By Stephen Fairley, CEO The Rainmaker Institute
About Stephen Fairley 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 internet marketing, blogging, and social media for attorneys Developed the first automated lead conversion follow-up system for attorneys Coached, trained and spoken to more than 8,000 attorneys Academically trained as a Clinical Psychologist International best-selling author of 12 books and 10 audio learning programs World traveler: Visited over 33 countries and taken 14 cruises www.therainmakerinstitute.com
What Does A Lifestyle Law Firm Look Like To You? More Time with Family & Friends? More Meaningful Relationships? More Community Involvement? More Money? More Vacations? What is Your Vision for Your Law Firm?
Here s the Bottom Line... The PEOPLE run your SYSTEMS The SYSTEMS run your LAW FIRM
7 Systems Every Law Firm Needs 1. Lead Generation System 2. Lead Conversion System 3. Client Retention System 4. Cash Flow System 5. Work Flow System 6. Management Operations System 7. Key Performance Indicators Systems
Lead Generation 2 nd most expensive area in your law firm Never ending process Need to continually produce more and more leads Lead Conversion Convert more leads into paying clients Can significantly & rapidly increase revenues Client Retention Repeat business Repeat referrals
2 Lead Generation Categories OFFLINE MARKETING ONLINE MARKETING Referrals from Current & Former Clients Client Newsletters Referrals from Professionals Client Satisfaction Surveys Speaking & Seminars Networking Blogs Websites Social Media Marketing Article Marketing Press Releases 7
Finding Clients by Referral
The #1 Reason Why You re Not Getting More Referrals LACK OF CLIENT EDUCATION!
6 Questions You Must Pro-Actively Answer to Get More Referrals Why you value and depend on their referrals What a great referral looks like to you How to make a referral to you Email introduction or Phone call or In person Will you call them or do they need to call you? Invite them to a seminar, a lunch, 1 on 1 meeting How you will treat their referrals What to tell referrals about you and your firm What information they can give/hand out Brochure, special report, white paper, ebook, CD
#2 Reason Why You re Not Getting More Repeat Clients & Referrals LACK OF CLIENT COMMUNICATION!
Send a Monthly Newsletter Our clients have found that newsletters are one of the most cost effective forms of building long-term, meaningful and influential relationships with clients. Newsletters allow you to keep in touch with them, update them on changes, and educate them for very little cost.
Samples of Done For You Rainmaker Electronic Newsletters ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY
Samples of Done For You Rainmaker Electronic Newsletters REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY
CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY
PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY
Top 10 Reasons Why Every Law Firm Must Have a Monthly Newsletter 1. Keeps You Connected to Clients, Prospects & Referral Sources 2. Builds Your Credibility and Positions You as an Industry Thought Leader 3. Adds Fresh Content to Your Website which Google Loves 4. Helps You Cross-Market Your Services by Educating People on How You Can Help Them 5. Generates More Referrals from Clients & Professionals
Top 10 Reasons Why Every Law Firm Must Have a Monthly Newsletter 6. Works for You 24/7: People can read it at their convenience 7. Promotes your Website, Blog & Social Media 8. Increases Your Leads: Easy way for Clients to pass on information about your firm to their friends & family 9. Easy to Track Open Rates & Click Throughs 10. Very Cost Effective Form of Legal Marketing!
Keys to Winning at Lead Generation 1. Diversify your market efforts Don t just rely on random referrals Don t just rely on internet marketing 2. Commit to tracking EVERY SINGLE LEAD! Develop reports for tracking effectiveness of marketing efforts Create metrics for quantifying ROI of all major marketing initiatives 3. Appoint an internal person who is responsible for tracking, measuring and reporting
Lead Conversion 1. You CANNOT build a financially successful law firm without paying attention to LEAD CONVERSION! 2. Develop Rules of Engagement for a sales driven law firm Identify: Who is saying what? How many of you have a receptionist who answers the phone? How many of you have someone doing initial consults other than yourself?
Cost Per Lead (CPL) Metric 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) Everyone who contacts your firm via email, phone, social media, personal referral, internet, networking event, seminar, etc They express an interest in your services
Cost Per Lead (CPL) Metric 1. How many Leads are produced in a given time frame? 2. How much money did the firm invest in marketing during the same time frame? 3. Divide $$$ invested by # of Leads 4. Compare month vs quarter vs annual 5. Running average $20,000 spend / 40 New Leads = $500 CPL Is that Good or Bad?
