People call your law firm because they are ready to hire you. But time after time, when I speak with law firm leaders about their struggles, I hear the same old bologna: “They were unqualified leads.” “They were just shopping around; they weren’t ready to write a check.” “They weren’t a good fit for our firm.” “I don’t know what happened, I just never heard from them again…”
Bologna.
In many ways, the small law firm has the advantage over those big, corporate firms with hundreds of associates and dozens of partners. I don’t know about you, but I will always choose a more intimate “mom and pop” experience over being a faceless name in a sea of thousands of other faceless names on the client list of a massive corporation. But I’ve noticed something: for all the times I pick up the phone to call a small business, I rarely receive a follow-up phone call or email if I don’t make an immediate purchase. I—a qualified lead who is ready to make a purchase—am rarely nurtured through the sales funnel. And if we’re being honest, the only reason I failed to follow through and make a purchase in the first place is because I’m busy being an entrepreneur and a wife and a mom and probably got sidetracked somewhere in between client meetings and getting my kid to karate practice. Failure on the business’s behalf to follow-up with me sabotaged their sale…
…and it’s how your firm is sabotaging its own revenue.
The likely story is that the small business probably isn’t staffed enough to execute a regimented follow-up plan, and that’s the likely story for your firm, too. Who would be responsible for checking-in on leads consistently and strategically. Certainly not you. You’re busy doing what you have to do to keep your firm competitive, sustainable, and profitable.
But those lost leads are valuable, and they’re slipping further away with every day you fail to follow up with them. So, here’s how to follow-up for dollars and reclaim the revenue you’ve lost on account of your lack of accountability.
How to Follow-Up for Dollars
This is a simple “how to” system, designed to fill your calendar with appointments and your business account with money. It’s a tried, tested, and proven system for bringing old and prospective clients back to your firm…for $500/week or more.
Step 1: Hire
This is a receptionist caliber position; you could start out with a 20-hour/week or 3-day/week position, but we encourage you to hire someone full-time, since this system is ineffective if, when someone contacts your office, no one is there to answer their call and schedule an appointment. Take the leap of faith and hire someone full-time.
Choosing the right person for this position is crucial. Rely on “Kolbe” recommendations and follow best practices for hiring based on personality
Step 2: Create the Campaign
Identify a list of lost clients or prospects, organized by year, starting with the most recent year and working back to your firm’s inception. Include:
• Contacts who never took the next step
• Contacts who attended a workshop or joined a webinar, but didn’t move forward
• Cancelled appointments
• Maintenance clients who never renewed
Once you’ve compiled your contact lists, call them, send them an email, or mail them a letter of re-engagement. You may include a special offer in this letter, or you may just re-introduce your firm and the various services you offer.
Step 3: Call
This process takes, on average, 12 minutes. You make the phone call, send a follow-up email (step 4, below) and update your database. Your new hire should be able to make about 40 calls/day and, trust us, you WILL see a return on this position after one month.
The script for the phone call is below:
“Hello ___ ,
This is ___ calling from ___ Law Firm. Real quick, I am calling today to follow up with you regarding your ___ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke. We know how important it was to take the first step and contact our office and we want to make certain we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals. We’d like to extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney___ , as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you?
Step 4: Email
Send an email immediately following each unanswered phone call. Time-saving tip: save the email into a Word document or other text file and copy and paste it into the body of each email). The contents of the email should read:
“Hello ___,
I hope this message finds you better than well today. Real quick, I wanted to send you a quick email to let you know that I just left a message on your answering machine, as I was reaching out today to follow up with you regarding your _____ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke. We appreciate how significant it was to take the first step and contact our office and we want to ensure we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals. We like to extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney ___, as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you? Let me know what works best for you and I will be certain to get this reserved for you.
Step 5: Letter or Flier
The last step in this process, after the phone calls and emails have been made, is to send a letter via mail. These letters should be sent out every week (we suggest you send them every Friday). The letter should read:
“Hello ___,
I hope this finds you better than well today. I am reaching out to follow up with you regarding your ___ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke and I appreciate how significant it was to take the first step and contact our office. We want to ensure we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals and extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney___ as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you?
Let me know what works best for you and I will be certain to get this reserved for you.
Also including a flier for a new “Value Add” workshop, for example, a Social Media for Law Firms workshop, will drive even more engagement in your response.
There is no reason your law firm should be struggling to generate revenue—not with so many untapped resources just waiting for you to get back in touch! Everything you need to grow your law firm is already in place—you just need better tracking, better follow-up, and more accountability.
Ready to Hire that Rock Star Receptionist?
If you’re ready to get the RIGHT person in the door—and you’re ready to turn a rock star receptionist into revenue—contact us! Our Smart Hire Solution has been helping law firms find, recruit, hire, onboard and train amazing team members for over 20 years! We’ll save you time and money by hiring the right person, right out of the gates. Email info@hiringandempowering.com to learn more today!
