Top 3 Ways Your Firm Can Improve Lead Management

Many law firms focus on managing current clients to help them achieve favorable results. However, they may need to pay more attention to marketing efforts, including acquiring new clients. The American Bar Association’s 2020 TechReport shows that 13% of law firms, including 32% of solo legal practices, report that they don’t have anyone responsible for marketing in their firm.

The best way to grow your firm is to spend more time on lead management. Effective lead management can help you cultivate interest among prospects, follow up with leads, and streamline the client onboarding process to support conversions.

Discover how your firm can boost its lead management strategies to help you retain more clients and increase your revenue using backdocket’s legal practice management software.

How Is Lead Management Different from Case Management

Case management refers to the processes involved in providing legal services to clients working with the law firm. The process includes research, drafting, negotiations, filings, and court appearances and occurs after a client has retained your firm.

Lead management happens before you retain a client. It refers to the pre-retention stage when a law firm reaches out to prospective clients and engages with them. The lead management process aims to convert potential prospects into paying clients.

3 Best Practices for Managing Leads at Your Law Firm

Legal prospects who first approach your firm for representation should receive priority treatment from your staff members and lawyers. Having better lead management can help you demonstrate the value of your services and showcase how your law office can help them reach their goals.

During the pre-retention stage, your firm has three main ways to improve the management of its leads:

1. Respond to Your Leads Immediately

Following up with your leads as soon as they contact you can help establish their trust in your firm and increase the chance of converting them into clients. They may look elsewhere if you respond slowly or fail to answer their inquiries. Forbes notes that the average lead response time for many businesses is 47 hours, and 71% of qualified leads have yet to receive a response.

With practice management software like backdocket, you can set up a workflow with staff members designated to follow up with prospects after their initial outreach.

Automated emails using practice management software can let a lead know you received their first message, and a staff member will reach out to them as soon as possible. Using automated to-do lists can help your staff remember to call and greet them and assist them in making an appointment with an attorney for intake.

2. Use Email Marketing to Engage Leads

Email marketing can help ensure your firm remains top-of-mind with leads so they remember your organization when it comes time to hire a lawyer. Email marketing can nurture these leads and help you maintain engagement. A practice management software platform like backdocket integrates with email marketing platforms to aid you in targeting these prospects and their legal cases.

For example, your firm can send out automated email newsletters with general firm announcements. Other ideas to pique the interest of your prospective clients include:

• Recent case studies and blog posts relevant to the prospects’ legal matters
• Links to past webinars and podcasts with summaries that can answer a prospect’s legal questions
• Attorneys’ answers to common legal questions to highlight their experience and knowledge
• Practice spotlights of an attorney and other members of your legal team

3. Track Lead Sources

When running marketing campaigns for your law firm, keep track of your lead sources to understand where they originate. During the intake phone call, you can ask a lead how they heard about you. This information will help you make better marketing decisions in the future.

For instance, if a lead found your law office through LinkedIn or Facebook, you may need to develop a social media strategy using these platforms to increase awareness and attract more clients.

Backdocket’s practice management software lets you monitor the statuses of all your leads and see which sources brought them to your firm. You can access this information on backdocket’s dashboard and customizable reports. Attorneys and staff members can input client information into backdocket after speaking with them so you can better manage your intake process.

Convert More Clients with Backdocket

The backdocket platform makes managing and converting prospects easy to ensure your firm’s financial stability and growth. You can track which marketing efforts generate the most conversions and integrate them into your marketing efforts.

Request a free demo today, and let us show you how we can improve your law office’s lead management efforts.