Guide for upgrading from Boost to Grow/Prosper+

If you have recently upgraded from Smokeball Boost to the Grow or Prosper+ subscription tier, please review and complete the items listed below to get a better understanding of the changes you will see in the user interface and feature availability of the Smokeball app. 

1. As a Grow/Prosper+ user, you will now have access to the Smokeball desktop application. Please use the desktop application for creating any new leads and matters in order to utilise more powerful features like workflows to help maximize your firm's efficiency.
   • Download the Smokeball desktop application.
2. You will need to complete any outstanding activities listed in the activities tab for matters within the Smokeball web app before starting to use the desktop app.
   • This is due to activities not currently being synced between the web and desktop applications of Smokeball.
   • By completing this step, you also ensure that you do not lose any pending time entries for the existing activities in your list.
3. To use Outlook with your Smokeball desktop application, you will need to revert to the older "Classic" version of Outlook if you have been using New Outlook.
4. The "assign to Smokeball" button can no longer be used.
5. Your Dropbox integration will be disabled.
6. There will be extra fields to fill in when creating contacts in the desktop app.

   • We recommend adding more information to your contact cards such as birthdays, death dates, middle names, SSNs, EINs, additional notes, etc. 

     

Matter Enhancements

1. One of the most important features of the desktop app is the ability to configure your matters. It is important to configure your matters before you begin extensive use of the desktop app. Learn more about Matter Configuration.
2. Another helpful desktop feature is matter tags. Matter tags allow you to easily differentiate your matters. Learn how to set up matter tags.
3. Smokeball Grow/Prosper+ also supports referrers, which makes it easier to track this information for marketing and reporting.
4. We also recommend closing out leads which did not materialize into a paying clients and specifying why those interactions didn’t lead to income for your firm. You can use this information to calculate conversion rates. 

5. You should also add all additional third parties into your matters, including attorneys from the other side. Additionally, you can now input case details such as statute of limitations, judges’ case numbers, etc. into your matters. These fields would not have been available in Boost, but under Grow and Prosper+, allow you to store more important information for each matter. 

   

   You should also input case details such as statute of limitations, judges’ case numbers, etc. into your matters.

   

6. As a Grow/Prosper+ user, you can now easily sync emails into Smokeball by using the integrated toolbar in Outlook. You also have the ability to right click on an email and associate it with a matter.

   

7. You can also import emails (or any other files) saved to your computer by using the import feature. 

   

Review Parties

1. Once you have access to Grow/Prosper+, it is also a good idea to doublecheck how your parties have been entered and to make corrections as needed. For example, if you accidentally input the other party’s attorneys, other side’s children, etc. in your matter, now is the ideal time to make these fixes.
2. Likewise, corporation contacts work differently in Smokeball Desktop. You can designate a contact as a firm/business/organization in the Smokeball desktop app. By contrast, if you need to indicate a main contact for a corporation in Boost, you need to input it into a Memo or add the contact in as a separate contact card.
3. For estate planning firms, we also recommend converting relevant individual contacts to trusts. You may also wish to convert corporation contacts into trusts for automation purposes.

Embrace New Practices in Smokeball Desktop

1. Moving up to Grow and Prosper+ unlocks new best practices. For example, you no longer have to create a matter with all the right details on the first try. If you mistakenly picked the correct representation, matter type, or state, you can now correct these errors instead of having to re-create the matter.
2. You also can now enhance your productivity by applying workflows and matter stages to new and existing matters. You can even set specific documents to be completed based on your workflow setup for a matter.
3. Smokeball Desktop also provides access to the widest range of integrations, and we encourage you to spend some time enabling the integrations which are most relevant to your firm.
4. Matter Permissions in Smokeball Desktop are more granular; you can grant staff access to individual matters on a case-by-case basis. However, you can still control permissions at the staff level if you prefer.
5. Finally, we highly recommend that you sign up for a General Q&A session with a training expert. You also might find it helpful to watch our Basics and Essentials webinars for Smokeball Desktop. Alternatively, you can get the breadth of knowledge about the key features of the Grow/Prosper+ tier by completing our dedicated training courses on the Smokeball Academy.