communication can be discreet and not disrupt the client’s daily tasks, which is why they expect your firm to have the capability to text.
We have tools, like our Chrome extension and mobile apps, to make it possible for you to text wherever you are. That way you can always stay on top of messages to create a client-centered experience that people rave about.
While you can’t text for every single conversation, text messaging can serve as a way to set meetings up. It’s the ultimate way to get the most out of your day and ensure the different cogs of your law practice aren’t held up by communication delays.
