If you are really serious about converting the leads you paid for then you should seriously consider having a dedicated intake specialist. Take as an example what the major auto dealers do when they get their daily or weekly lead list: they give it to some of their seasoned sales reps to work the leads all morning every day. Now think what your office is doing with these leads. Please do not tell me you are giving them to Mr. Law Review or Ms. Order of the Coif to call. No attorney or paralegal will go after a lead with the kind of persistence and dedication it takes to convert them because they have simply not been trained to do so. They are used to handling referrals and calls coming in to the firm that the receptionist transfers to the attorney, which are easy to convert; paid leads are not. If you are not willing to hire a dedicated intake specialist and train them to go after these leads like a pit bull then I would reconsider paid leads altogether. Persistence is the key here and this is where the sales guy runs laps around the lawyer who is not trained, nor has the time to keep calling until they can get through to the prospect.

There must be a sense of urgency when following up with the lead. Have you watched the movie, “Boiler Room”? Go watch it before you buy these leads as you will then understand. Just like the movie, as soon as your office gets a lead, think of standing up and shouting, “Reco!”. Drop everything you’re doing, whether it is working on a brief or motion, and call that lead ASAP before they have any time to even think about doing anything else. Research by velocify.com indicates conversion rates drop precipitously if you fail to follow up within five minutes after the lead comes in. I think 5 minutes is too much. If you are going to use paid leads, you must be faster than any of your competitors. This could set your firm apart, because many law offices are less than proactive and the prospect may see your speedy response as attentiveness and a commitment to help. These leads, therefore, must be a priority. The same study found your lead conversion rate drops by half if your first follow up attempt goes from five to 10 minutes! If it is beyond 10 minutes, you might as well throw the lead away. You get the picture.

Your intake specialist must call them a minimum of seven to ten times before giving up. No, that is not a typo. Again, if you are really serious about converting these leads, you will have to work harder than anyone else. There should be three calls made the first day: one within five minutes, if not less, a second call within an hour and the third by the end of the day. Two more calls should be made the next day, then two more the day after that, then ideally one per day for the next two-three days. Now you might get lucky and get them to retain your services on the first contact but that is the exception and not the rule.

 You need to send them three-five emails in addition to the phone calls. These emails should be educational in nature and subtly inform them of why they should call you and set-up an appointment.

Use lead conversion software. There are three components to a successful law firm: people; software; and, systems. You need the right people running a lead conversion software (this is completely different from practice management software) and following a precise system of intake and lead conversion. The great news is that we provide you with the industry’s best platform when you sign up with Best Case Leads.

If you’re unwilling to make these commitments, I recommend you stay away from buying leads as your conversion rate will be so low it won’t give you a good ROI.

The average consumer attorney only converts 5-15 percent of their leads into paying clients (out of 100 leads they sign up five-15 new clients). I have met many attorneys buying leads who are converting in the low single digits. If you use Best Case Leads’ systematic approach to lead conversion, including the principles I mentioned above, you can increase that to 25-35 percent, in line with what our clients are experiencing now.