5 Things Your Law Firm Needs For Solid Lead Conversion
Posted on: 10 August 2017
Taking a prospective client and turning them into a paying client, otherwise known as lead conversion, is one of the most powerful tools for increasing revenue. Increasing the number of leads you get both online and offline can be a good thing. But learning steps for lead conversion for your law firm is even more important. If your office is struggling, rest assured that there are a number of simple ways to get those numbers up. Here are five things needed for a successful lead conversion in your law firm.
Dedicated Intake Specialist
If you're like most other firms, you probably have a receptionist taking phone calls. In fact, you probably hired your receptionist based on their customer service background or experience working with clients at another office.
What you need may be someone with a sales background--someone who knows how to talk to the person calling and convince them that they need to hire you. This requires a person who is comfortable with telesales, who is dedicated and persistent without being pushy, and who is simultaneously sympathetic to the client's situation.
This doesn't mean your current receptionist should get the boot. It simply means they need sales training so they can become your dedicated intake specialist and boost your lead conversion.
Follow-Up Phone Calls
According to Velocify, leads can easily fall through the cracks with some not being contacted fast enough and others never being contacted again. You simply must follow up with every lead that calls your office, and you should do so as quickly as possible.
How quickly, you ask? Well, 24 hours is too long to wait. Research has shown that potential clients that are contacted within one minute of coming in as a lead are five times as likely to be converted to a paying client. It's also important to not give up after the second or third call. Your team should be aware that 80 percent of non-routine sales occur after five follow-up calls.
If you're too busy to handle this process yourself, hire a sales professional to do so.
Follow-Up Emails
In addition to calling potential clients, you should come up with an email strategy, too. These emails should be informative in nature, providing them with educational material that not only helps them but shows your knowledge and passion. It should also be written in a way that gently nudges them to hire you.
The first email should simply thank them for contacting you with the second one giving them a simple "how-to," such as "How to Find the Right Attorney" or "7 Questions to Ask an Attorney at an Initial Consultation." Potential clients will appreciate the information and be more receptive when you "push" for them to hire your services in a subsequent email.
Lead Tracking
In order to know where your successes and failures lie, you need to track every lead that comes in. This means following that lead from the time they contact you until a contract is signed or they inform you they've hired someone else. That way, when a lead doesn't convert, it will show you where it failed to convert.
Was it at the initial phone call where the receptionist failed to get a return phone number or email address? Was it during the follow-up process where the potential client only received one phone call? Or were they lost during the email process when they opted out of your list? This information will let you know where changes need to be made.
Lead Software
Automating the process of lead management will put you and your staff in a better position to deal with your firm's day-to-day, and it can help boost sales.
Software can be used to automate the email process, freeing up your staff for other things. It can also be used to place phone calls with the software doing the dialing so your team doesn't have to manually enter numbers, making it a time-saving feature. Software can be used to send text messages, too, if that's something that you want to pursue.
Bottom line? Lead management software is critical when it comes to boosting your firm's lead conversion.
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