The success of your law firm greatly depends on your ability to generate, capture and convert new leads into paying clients. Each new lead can prove invaluable, as one client can bring in more revenue and potentially refer more people to your firm. However, if you are not offering your leads the best intake experience possible, you could drive them toward the competition on their search for legal support.

So what is the cost of losing a legal lead? At the industry standard lead loss rate of 8%, you could be losing tens of thousands of dollars in potential revenue with every campaign. With this rate, for every 100 quality leads you generate, you will lose eight to other firms and all the potential revenue from those clients. Beyond lost revenue, your marketing return on investment (ROI) also decreases each time you lose a lead to the competition. You can prevent the loss of your new leads and reach your annual revenue goals with the following strategies.

1. 24/7/365 Phone Coverage

When legal leads start reaching out to find support with their case, they often make call after call until they find a law firm that can help. Since injuries and other problems can strike at any time, these legal leads can attempt contact at any point in the day or even after business hours.

To prevent the loss of these leads, you must have sufficient phone coverage by skilled intake specialists. You can ensure you always have someone on the other end of the line by hiring a legal answering service. These professionals can provide 24/7/365 coverage to give your leads a point of contact during busy times, after office hours and on the weekends. Your intake specialists will provide a prompt response, record pertinent data and help your leads feel comfortable choosing your firm.

2. Lead Tracking

With an answering service handling your calls, you can take advantage of the power of lead tracking to capture and convert all your leads. Your intake specialists will record every point of contact with each lead, following them through the entire intake process. By providing immense support at every stage, your representatives can adequately nurture your leads and increase your conversion rates as a result.

Your answering service specialists will work diligently to move clients from intake to the contract signing stage. Upon reaching this stage, lead tracking can indicate when it is time to send out the contract to be signed by the new client. Furthermore, lead tracking indicates the optimal time for follow-up to help ensure the lead receives the necessary information and support when they need it.

3. CRM/CMS Integration

Your intake specialists can utilize customer relationship management (CRM) and case management software (CMS) to foster strong connections with your leads. These software programs streamline the lead tracking process and allow for improved planning of your marketing goals and strategies. The system keeps all client information in an easily-accessible, central location for access with each point of contact.

When partnering with a legal answering service, intake specialists will import all client data into your own CRM and CMS to allow you to quickly pull up client information and guide them through their current stage of the intake process. Beyond supporting your clients at every point of contact, the CRM and CMS systems allow for follow-up through email campaigns.

4. Spanish Language Support

When clients who speak Spanish as their first language call your firm, you must have bilingual intake specialists available to assess and meet their needs. A firm grasp of the language, conversational tone and cultural sensitivity is needed to help these clients feel comfortable in the selection of your law firm.

To provide this level of service, you can partner with an answering service company who employs bilingual intake specialists, such as Alert. Your intake specialists will utilize their knowledge of the language and culture to provide your clients with the highest level of support.

Preventing Lost Legal Leads with Help from Alert

If you want to meet – and exceed – your annual revenue goals, you must minimize your lost legal leads at every turn. You can ensure your law firm has the ability to effectively capture new leads by partnering with a legal answering service. At Alert Communications, we pride ourselves on providing your clients with 24/7/365 support with all their legal needs and issues. Our intake specialists can handle your calls when your team cannot, helping to greatly reduce the cost of losing leads.