4 minsYou want more clients and there are plenty of ways to get them.
Some take time. Some take money.
Lawyers are notorious for making the decision about finding new clients based on what’s in front of them rather than thinking through their choices. So, they hire a lead generator. Say, pay per lead service. Or a pay per click vendor. And what happens when you a hire a lead generator?
You get a lot of leads, but... how qualified are they?
To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with lead generation. I love lead generation.
But you have to be sure lead generation is producing the kind of leads you want, because having more clients isn’t always better.
Suppose you clone your absolute worst client 100 times. Is that the business you want?
With some kinds of lead generation, that’s exactly what you pay for. More misery.
Most lawyers only think of the first step – getting the lead. They don’t think about who the lead is, how the lead would be serviced as a client, and how the client would impact profitability.
What Kind of Business Do You Want?
The right question to ask is not, “What lead generation should I do?”
The right question to ask is this: “What kind of business do I want?”
This question leads to, “Who is my ideal client?”
Which leads to, “Where are they?”
Which leads to, “How do I get them?”
It’s very easy and convenient to sign up for Avvo, hire a pay-per-click agency, hire an SEO firm, and assume that by assembling a team of lead generators, you’ve dispensed with the need to think further.
Just keep in mind that these people are going to do what they do best. They’ll deliver whatever audience they have access to, and it could very well be those 100 misery-inducing clients you just don’t want.
The Lawyer Lead Generation Trap
When many attorneys start getting low quality leads, they figure they can’t turn down the work - because they paid for the lead.
Now they need to take more work to see a return on their investment, but they quickly become overwhelmed with work that they really didn’t want in the first place.
It’s the lawyer lead generation trap. Too many bargain basement-hunting, no-pay/slow-pay clients.
I’m admittedly biased because I built my practice without any lead generation.
Yes, folks. It’s possible.
In most cases, the premium clients – those who are willing to pay significantly more so you make the same money with less work – aren’t trolling the internet looking at lawyer profiles. They aren't clicking on ads.
Premium clients aren’t sucked in by lead generation tools. They’re not hopping from Avvo to Facebook (to who knows what on the Internet) in a quest to find a lawyer.
Premium clients are asking their trusted advisors, friends and family for a referral.
Don’t get me wrong. The internet is great. But it’s just a tool. If the tool isn’t doing what you need it to do, it’s a wasted investment.
The Better Way to Reach Prospects
We know traditional lawyer lead generation peddled by most vendors might not get you where you want to go.
But that doesn’t mean lead generation is all bad.
Once you’ve thought through the kind of business you want, your ideal client and where they are, lead generation can absolutely work. But sometimes the right approach is found in unlikely corners of the universe.
Instead of hiring a mass-market SEO vendor, you might be better served by a direct mailing, narrowly targeted to a list of executives in your area.
Or maybe the answer is a magazine insert in a niche publication that your equine law prospect actually reads.
The point remains – once you’ve identified your ideal client, you can think about where they are and what they read so you can generate valuable leads from that space.
A more focused approach will yield more - and require you to spend less because you’re attracting clients who aren’t so price-sensitive.
Why Our Programs Work
We walk lawyers through this process step by step to minimize wasted effort and improve results. Either doing it for them and handling the details, or showing them how to create a practice based on these principles.
Our approach takes a little more work upfront, but the payoff is huge – more profitable marketing with less stress.
Like most things in life, it comes down to a choice.
Would you prefer to pay a lot of money for many years on lead generation that might, sorta-kinda work? Or would you rather pay a little bit for someone to show you exactly how to wrap your head around the problem so you have the practice you want with the clients you want?
