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National Trial Lawyers 2014 Meeting
By Stephen Fairley
The Rainmaker Institute®
CEO of The Rainmaker Institute—the nation’s largest law firm marketing company that specializes in helping small law firms generate more referrals and convert more leads
Nationally recognized expert on lead conversion for law firms, blogging, and social media for attorneys
Developed the first automated lead conversion follow-up system for law firms
Coached, trained and spoken to more than 10,000 attorneys
Academically trained as a Clinical Psychologist International best-selling author of 12 books and
10 audio learning programs World traveler: Visited over 35 countries and
taken 15 cruises
www.TheRainmakerInstitute.com
Lead Conversion
Convert more prospects into paying clients Browsers into buyers! Rapidly increase revenues!
Lead Generation Very expensive Never ending process Costs more every year
Client Retention Clients for Life! Repeat business Repeat referrals
Lead Generation
Client Retention
Lead Conversion
Lead Generation
Client Retention
Lead Conversion
Goes way beyond using tracking phone numbers!
Starts at the initial contact with your law firm
Starts by defining what qualifies as a “lead”
Continues on until they sign up as a client
Define what a “LEAD” is What is and is not counted as a “Lead” Who counts the “Leads” Avoid arguing about what a “qualified” lead is...
Here’s how we (TRI) define a “Lead”: Someone who has never done business with you before
(vs a repeat client) Someone who expresses an interest in your services
Everyone who contacts the firm via email, live chat, phone, social media, personal referral, internet, networking event, seminar, etc
How many leads does it take to produce 1
contact? How many leads does it take to produce 1 new
client? How many new clients per month will it take
to achieve your financial goals this year?
Most attorneys believe they are “good, very good, or excellent” at conversion... Most of them are WRONG!
Why?
There are 5 Stages of Conversion and they only
focus on the 4th one!
1. Number of Leads into the top of the funnel
2. Number of Leads Who turn into Appointments
3. Number of Appointments Who Show Up
4. Number of Appointments Who Sign Up at the IC
5. Number of Appointments Who Sign Up Later
These are before and after results from an actual law firm!
Based in Florida with 7 attorneys and 17 staff Practice areas: PI, Med Mal, Criminal, Family,
Bankruptcy, and some Mass Tort Marketing: multiple websites, TV & radio ads,
blogging, buying leads, bus ads and seminars Doing over $5M in annual revenues
When asked about lead conversion, the Owner
commented they were doing “Excellent and didn’t need any help.”
What kind of conversion problems do they have?
Report Card A = Over 61% B = 51-60% C = 41-50% D = 31-40% F = Under 30%
Conversion Problems: 1. Major problem with “No
Shows” (29%) 2. Poor Conversion at the
IC (32%) 3. No Follow Up after IC 4. No one converts 96%
of Leads into Appts!
11% Overall Conversion!
Up From 7%!
Total Number of New Clients:
77!
Up From 29%!
Up From 17
32% Overall Conversion!
Rainmaker Lead Conversion System Results
Currently, here is what your follow up looks like…
7 Ways to Triple Your Appointments Stage 1 Stage 2
1. Institute the “5 Minute Follow up Rule.” 2. Never make an Attorney responsible for follow up! 3. Train a staff person at first. When you get over 30-50
leads per month hire a dedicated person. 4. Give staff person a performance bonus to set
appointments who show up. 5. Call a minimum of 5-7 times before giving up. 6. Script every voicemail, test results and verify calls are
being made. 7. Send 4-5 educational emails via autoresponder, in
addition to the calls.
10 Ways to Improve “Show Ups” Stage 2 Stage 3
1. Send an immediate email confirmation with the details.
2. Include a map, driving directions & photo of building in your email.
3. Send a “shock and awe package” in the mail. 4. Have a staff person call them the day before and the
day of. 5. Call them 10 mins after they don’t show up to
reschedule.
10 Ways to Improve “Show Ups” Stage 2 Stage 3
6. Never be rude or mean if they don’t show. Assume something happened in their life that prevented them from coming.
7. Call a minimum of 5-7 times after missed appointment before giving up.
8. Script every voicemail and test results. 9. Track to verify calls are made. 10. Send 4-5 Autoresponder emails in addition to calls
6 Ways to Sign Up More People at the Initial Consult Stage 3 Stage 4
1. Ensure Quality Control during the Initial Consult! 2. Role play with staff & train them how to overcome
objections. 3. Consider not having attorneys do the Initial Consults. 4. Emphasize how you are different from your
competitors. 5. Empathize over their situation! Pay attention to their
emotions! 6. Directly ask for the business. Make it clear you want
their business.
4 Ways to Convert More Prospects After the IC Stage 4 Stage 5
1. Send an email immediately after the “No Hire” event asking them why they didn’t buy.
2. Have a staff person call the day after the “No Hire.” 3. Have a staff person call 4-5 more times afterwards to
encourage them to come back into the office. 4. Send 4-5 Autoresponder emails in addition to calls.
How much $$$ are you losing right now because you don’t have a Lead Conversion System?
Do you want to double your revenues this year? Lead Generation is the Most Expensive way to double
your revenues! Lead Conversion is the Most Efficient way to double your
revenues! You can double your Lead Conversion rates in a matter of
months! Stop throwing your money away on more leads!
A system that tracks where all your leads come from Customized for the way you do business Measures how many of your leads turn into appointments
and how many convert into clients Automated follow up process so you never lose a lead Systems to help you convert more prospects into
retentions Must include ongoing training for your staff Must include consulting on best practices in lead
conversion
You must track where your most and best referrals are coming from! If you refer leads out for a referral fee you must automate the tracking & follow up of these cases. If you want more referrals from other professionals, you need to implement an automated system to stay in touch with them.
For those of you who have more than 1 practice area: PI, SSDI, Mass Tort, Worker’s Comp, Med Mal You must systematically remind your clients of the other ways you can assist them!
New clients often have the same questions and they constantly ask your staff about! You must identify these questions, develop answers to them, and automatically place new clients into an educational funnel to answer their FAQs!
The secret to increasing your client referrals is to stay connected with them long after the case is resolved. You must have a drip-marketing campaign to help you keep in touch with former clients and keep them updated on what’s happening in your law firm.
As a business owner you need a customized dashboard that you can quickly look at to see if your leads are up or down, converting or not converting, how well your team is doing, and areas they need to improve. Knowing the metrics and key numbers of your law firm is what separates the “good” from the “truly great” law firms!
• Regular training with you and your team
• Customizing the system to meet your needs
• Expanding the system as your firm grows
• Ongoing consulting around best practices in lead conversion
Ultimately, lead conversion is more that just software. Lead conversion is about connecting with prospects in a real and meaningful way, positioning your firm as their best option, and then gently persuading them to do business with you. Your team needs ongoing consulting and training to continue to perform at their peak!
Currently, here is what your follow up looks like…
Thank You!
Stephen Fairley The Rainmaker Institute®
888-588-5891
www.TheRainmakerInstitute.com