"The Easiest CRM We’ve Ever Worked With." — Brennan, Manna & Diamond

The Problem Every BD Leader Knows 

Brennan, Manna & Diamond is a full-service entrepreneurial law firm with multiple U.S. offices, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, with 90+ attorneys. Every firm knows the conversation. Leadership wants a CRM that works. Marketing wants data they can trust. And attorneys want to know ‘who knows who,’ right now. 

For Jennifer Shankleton, Chief Growth and Development Officer at Brennan, Manna & Diamond, the challenge was familiar but pressing. The firm needed a modern relationship management solution that could deliver tangible results without requiring a dedicated data steward, without demanding attorney participation, and without a months-long implementation. 

Jennifer knew exactly what she was walking into. She had been here before. In her own words: 

“I have pitched, configured, implemented, trained on, and promoted several CRM and ERM platforms over my legal marketing career. Always with high hopes and the best of intentions. When I joined a new firm and CRM was on the list, I was not confident that we would find a solution that fit our business model, culture, and goals. We had a lean team. Was I prepared for another battle against user adoption and ROI disappointment?” 

That dread is not unique to Jennifer. It is the unspoken truth shared by nearly every Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer in legal today. It is the reason so many firms are still running the same legacy CRM platforms they implemented years ago — not because those platforms are the best option available, but because the cost of trying something new and failing again feels higher than the cost of staying put. 

The existing options all carried the same flaw. They were designed for a world in which attorneys would consistently log contacts, update records, and maintain relationship data over time. That world, as every BD and marketing leader knows, does not exist. 

BMD needed something different. A system that took responsibility for the data itself. 

The Question That Changed Everything 

After evaluating their options, Brennan, Manna & Diamond chose TRĒ AI.  

The question is not: which CRM has the best features? The question is: which platform will still be working six months from now, without a data steward, without attorney logins, and without a maintenance burden on the marketing team? 

TRĒ AI’s relationship intelligence engine answered that question directly. It sources contacts and relationships automatically from email and calendar data. It automatically detects and updates contacts in legacy lists that have changed jobs. It enriches and maintains records without human input. It surfaces the relationship signals attorneys generate every day without ever asking them to do anything with those signals themselves. 

“Our leadership team is thrilled that we are implementing one system with AI built-in and has been impressed by our early data wins and deliverables.” 

-Jennifer Shankleton, Chief Growth & Development Officer, Brennan, Manna & Diamond 

Live on Day One. Results the Same Week. 

“Go live was a breeze.” That is how Jennifer described it. Not a managed understatement. An accurate description of what same-day deployment actually feels like when the platform is built to be easy. 

TRĒ AI was live at Brennan, Manna & Diamond the same day it was connected. No implementation project. No professional services engagement. No training sessions for attorneys. The system went live and the data started working immediately. 

Within days, the marketing team had early data wins they could show leadership. Contacts surfaced automatically from attorney email and calendar data. Records enriched without anyone initiating the process. 

• Same-day deployment. No waiting period. 

• Zero data stewards required. The system maintains itself automatically. 

• Zero attorney participation needed. The platform works completely in the background. 

The Question the Whole Room Was Thinking 

Every law firm technology evaluation eventually arrives at the same moment. Someone in the room asks: what do the attorneys have to do? 

At Brennan, Manna & Diamond, the answer was what Jennifer describes as the moment the attorneys became not just compliant, but genuinely delighted. 

“When our attorneys hear me say, ‘TRĒ AI is working in the background and the most you will need to do is review an invite list to your next event,’ they assume it’s too good to be true.” 

-Jennifer Shankleton, Chief Growth & Development Officer, Brennan, Manna & Diamond 

The relationship intelligence engine surfaces contacts automatically. It enriches records continuously. The only interaction attorneys have with the system is reviewing invite lists that have already been built for them. They are not reluctant. They are pleasantly surprised. 

What the TRĒ Effect Looks Like at BMD 

The results at Brennan, Manna & Diamond are measured in the removal of every friction point that previously stood between the firm’s data and its business development potential. 

• Leadership is impressed. Early data wins were visible quickly and the investment has been validated. 

• The marketing team is no longer fighting the data maintenance battle. Energy that was spent chasing data quality is now available for actual business development work. 

• Attorneys can receive contact alerts automatically. They review invite lists that are ready for them. The most they will ever be asked to do is say yes or no to a list that has already been built. 

“TRĒ AI exceeded my expectations from the start. Go live was a breeze. We do not need a dedicated data steward, and we won’t need attorney review to keep contacts updated.” 

• Jennifer Shankleton, Chief Growth & Development Officer, Brennan, Manna & Diamond 

One Sentence. Twenty Years of CRM Experience Behind It. 

At the end of a conversation about TRĒ AI, Jennifer was asked to summarize the platform in one sentence. 

“Dare I say, the easiest CRM I’ve ever worked with.” 

For a Chief Growth and Development Officer who has worked with relationship management technology across her career, that sentence is not a casual compliment. It is a verdict. 

Easy is not a word that gets attached to CRM implementations. At Brennan, Manna & Diamond, after deploying TRĒ AI, easy is exactly the right word. The system works. The data maintains itself. The attorneys are amazed it is this easy. Firm leadership is pleased. And the marketing team is spending their time on what matters. 

That is the TRĒ Effect.