Whether you are a seasoned marketer or still relatively new to marketing your law firm, it is wise to remember the important principles of law firm growth and rethink and review these foundational principles and strategies for fresh implementation opportunities. So, for the next few months, I will be sharing with you some “Back to the Basics” information Ken is sharing with new members.
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Tracking Your Numbers: Tracking your numbers is the first step to law firm growth, and the first big question any lawyer should ask him or herself is: Do I know my important numbers? Do I know how many leads are coming in each week? How many conversions from lead to client? What is my average attorney fee per case type?
Reduced to its most basic level, there are only three ways to increase your firm’s revenue: 1) Increase the number of cases you open, 2) Increase your average fee per case, and 3) Lower your overhead.
You increase your number of cases in 2 basic ways: 1) Increasing your Leads through marketing, advertising, and referrals, and 2) Increasing your Conversion rate of Leads to cases.
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Focus First On Increasing Your Conversion Rate: Increasing your Conversions is the easiest way to jump start your firm’s growth and see increased profits almost immediately! This is the “low-hanging fruit” that every lawyer should take advantage of. Moreover, without a strong conversion system in place, you will be wasting future advertising and marketing dollars by generating increased leads that fail to result in increased sign-ups! Making the phone ring more frequently without first making sure you have strong systems in place to convert these calls to clients is like pouring advertising dollars down the drain!
Here’s How You Can Increase Your Conversions: Here are some important Strategies you can implement to help you convert more existing leads into clients and start gathering this low-hanging fruit!
1) Prepare scripts for your staff to use in setting up appointments and signing leads. Don’t leave this critical initial step to chance. Stop and think of exactly what your Intake department should be saying to callers or writing in email responses. Your staff ’s words and tone matter. You always want to convey that your firm Cares, Listens, and Can Help Them.
2) Prepare scripted responses to the most common objections potential clients raise. By now, you already know what many of the main objections or concerns potential clients have. Give your Intake staff the tools they need to head these objections off.
3) Set initial appointments ASAP – and certainly within 24 hours. If you snooze here, you lose. Potential clients that contact your office are seeking answers. If they don’t get a quick response from your firm, they will go elsewhere.
4) Put together a powerful shock and awe package to mail potential clients (and new/existing clients to build up Referral potential). Include calendars, refrigerator magnets, a book you’ve written, helpful reports or flow charts, mouse pads, pizza cutters, etc. There are so many great swag items available these days, so take advantage of this opportunity. Everyone loves receiving gifts in the mail.
5) Be accessible 24/7 – Online and By Phone.
a. Install a chat box on your website so potential clients can reach out to you anytime. Online Response time should be no more than 3-5 minutes. You can use vendors such as Smith, AI, or Alert Communication to do this for you if you aren’t able to provide this service in-house.
b. Use an after-hours call service or have phone calls transferred to you or other attorneys in your firm after business hours and on weekends.
Do not let the ball drop here. Far too many lawyers spend huge sums of money to make the phone ring or the website generate interest, but then don’t have systems in place to respond immediately when potential clients reach out. Rest assured, if you don’t respond quickly, another firm will!
YOUR GOLDEN NUGGET: INCREASE YOUR CONVERSION RATE JUST 10%, AND YOU WILL SEE A MASSIVE INCREASE IN YOUR REVENUE!
If you sign just one additional case per 10 leads with an average fee of $10k, that’s an increase of $40K per month and an increase of $480,000 in one year!
Tracking Data: PILMMA Tracking Data Form
Creating a strong Growth Plan for your firm begins with knowing your numbers. There is no substitute for knowing where you are in terms of your firm’s critical numbers- the numbers of leads coming in each day, and from what source- You should keep a running list of every lead that contacts your office, either off or online, including the name of the prospect, their address, phone number, email, case type, marketing source, appointment date, and date retainer is signed. To help you start tracking this important number, PILMMA has prepared a tracking form that you can download and use in paper or digital format. (Members can access this tracking form, our ROI calculator, and more in your Members only Resource tab, formerly known as “the Toolkit,” on the PILMMA website.)
Ken covers this Conversion material and more in the New Members Training Modules, which are now avail-able to you in your Members-Only Resources posted on the PILMMA website. Take a few minutes to jump online and review these valuable resources- If you pick up even one great marketing idea, it can be worth thousands of dollars in increased profits! ◆
