Lead Capture

In my article about follow up marketing for attorneys I talk about the importance of LEAD CAPTURE, FOLLOW-UP, and MARKETING SEQUENCES.

These elements are critical to the success of your business…especially in a tight economy.

It allows you to transform your “client-getting” process from outbound “HUNTING” into inbound “HARVESTING”.

This secret is critical to your success because it puts you in a position to land customers quickly. It shortens the sales cycle, increases your capacity to handle more clients and improves your closing ratio because you spend more time talking to highly qualified prospects.

Would you like to come into the office and pluck ripe fruit off the tree… or…would you rather spend your time hitting the networking circuit hard, chasing leads and talking to lukewarm prospects? The answer is pretty obvious.

When you’re in “hunting” mode, you’re pounding the pavement; you feel resistance at every turn; rejection is common; you get “shopped” against competitors; and you waste tons of time working with leads who simply aren’t ready.

On the other hand, when you’re in harvesting mode, you’re working smart and scooping up clients left and right. You can spend your time at closings, on the phone with hot leads or out on the golf course because you know your prospects will call YOU when they’re ready to move forward.

So, how can you actually make the shift from hunting mode to harvesting mode?

If you automate everything I just mentioned clients naturally flow into your practice…and it saves a lot of headaches & time.

A solid prospect database is the cornerstone for any successful follow-up campaign.

But how do you start the process?  How do you get the actual lead into your “funnel” in the first place so you can do all that great follow-up marketing?

How do you capture the lead initially?

The answer may seem counter-intuitive.

You GIVE them something of value for FREE in exchange for their contact information, and any other information you want to collect.

Yes, I said GIVE it away.

And make it valuable.

And make it informative, educational and related to your topic or practice area.

Like a free report.  And make it good.

It doesn’t cost you anything out of pocket to put it together, and you only have to do it once.

Free trips to Disneyland or restaurant meals or anything unrelated to your services just don’t make sense.

I know your gut instinct, is to hold tightly to that valuable knowledge you have.  After all, that’s really your stock in trade.

But a couple things happen when you take my advice.

First the prospect will unconsciously say to themeself, “Wow if they give away information like this for free what will the information be like when I actually pay for it?!”

Many direct marketers have been ultra-successful giving away almost ALL of the information for free!  And even when the prospect purchases the product that more or less ties up the lose ends on the free information they are more than satisfied with the end result.

The second thing that happens is a covert psychological principle called “reciprocity”.  It’s hard wired in human beings that when someone gives them something they are compelled to want to return the favor.

It’s scientifically documented.

It’s human nature.

They will want to return the favor.  They’ll look for ways to give back to you. And how else can they do it other than to become your client?

So if you are a bankruptcy attorney, put together an in-depth report outlining the laws in your state, they different types of bankruptcies, the process, the pitfalls and the potential outcomes.  If you are a DUI attorney let them know their options if they have been charged, the pertinent deadlines and potential defenses.  If you are a personal injury lawyer outline the scope of the potential claims a victim may have, the costs, the process, the rewards.

You get the idea.

You’ll win their hearts, their gratitude and their respect.

They’ll see how knowledgeable you are and what a “good guy” you are for helping them out for free.

If you skimp and just turn it into a shallow, cursory examination of the area, or worse…a sales pitch, you’ll look like a schmuck.

A huge byproduct of all this is that, if you offer free consultations, most of the information you offer in those sessions is provided in the report.

If you still continue to offer the consultations, the time will be spent gathering information rather than giving it and your success rate will go through the roof because you are dealing with qualified prospects.

Oh yeah, this process of delivering the material can be automated.  It will happen while you sleep, are in court or golfing…24/7.

Your automated follow-up contacts then continue to cement their impression, build rapport and trust and move them along the process of becoming a client.

At WebLegalMarketing.com we take care of implementing and automating the whole process for our clients.  Heck we even write the customized lead capture report for our Gold-Plus level clients.

But remember, none of this will work for you if you don’t DO SOMETHING.

So get moving!

If you need a hand getting started give us a call.