I don’t qualify for alcoholics anonymous, but I DO qualify for DUI Lead Providers anonymous…
After generating and providing 34,892+ DUI leads to attorneys nationwide for 3+ years, you’d think I learned a thing or two, which I’ll share here:
First, some trivia: Attorneys in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii seem to be the happiest, and work the least. Never was able to get one of them to advertise with me for DUI leads.
They were too busy hunting, fishing, kayaking, ranching, horseback riding, and having a grand ole’ time instead of sweating it out in an office and court all week long.
There were super-converters, masters of the trade who retained 1 in 4 (25%) of all leads, while others couldn’t convert a potential if their life depended on it.
You could staple the lead to the lame attorneys and they still couldn’t get them to retain.
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Leads would fluctuate wildly, all across the United States with no rhyme or reason… For two weeks, Las Vegas would be hot, then it would go dead. Wisconsin, in the meantime, would jump and tons of leads would come in, then New York, then Kansas – lead volumes fluctuating with no apparent pattern.
Why did this happen? I asked dozens of attorneys, sat and thought, tried to attribute it to
…but all these reasons failed to explain the fluctuations.
How about lead quality? I’ve dealt with and seen leads from providers like:
and more.
Over 34,892 DUI leads, I saw the following stats, regardless of who provided the lead, whether the lead was a phone or email lead, in every state, at any time of day or night, weekends and weekdays… even when there was a full moon.
40% Ghosts – they never answered the phone, text, email. Nothing. We’d call the leads 5 times over a week, text, email, everything.
30% Tire-Kickers, Expungements, Dead Leads –
These people were junk. No useful way to work with them – they cluttered up the lead flow & wasted attorneys’ time.
30% Viable – these people would answer, had real Issues, and did retain attorneys. Many would retain an attorney pretty quickly, some would price shop, some wouldn’t, but this core group were the “good stuff”.
Bottom line, what was the average number of leads required to retain 1 client?
1 in 10 ( aka 10% )
Average cost on a per lead basis? $50
(although that’s increased a bit in the last year to $65 for many providers)
Can you dispute junk leads? Some places will do it, some won’t.
Depends on the place.
Is it worth it to get leads in this way? Now that I don’t provide them anymore, and I don’t get a commission from any of these guys for referring, I can honestly say YES, in certain circumstances.
If you want an immediate injection of leads to try to turn into retained clients, and you KNOW going in that you’ll retain approx. 10% which means $50/lead * 10leads/retain = $500 to get a client.
If you can afford that and more, this will probably work for you and can be an add on to your other marketing to get clients.
Before this email goes too long, I’ll end with a few best practices to convert the most possible leads Into retained clients:
1. Jump on the leads IMMEDIATELY, if not sooner. If you sit on these leads at all, they may be snatched up by other attorneys, or not answer the phone.
Leads are typically provided in real time as people request help, so follow up ASAP.
2. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Email each lead several times, call them several times, text them 1 time, and don’t just give up right away. People are busy, they’re working, etc, and the guys that follow up aggressively do better.
3. Track your results carefully, dispute truly garbage leads, and make sure the service(s) You use are providing you decent leads in the aggregate. Don’t sign any long term agreements – no reason you can’t do month to month and cut things off if they’re not working.
If you’re looking for a list of vetted, arms-length, recommended vendors for buying leads, SEO, website development, pay per click, direct mail, or any other form of attorney marketing…
Fill out the form on the top right of this page and I’ll send you my curated attorney vendor list. (no obligation, no cost on your part)
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Richard Jacobs
Speakeasy Marketing
My name is Richard Jacobs, and I’ve discovered quite a bit about the plight of solo practitioners and small, 2-5 attorney firms like yours these past 12 years.
I’ve come to understand the unique challenges in marketing ethically and effectively that attorneys face because I have:
Before you decide to invest in your marketing, it makes sense to first request your complimentary, custom, no obligation video website review.
Richard is the author of 6 books published on Amazon, Kindle and Audible.com
Richard is available for speaking engagements on direct marketing for attorneys and has recently spoken at the following legal conferences:
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