Cost Per Client (CPC) Metric Define what a New Client is for your law firm Here s how we at TRI define a New Client : Someone who pays the firm money! Anyone who signs a retainer agreement Does not depend on billing the client Does not depend on doing the client work Does not depend on collecting the money
Cost Per Client (CPC) Metric 1. How many Clients are retained/signed up in a given time frame? 2. How much money did the firm invest in marketing during the same time frame? 3. Divide $$$ invested by # of New Clients 4. Compare month vs quarter vs annual 5. Establish a Running Average $20,000 spend / 40 Lead / 10 New Clients = $2,000 CPC Is that Good or Bad?
How Good Are You At Conversion? 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 4 th one!
5 Stages of Lead Conversion 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
Lead Conversion Report Card A = Over 81% B = 71-80% C = 61-70% D = 51-60% F = Under 50%
Typical Consumer Bankruptcy Law Firm WITHOUT a Lead Conversion System 100 Leads = 100% 50 Appointments Set = 50% 25 Appointments Show Up = 25% 12 Sign Ups (New Retentions) = 12% 1 Sign Ups ~ 90 Days Later = 1% Total New Client Sign Ups = 13% Results 13 New Clients x $1,500 for Ch 7 = $19,500 Revenues
Typical Consumer Bankruptcy Law Firm WITH a Lead Conversion System 100 Leads = 100% 70 Appointments Set = 70% 49 Appointments Show Up = 49% 34 Sign Ups (New Retentions) = 34% 3 Sign Ups ~ 90 Days Later = 3% Total New Client Sign Ups = 37% Results 37 New Clients x $1,500 for Ch 7 = $55,500 Revenues
Revenue Results From 100 Leads WITHOUT a Lead Conversion System Out of 100 Leads the Law Firm converted... 13 New Clients x $1,500 for Ch 7 = $19,500 Revenues WITH a Lead Conversion System Out of 100 Leads the Law Firm converted... 37 New Clients x $1,500 for Ch 7 = $55,500 Revenues Net Increase of $36,000! 280% Increase! With the SAME amount of Leads!
What kind of conversion problems do they have? 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! Report Card A = Over 81% B = 71-80% C = 61-70% D = 51-60% F = Under 50%
Client Retention Doing great work so that Clients come back and give you repeat business and repeat referrals! Tools you can use 1. New Client Autoresponder Series: FAQs 2. Client Satisfaction Survey 3. Client Exit Survey 4. Monthly Newsletter
FIX YOUR FOLLOW UP! Over 50% of all your cash flow problems would be solved if you fixed your follow up! You MUST have a System to Follow up with: Every Prospect, Every Client & Every Referral Source!
Define your follow-up system! How often do you need to keep in touch? With Prospects every week With Clients every 4-6 weeks With Referrals every 4-8 weeks How Long Do You Keep In Touch? Until They DIE or BUY!
The 1 st Day of the Rest of Your Practice 1 DO IT YOURSELF 2 DELEGATE IT 3 DON T DO IT 4 DONE FOR YOU
Your Choice: TIME versus MONEY
Consider the CODN CODN: The Cost of Doing Nothing How much is the average client worth to you? $1,500? $5,000? $15,000 More? How many new clients did you miss out on last year because you didn t have a lead conversion system?
How many REFERRALS did you lose last year because you didn t have a powerful follow up system? How much REVENUE are you going to lose this year if you don t take action? There is a True Cost of Doing Nothing 39
Definition of Insanity 40
How To Jumpstart Your Law Firm... 1. At the end of the day it all comes down to having the Right People and the Right Systems! 2. Identify where your biggest problem is: Lead Generation Lead Conversion Client Retention 3. Grade your firm on each of the 5 Stages of Lead Conversion 4. Measure and TRACK EVERY SINGLE LEAD from every source! 5. Fix Your Follow up! 6. Remember when it comes to Marketing...DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT! 41
Thank You! www.twitter.com/stephenfairley www.facebook.com/fairley www.rainmaker.mylinkinvitation.com www.therainmakerblog.com 888-588-5891