Z&A Implements Siebel CRM to Enhance Client-Centric Practices

In April 2006 , Zhang & Associates, P.C. (Z&A), an immigration and business law firm with offices in Houston, TX , New York, NY and Chicago, IL began using Oracle's Siebel Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to manage its case files. The decision to utilize CRM rested heavily on the firm's commitment to provide the best possible service to its clients and carry out its client-centric philosophy. By implementing Siebel CRM, the firm has been able to provide enhanced communication with its clients and more efficiently and accurately process their cases. Additionally, Siebel CRM comprehensively links the thirty-two Z&A team members spread across four locations around the world and minimizes the cost of providing effective legal services to our clients. The firm has already seen a boost in the firm's customer service capability, a simplification of the communication process, and an increase in attorney-client interactions as a result of using Siebel CRM.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a relatively recent business concept that aims at improving profitability and customer satisfaction by helping businesses serve and retain their customers. One of the key benefits of CRM is the ease and affordability of launching the system because of the lack of up-front IT costs. Siebel, recently acquired by and integrated with the information systems giant Oracle, is the largest client-centric software provider in the United States and a leader in CRM software. Ninety percent of the largest corporations in America, including Kodak, NASDAQ, Lexis-Nexis and The City of New York, are Oracle Siebel customers. In fact, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses the Oracle Siebel system to organize, manage and control the high volume of immigration applications it receives. Z&A is the first immigration law firm to operate with the same client-relations system that the USCIS uses, enabling us to keep pace with them and anticipate their filing procedures.

During the months of April and May, 2006, members of the firm spent countless hours adding about two thousand existing cases and fifteen hundred clients, as well as ten thousand potential clients, to its centralized CRM database. Access to this database from any office allows our attorneys to have information about any of the firm's clients at their fingertips, enabling them to contact a client and update his/her case details in a speedy and efficient manner. The firm prides itself on the fact that that its attorneys handle all cases and communicate directly with clients a goal that Siebel CRM is helping to realize.

By deploying the Oracle Siebel CRM system, Z&A can easily account for changes and updates in its client records. Using an intuitive interface, attorneys keep track of our clients' accounts through logs of interactions between the client and the firm, document the progress of cases, keep records of any relevant developments regarding the cases, and create reminders of what steps to take next. Deadlines and case milestones are ensured full and timely attention. The organization provided by this system maximizes the efficiency of the firm's operations, so attorneys can spend more quality time assisting clients with their unique needs. Notably, Siebel CRM allows our attorneys to create tasks and appointments specific to a single client's case, such as reminders of priority or interview dates, thus allowing them to keep on top of every case as if it were their own.

At Z&A, our team of attorneys and support staff is spread between Houston, New York, Chicago and Beijing. Siebel CRM provides the firm with a tool to connect all team members and allows individuals to perform specialized tasks without regard to geographical barriers. The system makes communication so easy and fast that it seems as though all of our members are in the same location.

Perhaps most important are the safeguards Siebel CRM allows the firm to implement. By providing easy access to cases and case information, Siebel CRM not only allows the attorneys to review and check their cases, but also allows supervising attorneys to double-check and oversee the process and progress of all cases. Because a small error can be very detrimental to the petition process, the firm has a long-existing policy of double-checking each case before it is filed. Siebel CRM has greatly enhanced our ability to do so, giving the firm and its clients peace of mind when their cases are filed.

Z&A will continue to use Siebel CRM, and is continually looking for cutting edge technologies that help us better serve the interests of our clients.

(05/19/2006)

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