HOW TO GENERATE AND CONVERT PERSONAL INJURY LEADS PART 2: THIRD-PARTY LEGAL LEAD GENERATION

Attorneys who want to increase their intake in personal injury case leads should consider third-party legal lead generation companies. Often, this is the quickest way to get your law firm up intake department up and running.

This segment of the series can be divided into two parts. The first, which is much shorter, describes three reasons why a law firm should consider legal marketing companies. The second delves into the core of the article, which is how to increase your ROI with legal leads.

The immediate benefits listed Part 1 of this series include:

• Acquire More Clients Through Personal Injury Lead Generation

• Capture Higher Conversion Rates of Legal Leads

• Attain Increased Efficiency with Attorney Leads

• Earn Increased Cost Savings with Lawyer Leads

Ultimately, the fastest and easiest ways to increase attorney intake without going through the time-consuming and likely expensive task of generating in-house leads. This is especially the situation when experience is lacking. 

The three primary reasons that would justify pursuing a third-party pay-per-lead strategy, which essentially is outsourced leads generated by a compliant third party, is because it provides Profits, Predictability, and Buyer Behavior Data.

• Profits. Regarding profits from personal injury lead generation, we look at revenue (legal fees or settlements) and subtract expenses (marketing efforts that generate the leads). You’ll have to know your numbers here. When determining your base numbers, first calculate your cost per lead. Then see what your client acquisition rate is to determine your cost per case. These two figures are your starting point. We’ve seen quality personal injury lead generation with a cost per lead around $175 that has provided of 15% – 20% retention rates. 15% x 20 claimants can generate 3 retained clients at a cost-per-case of $1,167.  At 20% the cost-per-case drops to $875.  Each law firm will have different figures depending upon the cost per lead, which varies by state and whether only counties are targeted. And, attorneys who invest in intake centers may outperform their competition. 

• Predictability. Predictability is among many factors that can make any business, or any endeavor, increase its likelihood of success. Having an idea about the amount of weekly, monthly, and yearly lead flow from one particular sales avenue offers reliable projections for sales, operations, marketing, etc. Thus, the ability to provide reliability in what could be a significant category of sales and revenues inversely decreases the risk factor of the entire marketing plan, if not the entire business model. Significantly, predictability arguably is analogous to stress reduction, something that the partners believe has great value.

• Behavioral Patterns. As for understanding the client behavioral patterns, when an intake person begins speaking real-time with a steady stream of prospects, the firm begins to understand the “hot buttons” of prospects and clients. The first source of what a potential client’s interests could be originate from hearing the most frequently asked questions. That could be information that you may not have realized about what is most important to claimants in your field who are pursuing legal representation. Ultimately, this valuable information could be emphasized in every conversation and every personal injury lead generation medium employed. This helps increase your closing ratios. If lawyers remember that they are also educators and problem solvers, and that they are perfectly positioned to find out what prospective claimants are trying to achieve by hiring a lawyer, they can use that information to provide the best assistance. This mentality closes deals. Significantly, although this is a marketing plan focused on sales, revenues and profits . . . honesty, integrity, good faith assistance, professionalism, and setting up realistic expectations will achieve the highest sales in both the short and long-term. It will also decrease stress, and provides that “feel good” feeling that only comes from helping others.

Overall, the pay-per-lead from third-party personal injury lead generation companies could be an expensive, less risky, and efficient first-step towards building and expanding a client base. Many people look at it as a part of research and development because you may have a learning curve if you are inexperienced. However, if you can work with a quality company that specifically targets quality prospective accident injury claimants, this likely should be the first step to consider.

Nonetheless, in order to make the most out of these personal injury leads, there are a few things that every law firm should consider. The information listed below, although within the scope of third-party lead generation companies, is effective for other inbound and outbound lead sources. These are proven steps sales forces have instilled for years in order to generate high conversion rates from leads.

At the outset, attorneys should focus on two important aspects when pursuing personal injury leads:

Understand and Define Your Legal Lead Generation Needs. If you’re an attorney interested in automobile accident leads, you’ll have different requirements than an attorney seeking mass tort leads. In particular, each case will have different elements outside of the typical duty, breach, causation, and harm that attaches to a negligence claim. A qualified car accident case lead may filter for whether the claimant was at fault, has insurance, is within the statute of limitations, and has received medical treatment for their injury. On the other hand, a qualified Xarelto lead may require the claimant to have experienced a bleeding event while staying at a hospital overnight and taking the medication prior to a certain year. Naturally, each will need to have valid contact information in order for the attorney leads to provide a return.

Understand How to Nurture and Convert Your Law Firm Leads. This could be the most important topic of this article. If you want to succeed with any third-party personal injury leads for sale, you’ll need an intake process or system that is capable of nurturing the prospective claimants into actual clients. Intake departments range from legal assistants who answer the phone, to paralegals who conduct legal research and writing, to representatives dedicated who are dedicated to the entire intake process. At On Point Legal Leads, we offer automated remarketing to claimants through auto-response text messages, email drip campaigns, and ringless voicemail.  

