How to Convert Leads into Paying Clients

Many lawyers pay top dollar to purchase leads from third parties but then are unable to retain them as clients. When you get your hands on a warm lead that is interested in your services, it turns into a sales exercise. Below are some tips on how to successfully turn a lead into a paying client.

1) Response rate

You should aim to contact the leads as soon as you receive their contact information. You should reach out to the leads within 24 hours of you getting them. The best way to contact them is to call them. If they do not answer your call, leave a message and then email them letting them know that you contacted them. Common sales practice tells us that it takes 4 outreach attempts to close a deal

2) Develop a formal intake process

You should develop a formal process to deal with the inquiries that come your way. It is not strategic for you to take every single call at all hours of the day. Therefore, you should either hire a third party answering service, train staff members, or consider using an appointment booking widget on your website like Vcita.

3) Respond to consultation requests as soon as possible

You should respond to all inquiries within the hour of receiving them. In order to never miss a lead, make sure you train someone on your staff to respond to all inquiries in a timely fashion. Have them integrate their email, cell phone and office phone so that they never pass up a chance to talk to a qualified lead. Assure the client that you are responsive and available to take their calls when they need you. You may not be able to reach the lead on the first phone call. Don’t give up. You should be prepared to reach out 3-4 times before successfully reaching the lead.

4) Offer free consultations

Focus on being helpful and making prospective clients feel comfortable. Clients will retain you if they feel like you were helpful and showed interest in their case.Provide them with additional resources and share past client stories with them (obviously keep all names anonymous!)

5) Be transparent about your fees

You want to establish trust between you and the prospective client. The best ways to do this are to be personal, genuinely care about their story, and also to disclose your fees upfront in the best way you can.

6) Don’t forget to gather important information

Don’t forget to ask them their name and email so that you are able to follow up with them after the call or in person meeting. This is one of the biggest mistakes many new solos make. They never follow up with people that come in for the initial consultation. Following up is crucial as it shows that you care and also it is a great way to keep top of mind in the prospective clients’ minds.