Custom Billing Format for Legal Made Simple and Efficient

Custom billing format for Legal

(soft upbeat music) - Day one of Clio Con. Let's get the energy up. We're talking about Bill Themes today. As was mentioned, my name is Meghan and I'm the product marketing manager for the billing and accounting products here at Clio. Now, generally when the bill comes, it's not the most enjoyable part of any experience, legal or otherwise. I mean, it's kind of human nature to not want to part with our money but do you know what makes us not want to part with our money even more? Is if the way in which we were billed was truly awful. I'd like you to think back to a recent great dining experience. Hey, maybe it was even one here in Nashville over the last couple days. You walked into the restaurant and the atmosphere was buzzing. It was electric. You were warmly greeted by the host and promptly seated at a table. Then your waiter came over, engaged in a little bit of friendly chit chat before taking your orders and making careful note of any allergies at the table. All throughout the night, your beverages were being refilled faster than you can say Bill Themes and your meals arrived promptly and they were hot and absolutely delicious. Now, let me ask you this. Would it taint your dining experience if the way you were build was terrible? Would you personally go back to that restaurant? Would you recommend it to family and friends knowing they might experience a prickly payment situation? The bill is arguably the most important client touch point that you'll have. I mean, it's really the thing that allows you to get paid and to keep doing what you're doing. And for many, it makes the legal experience easy and personal when it can be pretty uncomfortable and unforeseen for some. A bill isn't just a list of numbers either. It's actually the final mile in your legal services. It's your way to show clients you listened, understood and delivered what you promised and what they needed. Bill Themes are the templates in Clio Manage that dictate what is brought onto the bill and how that information looks. With an effective and eye pleasing helpful Bill Theme, let's face it, you get paid faster and who doesn't love that? I'd like you to put yourself on the other side of the legal experience for just a moment. Suppose you were getting a will created. You leave the lawyer's office after the final drafting. Everything's done. You're walking back to your car and you hear that old familiar chime on your phone, a new email. You look at your phone and it's from an email address that you recognize and trust. So you open it up and there's a personalized bill with a handy pay now button so that you can get something done on your to-do list before you get home for dinner. Easy, right? Isn't that how paying for anything should be? With Bill Themes, Clio gives you the tools to brand your bills to your firm, use your logo, signature colors, even your fonts so that every single client touchpoint is seamless and in line with everything else the client has experienced. Simplicity is also your best friend. The less time that your client is spending deciphering that bill, the faster they are to pay it. I would like you to think about mainly just including what you're charging them for, how much it costs and how they can pay. While that's a general rule, the bill and the billing needs do differ based on your client base and practice area but those are the main things you need to focus on. The thing with Bill Themes is that you get the flexibility to cater to any billing situation that you need. Why not have multiple bill themes? Actually, many Clio customers create several Bill Themes right when they get started. Maybe there are different themes for practice areas, the attorneys in your legal office, the way that you're billing clients, if it's flat fee versus hourly, maybe it's different based on geography or even a specific client. Suppose you do up council work, you might want a different bill theme depending on what work you're picking up and charging for. At this law firm here, you see we have different themes for different levels of detail and billing models and even clients. Finally, make it easy for them to pay. Throw a Clio payments click to pay link right in the footer of the bill so that it makes paying convenient for clients. Convenience in this case means speed. You can also throw a remittance form in the footer of your bill that includes your banking information, right with what you're charging clients so that they only need to go to one place. Bill Themes are the final mile of your legal service offering. Clients might have gotten the best representation, the best outcome in court, but if that bill is unclear or non-transparent, you've now undone all of that positive sentiment and goodwill that's taken time to build. Not to mention the trust you've spent time over the last week, months, even years. That can all be destroyed if a bill seems non-transparent or untrustworthy. Bill Themes is just one small piece of Clio Manage with literally thousands of possibilities. And while it might seem like a lot to think about, keep your client as the sole focus and build the theme around what they need. The bill shouldn't be a guessing game or a Where's Waldo picture. Use Bill Themes to communicate exactly what you need to communicate to your clients, which might differ across practice areas, geographies and attorneys. Think about even separating out time entries and expenses so it's very clear what activity type is being charged at what rate. Now, billing clients isn't just about that file or piece of paper. Even if the best Bill Theme is given to your clients, if it's not delivered in the most efficient or personal way, you've undone all of that progress. You see here in this example that John has the bill delivered from an email address he recognized, he opened it up and he's been addressed by his first name as he usually is by his law firm. On the bill, he knows his outstanding balance as well as a convenient pay online now button. John can pay instantly with the Visa cards sitting in his pocket right now. Set up bill message templates with autofill fields that let you bill and send in bulk. You're also retaining every ounce of personalization on those bills from the very first thing that they see, the subject line. Autofill fields in the subject line and the body message actually let you build a template in Clio, and then Clio will do the work to fetch and fill that accurate data so that you're left with personal billing communications for all of your clients without having to sink all of those non-billable hours into it. You can also create up to 20 customized templates for things like bills, trust requests, outstanding balances and more. And that personal billing touch doesn't just stop after you've sent the bill. Even with the most beautiful bill and the most personal communication, life can get in the way and clients might forget to pay. It's not a pleasant experience for you as a law firm or for clients sometimes to be hounding them for that payment. So why not delegate that task to Clio by setting up customized automated reminders that go out when you want them to go, to whom you want them to go and you can customize the message of the actual reminder. Finally, include details that communicate transparency with your client because you're building up a relationship that's based on trust. Think about including the statement of account within the bill. This is especially nice for clients who have maybe some more complex financial situations or for clients who have a very longstanding relationship with your firm. If you have clients who work with trust funds, you can also include that trust ledger on the bill itself or even think about adding the attorney's initials right on the bill so that they know who completed what task at what rate. Easy. So by now, you've probably realized just how massive and important Bill Themes are to the way that you bill and collect from clients. We just covered a fraction of the thousands of possibilities, but if you're looking down at your notebook right now and wishing you had some key takeaways to bring home, don't worry, I got you covered. Number one, focus on that client experience. Make sure there's consistent communication and touchpoints with a lot of warmth and personalized communication and make it convenient for them to pay. Number two, use the bill as another opportunity to brand your firm. You want to be memorable so that clients know to recommend you and can think of your firm the next time they need a legal matter being tackled. And finally, number three, keep it simple. Be clear, be concise and straightforward so that clients know exactly what they need to do to pay. Bill Themes are just one small feature in Clio Manage with literally thousands of possibilities. And as we like to say at Clio, it's a feature built with flexibility in mind to suit every billing need. So I'd like to take you back to that dining experience we explored a couple minutes ago. I challenge you to be the restaurant that delivers the bill on time. Be the restaurant that clearly puts your address and contact information along with your firm name right at the top of the bill. Be that restaurant that has every menu item clearly printed by computer and its corresponding price. Be the restaurant to offer multiple ways to pay because we don't always just carry cash on us. Be the restaurant that adds a nice personal note recalling a detail you discussed, like enjoy the rest of your trip to Nashville. Thank you all for joining me in our chat about Bill Themes. If you'd like help smoothing out your billing process, head on over to the Clio Success Center where a fellow Clion can help you sort things out. My name is Meghan and enjoy the rest of Clio Con. (soft upbeat music)