Generating leads is a vital part of any small law firm marketing strategy, but knowing how leads become clients and the cost for the conversion is just as important. The conversion of lead to paying client is what takes you from spending money to making money – which is really the reason you are in law firm.

To discover how the lead conversion process works in your law firm, you need to work with your staff to identify the stages of how prospects go to paying clients. Find out:

• Who in the company is involved in the conversion process
• The number of steps involved in the process
• Where the conversion process begins
• Who keeps the process moving
• Who closes the process
• Who tracks and reports on the process
• The cost for each step in the conversion process

Once you have those answers, you should analyse your process to find opportunities to shorten it wherever possible. Look for any redundancies in actions or staff that can be removed. The goal is to have a lean process that delivers the results you want.

Once you have a handle on your process and its costs, you should now look at ways you can reduce your cost per lead. Find out:

• The number of leads produced
• The cost of converting those leads to clients
• The amount of revenue each new client brings in

Like any other law firm process, your marketing efforts need to be as efficient as possible while still delivering your desired results.