How To Make More Profits Without Spending More On Marketing
Would you like to know how to attract more clients to your solicitors practice without increasing your marketing spend.
One of the first questions I normally hear when speaking to a new law firm is:
“How Can I Get More New Clients?”
The problem with this question is that it is normally completely the wrong place to start from. It is like asking for directions from a wily local only to be told “Well if I were going there I wouldn’t start from here”.
Unlike the wily local, please allow me to at least explain where you should start from. How well are you converting the leads that are already coming into your legal practice? Are you doing absolutely everything within your powers to turn new enquiries into new clients, or are you doing what you always have done without reviewing how successful you are?
Fix the leaking bucket before you put more water into it.
It is always helpful to step back from what is in front of our eyes to really understand a problem. Therefore, let us look at a leaking bucket. If you keep pouring water into a leaking bucket you will never be able to fill it up; as fast as you can pour the water in, at the same speed it is pouring out of the bucket. If you take a little time and effort to plug the holes in the bucket, then you can fill it to your hearts content.
Countless times I have seen solicitors with huge holes in their marketing bucket. Whilst they might only need 10 or 20 new instructions a month to be very profitable, they might need 50 incoming leads to result in this many new instructions. If only you take the time to look at your client capture process and fill all of the holes in it then you will be amazed at the results. You may not need to spend anymore money on marketing your practice because you may already be generating sufficient leads with your current activities.
This is best explained by looking at an example:
If you need 10 new instructions for one of your fee earners every month for him or her to be profitable, how many new enquires do you need each month?
If we work on a a 40% conversion rate, to secure those 10 new instructions you will need at least 25 leads (ie 25x 40% = 10).
However, if you work hard on improving and, dare I say it, “streamlining” your client capture process, the number of new enquiries that you need to generate can be decreased significantly. If you can make small tweaks to your system to improve your conversion rate to 60%, suddenly you will only need 17 new leads to generate your 10 new client instructions per month.
If you are aware of your lead acquisition cost (ie the cost of your marketing divided by your number of leads generated) then you can see how much money this will save you every month. If it costs you £50 to generate each lead (and this is quite a conservative figure) then by improving your conversion rate to 60% you now only need 17 enquiries instead of 25. That is at least £400 a month saved, or more importantly, with those extra 8 enquiries you will generate 4.8 new instructions.
Most important of all, this process improvement has cost you nothing but achieved a lot.
So how can you improve your client capture process to generate these new instructions?
Here are some simple steps you can take to improve your client capture
- Answer the telephone promptly. In the day and age of the internet, speed is of the essence.
- Ensure you transfer the prospect to the correct fee earner promptly (this means both the fee earner and the receptionist understanding the importance of this process)
- Take the time to listen to your clients requirements. What matters to them, what hurts or worries them? Usually solicitors are far too keen to discuss costs without listening to the prospects needs. This is a big mistake
- Sell the benefits of using your legal practice over and above your competitors (relating this to your client’s needs)
- Follow up by confirming your advice/pricing in writing (ensure you get your brand in their hand)
- Telephone to ensure safe receipt of the letter and ensure that all of the prospects questions have been answered
- Measure the improvements, then keep tweaking the process and keep measuring!
I hope I have explained and clarified why it is so important that you spend some time looking at your client capture process and improving it. In tighter times, you must do all that you can with the leads you are generating. People are still moving house, just less people, but if you improve your conversion rates, less people can still keep you profitable. In good times we tend to get lazy. Now we are in leaner times, tighten up your processes and keep the profits!
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Ready To Take Action And See Results Now?
Please call 0117 290 8555 to arrange a mutually convenient time for a telephone discussion, Email me or complete a Free Online Enquiry. There is no cost or obligation. We will have a chat about where you are and where you would like to be and I will suggest some things you can do to get there quickly.