Top 5 Strategies That Increase Conversions from Personal Injury Lead Generation Companies

#1. Quickly Contact Prospective Clients.  Likely, the most recognized trait to successful conversion when using personal injury lead generation companies is to contact the claimant as quickly as possible. According to a report from InsideSales.com, your best chance at converting the lead is within the first 5 minutes, as there is a 10x bigger decrease in the likelihood of converting the lead when contact is made outside of that time frame. In fact, there is a whopping 900% increase in contact rates when moving from 10 minutes to 5 minutes. That’s a huge difference!

#2. Make Multiple Contact Attempts. In addition, the number of attempted and actual contacts is important. According to the same report, the chance of making contact with a lead increases by 90% when at least 6 call attempts are made. And along these lines, you’ll need to consider drip campaigns that include phone, email, and regular mail, which are discussed below.

#3. Sometimes an Actual Attorney Needs to Communicate with the Claimant. Prospective clients want to speak with an attorney. They want the real deal, the source of authority, the one directing traffic, the person calling the shots. They want to be able to say to themselves and their loved ones that they truly spoke to an attorney about a very important issue. Nothing against legal assistants and paralegals, but only attorneys have the law degree and law license that claimants ultimately rely upon. When I interned at a personal injury law firm, the first question out of every claimant’s mouth was, “Are you an attorney?” It happened without fail. I was able to get away with my non-lawyer status by stating that I was in law school, had my Certified Paralegal Designation . . . and that I would immediately transfer the call to an attorney after our initial discussion. But imagine if that same claimant spoke to an attorney before speaking to me. The licensed attorney could speak more specifically about the types of potential claims, similar outcomes from similar fact patterns, discuss legal options in real-time, walk them down the path and do so with convincing authority, experience, and confidence. And those are the traits that make people want to buy. Make no mistake about the powers of persuasion – and conversion – that accompanies a seasoned professional. In the case of an attorney, if he or she can be a killer in the courtroom, then they can be a high converting closer on the phone call. Make the most of the prospects from personal injury lead generation companies by ensuring an attorney is available.

#4. Understand How to Communicate and Speak to Claimants. The first communication with a prospective client is your chance to make a positive first impression. And you need to put a focus on their needs, not your achievements. Although these two are aligned, there is a massive difference. But it is that difference that should shape your message. Below is a general example showing how this might occur.

Step 1: The Greeting: The typical first contact starts with your introduction and a question. For example: “Hello, _______. This is ______________ from ________ calling to discuss your injury claim/accident claim. Is this a good time/can you hear me okay?” Here, you’ll want to quickly and clearly let them know that you’re not cold calling, but responding to their inquiry, and are there to help them with their legal issue.

Step 2: Reflect on Previous Action . . . Ask Questions . . . Then Build Rapport: Three steps in one, but they go hand in hand. After the introduction, you can open the door to a conversation by discussing the obvious, which is their claim. Start with the previous action they took, which was completing the form for a case review. Then get them talking. In other words, ask them questions that are parallel to the filters that qualify them as a client.

According to Dale Carnegie’s famous book, you really need to take the question phase seriously. It’s the true secret sauce that you often don’t read about in detail from other sales gurus. One of Dale Carnegie’s most important tenants is, “Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.” That’s the real key. Get them talking about themselves and the relevant qualifiers. This is your first opportunity to build rapport, and rapport is one of the most important factors of getting clients in any business. Simply put, people buy from people they like, and people like those who can solve their problems. That’s another reason to get an attorney on the phone to make the most from your personal injury lead generation companies.

Now here’s another secret: try to find common ground. Not necessarily on a professional level, but on a person-to-person basis. For example, are either you and the claimant married, have a family, share a similar hobby, etc.? As it pertains to their situation, you can consider potential positive results that you hope to achieve with their case that have been achieved with another similar cases (without violating rules of confidentiality, of course). Naturally, this could work well when similar fact patterns exist. But you have to be genuine about this.

So, when building rapport, consider one more quote from Dale Carnegie: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

In summary, ask the claimant about the information they completed for accuracy, ask them what problems you can solve, and find common ground by asking genuine questions about who they are as people.

Step 3: Tell the Claimant How You Can Help Them and Associate That with Accomplishments: This is where an important philosophical approach is effectuated. Remember, how you can help is related to your firm’s accolades and awards. But not exactly the same. If you approach this step with only the latter philosophy, then all the prospect may hear is how great you think you are, and there’s a vast difference. Sometimes bragging is just that, and when not expressly and specifically connected to how that translates into helping the prospect, there could be a disconnect between how great your firm is and how that helps solve a problem.

An example of how to connect achievements, like positive verdicts and settlement negotiations, simply state that you’ve worked on similar cases that resulted in those specific positive outcomes. It sounds easy, but listen closely to some intake sessions and see  you whether you hear your intake personnel mention how the representing attorney won the Greatest Lawyer of the Century Award followed by what is really needed: how that same attorney aims to provide the same level of expert experience, attention to detail, hard-nosed negotiation tactics, and tough-minded arguments to their case? Ultimately, those two aspects need to mentioned in the same breath, or risk losing the prospect to someone who will make the connection for them.

