Marketing & sales guide
Law firm leads not converting? Find the missing step.
Check where suitable people stop before buying more traffic. Separate inquiries your firm cannot serve, unanswered calls, missed consultations, delayed decisions and unfinished agreements. Each calls for different work. A small, consistent review gives you a better starting point than a single conversion percentage.
Agree on what counts as a suitable inquiry
Write down the work the firm wants and has capacity to take. Include the practice area, locations served and the basic requirements your attorneys have approved. Your marketing provider and the people handling calls should use the same definition.
Keep fit and response separate. A suitable person who never received a reply is a different problem from someone asking for work the firm does not do. When the team lacks enough information, mark fit as unknown. A blank field should not silently become a rejected inquiry.
Also agree on the unit you count. If one person calls twice and submits a form, decide how those contacts connect to the same inquiry. Preserve the contact history while avoiding three supposed opportunities from one person.
Follow the same group from inquiry to payment
Choose a recent period with enough time for people to make a hiring decision. Review consecutive inquiries from that period, including those that went nowhere. Record the dates and use the same group as you follow progress.
Do not divide agreements signed this month by inquiries received this month unless those agreements belong to those inquiries. Some clients take longer to decide. Keep decisions still pending visible, and revisit them on a set date.
Start with the records you have. If the source, response time or outcome is missing, list it as missing. The first useful change may be a field the team records consistently. Keep billed fees, money collected and signed agreements as separate outcomes.
Read a few records before changing the campaign
The records below are fictional examples, not BDI client results. They show why a single “lost lead” label hides useful differences. Use anonymous record IDs in a working review; the team can find the underlying record in its own system.
Each unresolved inquiry needs a person responsible and a dated next action. The table records the action; your working copy should also name its owner and due date. Close a record only when its actual outcome is known.
| ID | Source | Fit | Contact | Consultation | Agreement | First payment | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example A | Paid search | Suitable | Reached | Held | Signed | Received | Hand over to delivery |
| Example B | Referral | Suitable | Reached | Missed | Not sent | Not due | Offer another time |
| Example C | Paid search | Outside scope | Reached | Not booked | Not applicable | Not applicable | Record reason and close |
| Example D | Organic search | Unknown | Not reached | Not booked | Not sent | Not due | Check contact details and response |
| Example E | Paid search | Suitable | Reached | Held | Sent | Not due | Confirm receipt and next decision |
Example A
- Source
- Paid search
- Fit
- Suitable
- Contact
- Reached
- Consultation
- Held
- Agreement
- Signed
- First payment
- Received
- Next action
- Hand over to delivery
Example B
- Source
- Referral
- Fit
- Suitable
- Contact
- Reached
- Consultation
- Missed
- Agreement
- Not sent
- First payment
- Not due
- Next action
- Offer another time
Example C
- Source
- Paid search
- Fit
- Outside scope
- Contact
- Reached
- Consultation
- Not booked
- Agreement
- Not applicable
- First payment
- Not applicable
- Next action
- Record reason and close
Example D
- Source
- Organic search
- Fit
- Unknown
- Contact
- Not reached
- Consultation
- Not booked
- Agreement
- Not sent
- First payment
- Not due
- Next action
- Check contact details and response
Example E
- Source
- Paid search
- Fit
- Suitable
- Contact
- Reached
- Consultation
- Held
- Agreement
- Sent
- First payment
- Not due
- Next action
- Confirm receipt and next decision
Match the break to the work needed
Review the pattern across the group. One unusual record can explain a person’s outcome without explaining the campaign. Read the actual messages and permitted call recordings before deciding that price, staff performance or lead quality caused a loss.
Use the pattern to choose who investigates. Marketing, sales and the person managing the team may need to look at the same records together.
| What the records show | What to inspect first |
|---|---|
| Many inquiries outside the agreed scope | Ad targeting, search terms, landing-page promise and fit criteria |
| Suitable people receive no useful reply | Contact details, routing, response coverage and assigned owner |
| Booked consultations are often missed | Scheduling, reminders, expectations and rescheduling options |
| Consultations happen but decisions stall | Questions left unanswered, fee explanations and the agreed next step |
| Agreements are sent but remain unfinished | Receipt, signing instructions, follow-up and any stated concern |
| Signed clients have not made a first payment | Agreed payment terms, due dates and payment instructions |
Use this worksheet for the first review
Copy the fields below into a shared document. Keep the first review narrow enough that the team can finish it and use the result. If sources or practice areas behave differently, keep those groups separate rather than combining them into one average.
| Field | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Inquiry dates and review date | Start: ___ End: ___ Reviewed: ___ |
| Practice area, market and sources | ___ |
| Agreed suitable-inquiry definition | ___ |
| Total unique inquiries and unknown-fit records | ___ |
| Suitable inquiries contacted and consultations held | ___ |
| Signed agreements, first payments and pending decisions | ___ |
| Repeated problem supported by records | ___ |
| One change, responsible person and due date | ___ |
| What you will check at the next review | ___ |
Choose a change you can inspect
Describe the behavior you want to change. For example: every missed consultation receives a named follow-up owner and a recorded next action. That is specific enough to check in the records. “Improve conversion” still leaves the team guessing about the work.
Set the review date around the task and the firm’s decision cycle. Check both whether the team used the change and what happened afterward. If the action never happened, address that before judging whether it worked.
Keep a note of other changes during the period, such as a new campaign, different case mix, changed fees or additional staff coverage. A rise in conversion after several changes does not tell you which one caused it. Avoid presenting a small before-and-after sample as a guaranteed result.
Check what growth costs the firm
As the records improve, connect acquisition spending to the clients it helped bring in. Include media, relevant service fees and other agreed acquisition costs. Use a consistent time window and explain any costs or outcomes you cannot yet match.
A lower cost per inquiry can still leave the firm with more unsuitable calls. A better signing rate can still create work the team cannot serve. Review client fit, collected fees and capacity alongside conversion. Bring the firm’s bookkeeper or accountant into questions about financial records and profit.
The next investment should follow the evidence: better acquisition, stronger sales conversations, more reliable team coverage or a clearer view of costs. Give that work an owner and a way to judge progress.