We know: you love the leads that come in through your referral network. They are pre-qualified (mostly), understand how a professional service firm works and how to be a good client. But your practice can’t survive on these leads alone. That’s where we come in, and that’s why you have an amazing website, lawyer videos, blog posts and the E2 CRM to power your marketing. It’s all good—but for the one link that sometimes needs a boost—your team.
We can hear you: that can’t be. My team is great. But the first human contact that the online lead has with a living, breathing person needs to be very strong, and if that’s not the case, those leads can be lost. Remember, these leads need to be responded to quickly.
Auto responder message that follows their filing out a Contact Us form. With the E2-CRM, each website form includes an auto-responder email that is sent to your prospect. This lets them know that you have received their inquiry and will be in touch with them. What matters next? Set a firm policy for when someone from your office will call them, preferably within four hours of their filling out the form. Remember, online leads are looking at more than a few law firms and who they chose to work with may depend on which firm responds first.
That first phone call to your office. Look, it’s our job to know what happens in your office. We have sat in waiting areas and listened to receptionists handle incoming calls from prospects. It is not always pretty. And it’s not easy. If yours is like many offices, your receptionist is a kind-hearted person who honestly wants to do right by you, colleagues and your clients. But without proper training and reinforcement, your online leads’ first human contact may be riddled with problems.
Prospects may be calling when they are upset, when they want more time on the phone than your receptionist can provide, or they may not be good with driving directions. These are challenges to your receptionist, who may be juggling multiple phone calls and administrative work. If this is where the wheels fall off the proverbial bus, additional training and back up support is needed. The receptionist needs to know that if she is drowning in calls from new and needy prospects, she can get help.
Those first calls are the result of your investment in marketing—don’t lose them!