Law firms will spend money on ads, invest in a new website, and test out social media campaigns, but they will still wonder why leads aren’t converting at a higher rate. The issue may not be visibility or messaging—it’s follow-up. Many firms either misunderstand this vital component of an effective marketing strategy or completely ignore it.
Every click, every form submission, and every phone call is the start of a conversation. But if that conversation stalls—or worse, never begins—you’re not losing leads because your marketing didn’t work. You’re losing them because no one followed up quickly, clearly, or consistently enough.
Many simply don’t realize how little time they have to follow up with a lead, which drastically increases their chances of a successful conversion.
Speed Is a Competitive Advantage
A successful “conversion” doesn’t occur when someone fills out a form or calls your office—it starts there. The moment a lead reaches out, the clock starts ticking. According to multiple studies, contacting a lead within five minutes can result in conversion rates as high as 85%. Wait an hour, and the likelihood of conversion drops dramatically. After 24 hours, you’re essentially starting from scratch.
Assuming you have a few days to follow up is a reasonable assumption, but it’s simply inaccurate. The average response time across all industries is nearly 47 hours. That’s two days of silence when the prospect actively seeks help from competitors! One-third of legal inquiries reportedly receive no follow-up at all.
The firms and practices with higher “win” rates often don’t necessarily do more marketing. They’re simply responding faster. And they’re capturing a disproportionate share of the business because they understand that speed builds trust, especially when a client wants an issue resolved.
Consistency Builds Conversions
Most of your leads will not be clients the first time you contact them. Only about 2% of sales happen after one touchpoint. (Most require at least five to twelve follow-ups.) The bad news is that firms typically write off someone as a failed lead after one or two attempts. The good news is that if you are willing to go beyond that, you’re putting yourself in a unique and advantageous position.
That gap between what it takes and what happens is where firms miss out on business.
People stop after one or two touchpoints because they feel like they’re pressuring someone. They’d rather let a lead walk with a good impression than make a bad impression and lose them. If this is how you feel, then take a different approach to following up. Keep giving away more information and resources while you follow up.
Structured systems include multiple touches across email, phone, and text over several days, and they outperform one-and-done outreach. Eighty percent of sales happen after five or more follow-ups, and companies that make more than five contact attempts increase their conversion chances by nearly 70%.
This doesn’t mean hounding leads. It means building a reliable process that ensures no one is forgotten. People get distracted. They need reminders. Sometimes they need a few days before they’re ready to take the next step. Consistent, polite, and well-timed outreach keeps your firm at the top of my mind until they are.
Systems = Consistency
Timely, persistent follow-up requires tools that create structure and accountability. A modern CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) tracks every inquiry and assigns tasks to communicate who is reaching out to the lead and the timeline by which they are expected to do so.
You can also schedule automated emails (i.e., a “drip” campaign) to send out resources and lead magnets to your leads. An intake process that fits timely calls, texts, and emails in a single workflow is the end cap to your marketing efforts.
Don’t assume that these methods replace personal communication. They’re about making sure it happens when it should, as often as it should. Leverage your CRM software to create a scalable, trackable, and consistent process for engaging with the leads you have worked to obtain.
But First, You Need To Generate Leads
The firms that are growing may not be the ones spending the most, but they could be the ones with consistent intake processes. But first, you need leads. Spotlight Marketing + Branding generates leads (paid ads) and nurtures relationships for law firms. Stop letting new business pass you by and set up a call with us.
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