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Resources: Our Law Firm Marketing Newsletter |
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February 2013 How Attorneys Can Convert Browsers into Buyers |
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 Dear
Stephen,
I was recently speaking with a Phoenix bankruptcy attorney who claimed he needed more leads to build his practice. I asked him approximately how many leads were coming into his law firm each month.
Needless to say I was astounded when he informed me his firm's marketing was consistently generating in excess of 100 to 150 new leads every month! Even with modest conversion rates you should be able to generate at least $500,000 annually with this many leads. Yet he was experiencing serious cash flow issues.
Lead conversion is the most overlooked area at most law firms and it has the potential to significantly increase your revenues this year. Imagine the impact on your firm's revenue if you improved
the rate of conversion by just 10%, much less the 20-40% increase we have seen when using a formal lead conversion system. This month, I would like to help you understand how to track your data and analyze it so you can improve your conversion rates.
Sincerely,
Stephen Fairley
888-588-5891
     
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Lead Conversion
Three Major Areas to Analyze
I have found there are really three major areas that tell most of the story about how you generate business for your firm:
1. Lead Generation - This is the system of attracting new potential clients to your law firm.
2. Lead Conversion - This is your ability to turn leads into paying clients and is what I will focus on in this article.
3. Client Retention - How to keep your paying clients coming back for more and/or referring your firm to everyone they know
with a similar problem to theirs.
The first step in lead conversion is to develop a "universal lead definition" (ULD)- what precisely is counted as a lead, who counts
the leads, how you track the leads, and what does not constitute a legitimate lead. We teach our clients that a lead must meet all three of these criteria:
1. Someone who has never done business with you before (versus a repeat client).
2. Everyone who contacts the firm via email, phone, social media, personal referral, internet, networking event, seminar, etc.
3. They express an interest in your services.
In order to build a financially successful law firm you must be committed to tracking every single lead and following up with them religiously!
Here are the Five Stages of Lead Conversion for Law Firms:
1. Number of Leads into the top of the funnel
2. Number of Leads that turn into Appointments
3. Number of Appointments who Show Up
4. Number of Appointments who Sign Up at the Initial Consultation
5. Number of Appointments who Sign Up Later
No lead conversion system is complete without tracking all five stages. Each of these numbers are critical because if you know what your
conversion rates are at each stage then you can determine where your biggest challenges are and develop a plan to improve.
The greatest value of a true lead conversion system is that it gives you direct insight into the actual state of your company and allows you to efficiently automate the follow up process with dozens and even hundreds of leads.
Lead generation too often comes down to a firm's financial ability to "throw money at the problem," but a lead conversion system can level the playing field and give small firms a true unique competitive advantage.
What is an Acceptable Conversion Rate?
Conversion rates can differ widely, depending upon your practice area, but in general the lower your average client is "worth" to your firm the higher your conversion must be in order to run a successful firm.
For consumer attorneys you need at least a 15-20% conversion rate to run a decent practice. This means for every 100 leads your marketing generates you need to sign up a minimum of 15-20 people. Consumer firms with a comprehensive lead conversion system often
experience double this rate, which means they can be very profitable.
Think about it this way:
If you generate 50 leads per month and close 10% at an average fee of $5,000 per client that means you made $25,000 in gross revenues (assuming 100% collection rates). However, if you increase that conversion rate to 20% you would double your revenues- with
the same amount of leads!
The key point is that even small increases in conversion rates can make a significant difference in your revenues.
How to Increase Your Conversion Rate
The key to increasing your conversion rate is to fix your follow up! |
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Understand that when someone doesn't retain you at the first meeting, they are not saying "no," they are usually saying, "not yet" or
"I'm not ready." If you have a system that helps you stay connected with them via email or periodic phone calls then they will more than likely retain you when they are ready versus going to one of your competitors.
