Successfully managing law firm leads depends on leveraging industry-specific technology to respond to potential clients quickly, automate the lead nurturing process, and track critical metrics. Relying on slow and complex manual processes could cause your firm to lose potential new cases.

Growing your personal injury firm and building a strong reputation in your community requires connecting with clients. While word-of-mouth marketing never goes out of style, today’s consumers search for representation online. Because of the prevalence of online searches for lawyers, many law firm leads come through websites, social media, and legal directories. 

Your firm needs to be prepared to respond to these potential clients (and all others) swiftly and to track your ongoing lead management efforts. Without the ability to measure your efforts, you can’t tell whether your marketing efforts are providing a strong return on your investment. 

The value of effectively managing personal injury law firm leads

How well you manage leads impacts your firm’s caseload, client satisfaction, revenue, and reputation. If you poorly manage leads, potential clients will go to your competitors. Worse yet, consumers who have a bad experience trying to connect with your firm could leave a negative review online. 

By managing leads well, you can provide an efficient and comfortable experience — whether or not someone becomes a client. You either start a client relationship strong or you build a good reputation even with those who aren’t a good fit for your firm. 

9 dos of law firm lead management

Whether you’re new to managing law firm leads or want to improve your current processes, here are our top nine recommendations.

1. Collect all possible lead sources

Define a way to capture and qualify leads from all possible sources, particularly through phone calls, emails, your website, social media accounts, and legal directories. Establish a system for checking every source. You and your staff could do this manually, but it’s better to have a solution for centralizing law firm leads and transitioning from lead to client intake. 

2. Prequalify leads

Whenever possible, prequalify your leads. For example, the form on your website should ask for basic information regarding a person’s potential case and allow them to describe their situation and injuries. If someone calls the firm, your staff should know which questions to ask immediately. 

When prequalifying a lead isn’t possible, ensure your follow-up call, email, or text provides the opportunity to learn more about the potential client. 

3. Set a response time goal

According to Hennessey Digital’s annual survey of close to 1,400 law firms, 13 minutes was the average response time to online leads, with email being the most common reply method. Twenty-eight percent of law firms responded to lead forms within five minutes or less. 

The sooner you respond, the more likely you are to convert a lead to a client. As you establish your lead management processes, set a goal for how quickly you’ll respond to each lead and then shorten that goal over time. For example, respond to leads within one hour, then 30 minutes, then 10 minutes. 

4. Leverage technology 

With leads arriving from several sources and possibly requiring multiple follow-up attempts, you’ll benefit greatly from investing in lead management software. Also, consider a virtual receptionist to handle phone calls overnight and on the weekends. 

5. Automate lead nurture

With the help of a law firm leads management solution, automate as much as possible. For example, an automated workflow can email a new lead within minutes, remind staff to follow up over the phone, and send additional texts or emails — such as newsletters or blog updates — if you don’t receive a response. 

6. Personalize communications

When you and your staff speak with potential clients, whether over the phone or through email, personalize the communication as much as possible. Use the individual’s name and mention specifics of their possible case. Hennessey Digital found that 93% of law firms’ email responses to online lead forms contained personalization. 

7. Train support staff

Don’t assume your associates and support staff know how to qualify a lead or use new technology. Work with your staff on how to best gather critical information and communicate with potential clients who may be in distress. If you adopt new software, always provide a training session and opportunity for questions. 

8. Track monthly metrics

Track the number of leads that come in (and from where) on a designated basis. Lead source is an important metric for assessing whether your marketing efforts and budget are in the right place. A lead management solution can also show whether (and how quickly) you responded to each lead. You could easily measure your conversions after one, two, three, or more follow-up attempts. 

9. Perform quality control checks

Regularly confirm that your phone messaging system, website form, and other lead sources are all working properly and that you’re receiving every possible lead. 

5 don’ts of law firm lead management

While there are many essentials for managing law firm leads, it’s also important to steer clear of a few common pitfalls. Here are our top five lead management mistakes to watch out for. 

1. Don’t underestimate the value of response time

If you take hours or days to respond to a lead, you’re likely losing clients to other local personal injury firms. 

2. Don’t forget a prospect’s experience

You should know what a prospective client experiences, whether they call after hours, fill out your website form, or send you a direct message through a social platform or directory. Test each lead source to ensure the experience is efficient, and compassionate. 

3. Don’t rely on complex manual processes

No one can consistently manage dozens or hundreds of potential leads manually, particularly when each lead may require two to five follow-up attempts. It’s too easy to lose track of qualified leads if you rely on notes or a spreadsheet. It’s also challenging to track metrics, such as the number of law firm leads from each source, response times, or number of follow-ups. 

4. Don’t bombard leads or give up too easily

Strike a balance between contacting a lead multiple times a day and ignoring them for days. After your initial quick response, use a mix of calls, emails, and texts over a few days to nurture the leads. 

5. Don’t ignore law firm lead and conversion data

Tracking metrics will show how well (or poorly) your firm is managing law firm leads. For instance, if you have a low conversion rate for qualified leads, that’s a signal to review your lead sources, response times, and qualification methods.

Confidently manage law firm leads to drive client satisfaction

Your law firm’s lead and intake processes are the beginning of your client relationships — they matter. With CloudLex’s client lead and intake software, you never miss potential leads or revenue, and your future clients have a smooth experience during a difficult time in their lives.

Schedule a demo today to learn how to centralize your leads, digitize client intake, and gain in-depth visibility into crucial metrics.