Does My Law Firm Need Artificial Intelligence?

It seems like you can’t read about any new industry trends without hearing about artificial intelligence and how it is changing the world. The days of artificial intelligence being the exclusive domain of tech moguls are over for now, tools powered by artificial intelligence are present in almost every aspect of our lives: on the road, in our computers, in our shopping experiences, and most importantly in our businesses. Artificial intelligence for law firms is still in its infancy, but like all industries it is poised to take advantage of all it has to offer if used correctly.

Incorporating AI tools in to your law practice can potentially free up your time immensely allowing you to focus on higher level legal and marketing tasks. While some AI tools require extensive tech knowledge, there are now many ways you can use artificial intelligence in your marketing efforts without highly specialized computer technical training.

Perhaps the most accessible of these AI tools is the chatbot, a fairly basic integration that has the power to drastically improve your current client experience. Using chatbots in your firm’s client experience and marketing strategy can reduce friction and increase the likelihood that a potential client will reach out to your firm, Consider how much easier it would be to book a case review through Facebook messenger immediately upon seeing an ad for your firm, rather than the traditional channels of navigating to your firms website, finding a contact number, being put on hold as they’re filtered through a call center, and eventually scheduling an appointment. 

What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is essentially a series of codes powered by pre-set rules that you interact with via a chat interface. Consider Facebook messenger, chat windows on popular retail sites, customer service platforms, and more. Chatbots have become an integral part of the messenger experience, especially considering that more people use messenger interfaces than they do social media networks. If you want to be available to your clients, you need to be available to them where they’re already active. In this case, that means messenger apps like Facebook Messenger.

How do chatbots work for a law practice?

Chatbots can be used in many ways and should provide a better client experience with the biggest plus being that you don’t need to monitor the interaction. This means that while you’re in court, meeting with clients, or working on your own business, your chatbot can be working in the background generating leads, scheduling consultations and fielding initial questions without you having to ensure that it’s working properly.

Here are a few of the main ways you can leverage chatbots for your firm:

Boost Your Response Time on Facebook

At the most basic level, you can use a chatbot to set up automatic responses on messenger apps like Facebook to let potential clients know you’ll get back to them as soon as possible and provide alternative ways to contact your firm.

Schedule Client Consultations

If you choose to integrate a chatbot into your messenger platforms that acts as more than just an away message, you could easily use this tool as an alternative method for booking in client consultations or case reviews through Facebook.

Obtain Client Insights

Many of the more popular chatbots allow your firm the ability to integrate with other CRM software, which means that as soon as someone interacts with your bot, their information can be sent over to your intake software and registered as a lead.

You can also monitor your chatbot to gain valuable information on the audience your page is attracting, which will allow you to develop and improve your firm’s marketing strategy.

For example, you could potentially find answers to questions such as:

Are more men or women reaching out to my firm?

What questions do most people have?

Are they reaching out with specific types of cases?

What age range is more likely to use our messenger interface?

Once you’ve collected this information, you can create more targeted Facebook ads to this specific audience to compel similar individuals to message your firm on Facebook to book consultations or reach out to your firm.

Should I use chatbots for my firm?

Whether or not you realize it, you probably interact with a chatbot on a weekly, if not daily, basis. They’re far more conversational than standard automated responses, which allows for more enjoyable conversations than dialing through a series of numbers on a robocall. They’re faster than emails, easier than phone calls, and allow you the same opportunity for information gathering. 71% of consumers are willing to interact with chatbots because they want information fast. However, while there are millions of people willing to use chatbots, only 5% of companies surveyed in 2016 actively use chatbots in their business. This number is probably even smaller in the legal industry. Let’s face it, many people consider the legal industry to be out of touch with modern tech advancements, and developing your own messenger bot could be the prime opportunity you need to separate yourself from your competition by making yourself as accessible as possible on any platform.

Popular chatbot builders, which walk you through setting up your sequences and build the bot for you, include ManyChat, Motion AI, Chatfuel and more. The chatbot business is booming, so while there are plenty of options for you to choose from, make sure you explore each to find out which works best for your firm including price, ease of use, and integrations. The best chatbot platforms offer online tutorials and customer support to make the process easy to use, so before you know it you’ll be on your way to building your own bot!