Let me give you a simple illustration. When an attorney calls me to get some ideas on how to market their law firm I often end up inviting them to attend one of our Rainmaker legal marketing seminars, but often the dates of our seminar conflict with their schedules. It's not that they don't want to go, it's "not yet" or perhaps they are not mentally ready to make the jump to the next level. Either way, if I depended
on my memory to follow up with them some time in the future we would be in serious trouble!
Instead we have implemented a comprehensive follow up system that includes multiple keep in touch emails and automated reminders that help us remember to call that person weeks or even months after the initial call. In addition, we are committed to sending out a newsletter every single month and have been doing so for years.
I regularly hear from new clients how they have been receiving my newsletter for 5 to 10 years and finally were ready to sign up and start working with us. Talk about a long sales cycle!
The point here is if you have a comprehensive system that follows up with potential clients for long periods of time you will reap the benefits. If you are interested in how a lead conversion system can help your firm fix your follow up and convert more browsers
into buyers I invite you to call our office at 888-588-5891 and set up time for us to talk or fill out this form for a no-obligation demonstration of the customized lead conversion systems that we build for attorneys. |
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Newport
Beach
Rainmaker Retreat
Friday, March 15 &
Saturday, March 16
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Dallas
Rainmaker Retreat
Friday, April 5 &
Saturday, April 6
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Are you ready to discover proven strategies that will move you closer to achieving a lifestyle law firm in 2013?
The Rainmaker
Retreat is our 2-day Marketing Boot Camp where we teach lawyers how they can have it all; increase the number of clients they have, double their income, and yet work less.
Learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat...
What do you have to lose? And what do you stand to gain?
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Many people have asked us what it is like to attend our Rainmaker Retreat. This is a "snapshot" of what you will learn. Listen to colleagues (and even competitors) describe their experiences at the 2 day Rainmaker Retreat. Watch now or order a free DVD recording.
Discount Pricing available for multiple attendees from the same firm.
For more information please call: 888-588-5891 or visit www.RainmakerRetreat.com
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WEBINARS
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For Family Law, Personal Injury & Estate Planning Attorneys
Does this sound like you?
You spend thousands of dollars and countless hours trying to generate more business for your law firm. And still you end up with less business than you hoped. You've put "get more clients" at the top of your list, but have no time to do anything about it.
- If someone calls your office and doesn't make an appointment, what happens to them?
- What if they don't show up for the appointment?
- What if they show up and don't retain you?
- What if they want to retain you and you never hear from them again?
If you answered, "I don't know" or "We leave a message," then this
webinar is for you.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013**
12pm PT | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET
**Time doesn't work? All registrants receive a recording of the webinar to watch at their convenience.
Click
here to learn more.
 How
to Attract Clients in Today's Marketing Jungle
Develop Your Law Firm Marketing Plan
Join us for this 60 minute complimentary webinar to learn the step-by-step actions you should take throughout the course of the next 12 months to substantially increase your revenues.
Get a preview of what you will learn at the Rainmaker Retreat, our 2 day marketing boot camp. Also find out why a thousand attorneys across the country attend and rave about the Rainmaker Retreat. Capacity is Limited.
Click
here to learn more.
UPCOMING DATES:
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 11:00 am (in your time zone)
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 12:00 pm (in your time zone)
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SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY
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Would you be interested in being quoted as a thought leader on one of the most highly trafficked legal websites? Click
here now.
Lawyers.com gets over 3 million unique visitors per month and most of their traffic comes from consumers, business owners and general counsels who are looking for information on a legal topic and attorneys who can assist them in solving their legal challenges.
Due to our relationship with thousands of attorneys and the size of our social media network, Lawyers.com has personally asked us to assist
them in locating attorneys who would be willing to be quoted and cited as an thought leader in a wide variety of legal topics.
So we need your help! If you would like us to contact you when Lawyers.com needs a go to attorney in
your practice area, all you need to do is simply give us a little info about yourself and your practice area here: Complete this form.
Remember...there is no charge for this service! It's just one of the ways we can give back to the legal community and provide a much needed service. |
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