One additional highly valuable point should be made here: This is the part in the sales cycle to get the prospect in an emotionally positive frame of mind. The great Zig Ziglar, the world-renown top performing salesman, motivational speaker, and best-selling author, was one of the most frequently quoted sales experts in the country who emphasized this point better than most. Although he passed away in November, 2012, many sales representatives study his sales and marketing techniques. He was known to always emphasize the importance of the buyer’s emotional state of mind, the seller’s enthusiastic energy, and how the two worked together within the purchasing cycle. My three favorite quotes from Zig Ziglar that relate to this subject are:

• • “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.”
  • “For every sale you miss because you’re too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you’re not enthusiastic enough.”
  • “Stop selling. Start helping.”

These three quotes sum up the importance of positioning your message that conveys you are there to help the client; that you understand their problem and the difficult pain they are going through; and that your firm has the energy, passion, and zeal to get them the justice they deserve.

Step 4: Ask to Retain Them as a Client. This is the step that many sales floor managers would call “the close.” It’s where salespeople make their money.

One of my favorite closing stage strategies is referred to as “assuming the sale.” In essence, the intake person could make a statement like, “What time can you come to our office to visit with our lead attorney?” or “Are you in front of your computer so I can send you a retainer agreement to review and sign today?” These are leading questions seeking a “Yes” as it helps guide the prospect down the path to conversion with an assuming stance. It takes confidence. But it is known as one of the most effective closing techniques.

Step 5: Handle Objections with the “Feel, Felt, Found” Technique. Some clients still may have questions and concerns after you go for the close. Whatever the issue, usually you can link their concern with how your firm has solved the same issues for other clients. It is highly effective and incredibly simple. It goes like this: “I understand how you feel. Other clients have felt the same way. And here’s what they found.” Then delve into how your firm turned the problem into an opportunity, or how your firm pushed through a similar obstacle, or how that obstacle is a common issue that your firm handles all the time with a high percentage of success. Now you’ve distinguished the objection, relayed your understanding of their concern, and demonstrated that your law firm has solutions. Next, follow it with an action step by sending the claimant an agreement. Significantly, all statements need to be completely accurate. Always remember that honesty is the best policy, which is something I heard from one of the top Fortune 500 salesmen before I ever stepped into sales. Dishonesty will always catch up to you.

Step 6: Ask to Retain Again, Again, and Again . . . After Getting to “Yes.” Once you properly handle an objection, you need to get the prospect to say “Yes.” And preferably, get a “yes” on at least three points because it gets their mind further from the objection and closer to a comfortable committing-type mind set. You can follow a version of the “Feel, Felt, Found” technique with something along the lines of, “So you can see how our firm focuses on personal injury claims like yours, and how strong our track record on these cases are, right?” Then, “And if we take your case, you understand that we aim to represent you zealously and with our top legal advocates as well, right?” Then, “We’d love to have you as a client and fight on your behalf, so if you’re still interested in getting the justice you deserve, how about we go over the retainer agreement that spells out some of the specific steps that could get you there.” The last statement is somewhat of an action step. This is important. The structure of the third question of getting to “Yes” starts some sugar coating, or a positive position statement of commitment on your behalf. When you say “We’d love to have you as a client” to “fight” or “get justice,” that is your way of expressly telling the prospect that you’re putting your best foot first and committing to do what they would precisely want and expect you to do.

Special Note: In order to truly make these strategies effective, intake personnel need to realize that asking questions, finding common ground, and getting enthusiastic about the process needs to be genuine. You need to be a people person who genuinely wishes to help people who are in need. If that doesn’t sound like you, these methods will fail miserably. Because people can sniff it out.

#5. Understand The Numbers. This applies to all revenue streams or sales channels, and will be discussed further in other parts of this series.  Understanding the numbers is especially important with paid advertising and attorney SEO. As it relates to generating more mass tort leads, auto accident leads, and personal injury leads from third-party lead generators, you’ll want to understand what sources are converting the best, and for what cost. Compare them and simply determine which sources produce the best ROI.

The Bottom Line:
Buying Personal Injury Leads for Sale Can Substantially Increase Your Intake of Personal Injury, Mass Tort, Workers Compensation, and Auto Accident Leads

Purchasing personal injury leads for sale can be a great source to increase your intake of cases.

One of the most important aspects to consider, however, is to understand how fast you could generate the same quality leads in-house. Well, personal injury lead generation companies have time-tested experience generating leads and have paid the expensive price of spending too much and other trials and tribulations.

Ultimately, third-party marketers can increase your intake of personal injury leads. And when you are ready to generate your own attorney leads, consider keeping the lead generator if the ROI is sensible.

There’s a lot you learn and gain from third-party attorney lead generators. If your firm is interested in increasing your intake by purchasing personal injury leads for sale in the mass tort, car accident, workers compensation, or social security disability verticals, contact us today.