{"id":10670,"date":"2024-07-16T09:25:51","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T09:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=10670"},"modified":"2024-07-16T09:25:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T09:25:52","slug":"a-conversation-with-paul-lewis-firmwide-managing-partner-at-linklaters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/eu\/blog\/a-conversation-with-paul-lewis-firmwide-managing-partner-at-linklaters\/","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with Paul Lewis, Firmwide Managing Partner at Linklaters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A wide range of Salesforce customers attended our World Tour London event at the ExCeL in Docklands, and Paul Lewis, the Firmwide Managing Partner at global law firm, Linklaters, was one of them. He took some time to chat to me about how the legal industry is working to make the most of CRM+Data+AI+Trust, which was, of course, a key subject at the forum this June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a practicing lawyer for most of my working life, and I have a good idea of what works and what doesn\u2019t when it comes to legal practice, but what I appreciate about forums like this is the chance to hear how other industries go about improving their customer care. And it resonates very well with my sector. Some people might be surprised by that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many believe that the legal sector is quite different to other areas of business. It has clients rather than customers. It\u2019s founded on legal expertise and experience which, some might argue, transcends mere customer-care rules. \u201cThat\u2019s not true,\u201d Paul stressed, \u201cSure, we\u2019ve been around for 185 years, work in 21 countries, deal with the leading banks and investors, and work on huge corporate mergers and acquisitions across different jurisdictions, but in the end our clients are customers first and foremost. We need to treat them as such. And we can certainly learn a lot from Salesforce\u2019s other customers, which is why it\u2019s so useful to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winning and KEEPING customer loyalty is getting harder<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen research that shows customers shifting away from long-term relationships, which means keeping them loyal is becoming much harder. I think that trend will only deepen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t just rely on delivering exceptional advice anymore,\u201d Paul said, \u201cWe have to be both brilliant and,<\/em> critically, deliver a more responsive and human service experience. The right data at our fingertips is essential to doing that.\u201d The ability to provide a very human service is the key. That\u2019s why CRM is a vital tool. \u201cMost lawyers still can\u2019t quite grasp how important it is, but that\u2019s because they\u2019re too busy,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empowering lawyers to do much more on the go<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Paul then described what he called the \u2018taxi conversation\u2019 which can sway partners\u2019 views about technologies like CRM and AI. \u201cThey\u2019re constantly moving from one meeting to another. If they can get their work done in the back of cab, for instance, or using tools that are intuitive and deliver the data they need instantly, then they\u2019re going to like it. It makes their interactions with clients more compelling. That experience will convince them that AI is worth working with.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul believes that successfully adopting these technologies will help firms compete because, \u201cThis is the most competitive environment that I can remember. It\u2019s really that simple. And, you know, I think it\u2019s important to be excited about AI and all it can offer. We should look at this as being a great time to be alive and welcome the prospect of unlocking the power of AI to help us not only do more and do it better – but transform our profession.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n