3 Compelling Reasons Why Marketing Your Law Firm Should Begin With Lead Generation

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You’re sitting in your office and the phone rings, or that annoying little ping signals you’ve got an email.  It’s a new potential client!  Stop the presses!  All work halts!  Why?  Because when a new client contacts you, it means you’re on the precipice of making money.  This is what marketing your law firm is all about.  But is that the right way to do business?

Lawyers, especially those in historically direct response fields such as bankruptcy, personal injury and criminal defense, typically get the client when there’s an immediate need.  I get rear-ended and wind up in the emergency room, so I start looking for an attorney to represent me.  But as I’ve said in the past, it would be so much better if I, the client, met my lawyer before I needed any help.  In that way I wouldn’t have to scramble at the last minute – my choice would already be made in my head.

For the lawyer, it makes sense as well.  When you’re marketing your law firm, your goal is to be the first attorney someone thinks about when they think about a lawyer.  There’s always a steady stream of people who are interested in learning a bit about the attorney’s services.  It’s called lead generation, and it’s what makes the business world go around.

Those leads go into a database of names and contact information, always kept updated and close at hand.  Whenever the lawyer’s got something to share – news, information, what have you – the database is leveraged so that not only are as many people notified as possible, but also the right people.  People who care.

Lots of my colleagues in the bankruptcy bar look at me cross-eyed when I talk about lead generation as the supreme means of marketing your law firm.  They think about their clients as “one off” sources of business, people who leap into the waiting arms of a bankruptcy lawyer when absolutely necessary and then never again.  But it ignores the reality of a person’s life – the act of leaping is usually made after the decision to leap.

So why is lead generation the most effective way of marketing your law firm?

Dip A Toe Into The Water Without Getting Soaked

There’s someone who, as I write this, is neck-deep in debt.  They’ve got the credit card companies at the door, foreclosure looms, the car’s going to get towed away.  They’re looking at options, but aren’t ready to make a final decision on what they’re going to do.  In this information gathering phase of the process, people want to get as much data as possible without making a firm commitment to anything.  They need some time to digest it all, make the right choice for their own situation, and do so in a time and a place that is most convenient for them.

Using a simple lead generation strategy you can reach out to those people and provide them with information that they can review on their own time, without any pressure or time commitment.  It also lets you keep your calendar free from those who are looking to bend your ear but not really go anywhere in terms of legal representation.  Everyone wins.

Cut Out The Crap

If you’re doing TV, radio or paid online advertising then your message is being seen by thousands of people each day.  The problem is that they’re seeing your message once and only once.  If they see the message and decide not to take the drastic action of hiring your law firm, the only way for you to get in front of them again when they’re ready is to spend more money.

When you’re using lead generation as part of your law firm marketing strategy you’re identifying those people who are interested in learning more about your services.  No longer do you need the barrage of paid ads to get in front of them a second time – you’ve got their email address, snail mail address, or whatever you’re collecting.  Couple that initial piece of information with a regular newsletter or content update and you’re sure to be in front of them when they need your help.

Know-It-All Beats The Show-Off

If I’m looking to buy a car, who am I going to buy from – the sales person with the nicest suit, or the one who knows the most about cars?  If I’m looking to get the best automobile for my money, I’m going with the one who knows a thing or two about cars.  The show-off may look great, but in this exercise I’m not looking to buy a suit.

So, too, in the world of legal marketing.  There are lots of really slick looking websites, blogs, TV ads and the like out there for attorneys.  Some are cutesy, some are classic, and others are just over-designed to the teeth.  But if you strip away the fancy graphics and professional spokespeople, there’s only so much you can say in a 30-second spot or on a single page of text.

Sure, there’s blogging and other content marketing strategies.  But they all depend on getting someone to visit your site again and again.  Unless you’re spending money to lure the repeat traffic, you need to have a reliable way of getting the prospective client back.

A compelling lead generation effort solves these problems handily by providing reliable information, thereby establishing you as the lawyer who is the premier authority in your field.  Your prospective client, this stranger, is suddenly enamored of the depth of your knowledge and understanding of the issues surrounding their problem.  Nothing else matters anymore.  No other lawyer can hold a candle to your expertise.

Practicing What I Preach

Lead generation has been a cornerstone to my own law firm marketing for quite some time.  From consumer bankruptcy to debt collection abuse and foreclosure defense, I’ve put into place various strategies that continue to feed my law firm with a steady stream of new clients each day.  Clients who come to me pre-sold, more concerned with how quickly they can get in to see me than with my fees.  Tire-kickers are a thing of the past.

So, what’s your take on lead generation?

Photo credit: Steve Crane (flickr)

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