Most law firm lead generation companies work like this: they set up a common website with information about a legal subject and include an email form on the site for people to connect with a local attorney to discuss their case. Sounds ok. But there are just two problems:

1. Over 95% of people who search the internet are just “information gatherers”. They are not ready to hire an attorney. When they inquire to be connected with an attorney, they usually just want free information. These leads rarely turn into paying clients because they are not yet ready to buy your services. Plus, info gatherers are notoriously difficult to reach when you try to call them back – especially if you don’t reach them within five minutes of their inquiry.
2. Companies send these leads to as many as 10 attorneys. So, even if you do get someone that’s ready to retain an attorney, you still have to compete against others to get the client. Already your odds of closing that good lead may drop to 10% or less.

The secret those law firm lead generation companies won’t disclose? …the real closing rate their clients are actually experiencing on their leads.

How to Generate Valuable Leads Online

This is the model we use at Legal LeadQ. The bankruptcy attorneys using our law firm lead generation program are currently closing up to 80% of the leads they receive (average though is 50%). Our attorneys gladly give testimonials about how well our model works. Potential new clients call the firm directly. And, our attorneys only pay for the qualified new clients that call them, not for the expense of running the campaign.

1. Reach new clients at the time they are ready to hire an attorney. When people are searching the internet, they are either “hunters” (hunting for a firm to contact) or “gatherers” (information gatherers, not yet ready to buy). Reaching only hunters can be challenging. The trick is to make sure your firm is found when people are searching for bankruptcy attorneys to contact, not for just bankruptcy information. And don’t forget mobile phone users. We find that 20-40% of all searches by hunters today are now being done on mobile phones. Make sure you have a special search campaign and mobile-optimized site to reach these valuable prospects too. Once prospects visit your site, follow up with Remarketing – “reminder” online display ads that show only to people who have previously visited your website – so when they are ready to make their inquiry, they remember your firm above your competitors.
2. Tell prospects why they should hire your firm over your competitors. People searching online for a bankruptcy attorney will visit and review sites from a variety of firms. Be upfront and tell them why they should choose you over the others. The more reasons you give, the more they’ll call you over them.
3. Promote a special offer. Sometimes it’s difficult to make your firm stand out from your competitors. You have to have a special advantage, and an offer is a great way to do it. When you promote your offer on Google, you also tend to attract more hunters and fewer gatherers –info gatherers are simply looking for information, they don’t want to be sold to. Hunters, on the other hand, tend to be attracted to offers and less so to general information (they’ve already done their research).
4. Track the clients you retain against your marketing expense. How do you know which law firm lead generation strategies and expenses are generating new clients unless you can track the source of where your cases came from? We recommend using a different landing page or microsite for each marketing campaign, and placing a unique trackable phone number on each site. By tracking who calls on each number, you can determine which associated marketing expenses generate cases and which do not.
5. Follow up on missed leads to improve your ROI. We know it’s impossible to answer every incoming call 24/7. Some inquiries will end up going to voicemail. But if it takes too long for you to retrieve your messages and return the prospect’s call, you run the risk of the prospect calling another attorney. We recommend using a voicemail system with a dedicated voicemail message that emails a recording and transcription of the message directly to you as soon as the message is missed. You can then return the call within minutes, rather than much later after the lead has potentially gone cold.