Here at Soulpepper, we talk a lot about generating more leads for your firm – and the time and money investment required to do so. But we don’t often talk about what happens to those potential clients once you have them. In order to convert more potential leads into paying clients and to increase your overall return on investment (ROI), you need a full proof system which prevents your leads from falling through the cracks. In this article, you will find insightful tips in creating a systematic lead management process, which converts lead into clients at the highest possible rate.
Why is Lead Management Important to Growing Your Law Firm?
Lead management is important because it lays the groundwork for a successful legal sales process. This process will give you the ability to contact, track and onboard new clients that are looking for legal assistance.
Lead management is fundamental in ensuring that your potential clients are following the best possible process in order for them to smoothly flow through the funnel. Unlike case management systems where processes happen after a client has signed with your firm, lead management happens before. By following these best practices, it will help your law firm grow and land more clients.
In most cases, lead management is the missing link which connects your digital marketing efforts to the rest of your practice.
Lead Management Best Practices that will Help Your Law Firm
Create a management tool to track all your leads
Creating a system that gives you the ability to track, manage and evaluate the leads that are coming through will not only help with your lead management, but the information you collect will also give you an idea of how successful your marketing efforts are.
Many larger law firms will opt for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. For small to medium sized firms, having a Google or Excel spreadsheet or a database stored with information of your leads will also work.
Choosing the right system for you depends on several factors:
- The size of your practice
- The volume of leads that you intend to generate or are currently generating
- Your overall marketing and operating budget
- The resources that you have available to manage the system
The intention is to create a database of information so that you and the rest of your team are aware of the sales process and how to deal with leads. You can also keep track of where your leads are coming from (eg.: referrals, email marketing, organic web traffic, or paid search traffic) and tailor your marketing efforts to the highest performing strategy.
Make an effort to contact a potential client within 15 minutes
It’s crucial that you make every effort possible to respond to your leads within 15 minutes. According to Maclean, there are roughly one lawyer for every 420 people in Canada, and one lawyer for every 250 people in the United States. Since most clients nowadays start their search for legal support through some sort of search engine (ex: Google), it’s likely that they will call another lawyer and ‘shop around’ for more information.
A study by Clio shows that on average, 35% of calls from potential leads go unanswered. When they aren’t able to reach you, they will probably move on to the next firm. Being responsive is the first step in building trust and will maximize the likelihood of a lead converting to a client.
Make three to five attempts to contact each prospect
Think of sales like a funnel, where prospects enter at the top of the funnel and exit at the bottom as customers.
We understand that client matters take up most of your time, in addition to the operational efforts that a firm needs to manage in order for the practice to run. However, if you don’t take time to nurture your leads that come in, your business will run dry.
Unfortunately, many lawyers give up on their leads too soon. Studies have shown that persistence pays when it comes to sales. You should make a conscious effort to contact every prospect at least three to five times, or until you hear back from them. The more follow-up attempts you make, the more likely you will be able to get through.
Follow up with leads in the future if you don’t receive a response
You want to ensure that you stay engaged even if you didn’t hear a response back from your lead. In general, only around ten percent of prospective clients are ready to hire a lawyer now. By continuing to engage with those potential clients, your firm will stay top of their mind so that they won’t go looking for another attorney when the timing is right. By committing to improving the speed and persistence of your follow up, you’re more likely to have a higher ROI.
One way to continue to nurture these types of leads and maintain a strong level of engagement is through email marketing. Providing information and insight through general updates, newsletters, articles and FAQs could be valuable to those leads that were looking for your services and area of practice. You can add more value through outreach if you tailor and target the types of communication you’re providing.
Pre-Qualify a Lead by Using a Online Intake Form
Having a clear call-to-action (CTA) on your website is important, but having a form that your potential clients can fill out will give them the opportunity to share information with you. However, even when you receive the form, you should still call every lead. The information that you receive may not contain information that would qualify them, but it’ll give them the chance to share their reason behind reaching out to your firm.
Many law firms have adopted a case management solution for inputting all of their client information, but very few have some sort of process of collecting this information. By using an online intake form, you are able to benefit from the following:
- They can reduce the time it takes to record all the information you need
- It eliminates the possibility for a message being miscommunicated and reduces human error
- You’re able to structure information into a usable format that’s compatible with your CRM or database
- You make it easy for clients to submit information you need to do your job
Ready to start filling your funnel??
At Soulpepper, we have a team of digital marketing experts that understand every aspect of legal marketing and are constantly applying best practices and new strategies to help our clients stay on top. Let us help you increase the quantity and quality of your leads
Ready to invest in your firm? Give us a call or contact us on our website today to book a free consultation and to learn more about how we can help your Law Firm grow.
