As technology has evolved, how have you made your Web site more user friendly for customers to do business with you?
Web 2.0 principles have changed the way we think about our Web site. We still have a Web site for traditional marketing purposes, but we use mainly third-party sites to reach out and connect with our clients and business partners, such as Lawguru.com, Facebook, and LinkedIn. These sites allow us to have a dialogue with our clients and business partners and better ascertain their needs.
How has Web-based communications changed the way you communicate with your employees?
At B-Law, we use voice over Internet protocol (VoIP – via Skype) for all of our phone calls. Internally, our team members also connect through Google chat, update project statuses via Salesforce.com, correspond through Gmail, and share documents via Google Docs.
Between Salesforce.com and Google Docs, we’re moving to a paperless office, which removes the geographical constraints of having to be in the same location to view a physical file. We’re also beta testing Cubetree, an application developed by Ross Fubini (a colleague), which serves the function of Facebook but for internal purposes of a business only. Because our team members are connected virtually and not physically, Cubetree allows them to reach out to one another and benefit from shared resources.
Additionally, we have an intranet called the Watercooler, a propriety system developed through Google Sites, which allows team members to share substantive knowledge within B-Law.
As our team expands, we expect Cubetree and the Watercooler to be important in providing the structure for our virtual community.
What is the Web technology level of expectation of your customers or clients and how have you met them?
Web technology is currently a bonus for most of our clients. By using e-mail, Web-based project management and CRM applications, and a paperless system, we’re able to speed up turnaround time and reduce the cost to our clients. We anticipate going forward that our Web-based technology will attract more tech-savvy clients.
Is e-advertising something you presently use for your business or see your company using in the future?
Web 2.0 has changed how we find clients, or rather how clients find us. This culture shift has evolved from reaching out to potential clients to encouraging potential clients to reach out to us. As such, we make our resources available via the Internet, and when potential clients need our services, they know where to look.
What are the useful business applications of social networking for your company?
Social networking sites have become our primary source for creating new relationships and maintaining our existing ones. In addition to the standard applications, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, we also use BizNik.com, Lawguru.com, IncBizNet.com, and RealEstateInvestor.com to connect with our target audience. Our plan for the future is to expand into content-based blogs on targeted sites.
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Company: B-Law LLC
Industry: Legal profession
Web Site: www.b-law.com
