It’s the rare law firm that doesn’t want more business. And even law firms that have as much work as they can handle often observe, “It’s not that we want more clients; we want better ones.” Generating leads is obviously an essential part of that. But generating leads is only the beginning of the story. 

Depending on your practice area, some of your prospective clients may find you when searching online for an attorney. Hiring an attorney is a big decision, though, and many of those prospects won’t be willing to commit even to a consultation right away. You’ve gotten their interest for a moment—how do you keep it? 

Then there’s the reality that some of the best leads come by referral from other professionals, or word-of-mouth from other clients—those people come to you with a built-in endorsement from someone they trust, which makes them even more likely to convert. You want the people who keep sending these good leads your way to continue doing so. How do you achieve that, especially when you may not interact on a regular basis?

The key to staying top of mind with prospective clients or busy referral sources is nurturing those relationships—but how you do so depends on a lot of factors, including your practice areas, who the other party is, what their needs are, and the nature of your relationship. The Modern Firm regularly helps our clients with lead nurturing strategy and how to nurture referral relationships.

What is “Lead Nurturing?”

At its heart, lead nurturing is simply building relationships with people who have shown interest in your services, but are not yet ready to commit. It keeps that initial connection alive and gradually strengthens it until the potential client has reached the point in their journey. 

And yes, it really is a journey, with multiple stages. Google “buyer’s journey” and you’ll see multiple variations on the following: 

• Awareness: A potential client (lead) has a need and learns about your law firm, either from an online search, a print advertisement, or someone they know.

• Interest: The lead begins looking for solutions to their need, and identifies your law firm as a possible source of solutions, so they investigate further, though they may not yet be ready to hire.

• Consideration/Evaluation: The lead has decided they want to hire an attorney or law firm, and are considering hiring your firm, perhaps evaluating it against other practices.

• Decision/Commitment: The lead is at the point of deciding to hire your firm and becoming a client.

• Service: The client has hired your firm and you are actively providing them services, such as preparing an estate plan or representing them in a lawsuit.

• Loyalty: The work the client hired you for has concluded, and they identify you as a helpful, trustworthy professional to whom they would return if more services are needed, or confidently refer others who need the legal services you provide.

Some iterations of the buyer’s journey end with the decision stage, but we think that’s a missed opportunity. Your relationship with the client doesn’t end when they hire you, or even when the matter they hired you to handle is finished. Continuing with lead nurturing best practices means that your client continues to think of you highly, even if they never need to work with you again. Your efforts show your client that they matter to you—not just their business. Clients who feel valued by a law firm are also, unsurprisingly, most likely to refer others to that firm.

The Right Message for the Right Moment—and the Right Audience

Let’s face it: we’re all busy, and even a promising connection can quickly fade. Staying top of mind with a lead involves communication—but not just any communication.

Lead nurturing is fostering a relationship, and relationships are built on trust. Trust doesn’t develop instantly. The exact same message can be perceived as welcome or intrusive depending on when in the relationship it is received. (Don’t believe us? Try proposing marriage to someone you’ve just met). 

It’s also critical that your message be delivered in a way that resonates with your intended audience. If you’re looking to build trust, it’s important that the recipient of your message feels that you understand their interests and needs. Here are some of the most effective ways to stay connected with clients, leads, and referral sources.

Seminars and Downloadable Resources

In-person seminars, such as those often offered by estate planning attorneys, provide multiple benefits: they attract people who are interested in the subject matter you know best, and they allow you to position yourself as an authority. Downloadable resources like e-books do the same thing in a different format. Whichever educational option(s) you offer, when people sign up, they provide their contact information—which provides you with a way to maintain a connection. 

But beware of CAN-SPAM, otherwise known as the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003. This federal law was enacted to protect consumers from unwanted email. It requires senders of marketing emails to clearly identify themselves and give potential recipients the opportunity to opt into (or in some cases out of) receiving emails. There can be significant penalties for violations.

Email Drip Campaigns

Email drip campaigns are one way to not only remind leads that you’re there, but remind them how you can help them. The Modern Firm helps our clients create automated drip campaigns to respond to clients or potential clients depending on where they are in their journey.

Bombarding them with offers of services right away is something like proposing marriage to a new acquaintance in the coffee shop. But you might send an email a few days later with some Medicaid planning information they might find helpful, then another related email a week or so after that. By this time, the reader knows the name of your firm and what you do. By the next email, when you finally offer services, they’re more likely to consider you a trusted, helpful resource and be open to hiring you.

Email drip campaigns can be customized and automated for every phase of the client relationship, from encouraging leads to become clients, to educating current clients about steps in the legal process, to reminding former clients that you’re grateful for their business. 

Email Newsletters 

Regular lead-nurturing email newsletters are another great way to remind leads and referral sources that you are an authority in your practice areas. Unlike drip campaigns, which must be tailored to where a recipient is in their journey, an email newsletter contains topics of general interest to your audience.  If you have a blog on your website, including snippets and links in your email newsletter will draw traffic to your website.

Some attorneys include personal news, or even recipes, in their newsletters along with links to their recent blog posts or the latest legal news. Depending on your practice areas and your intended audience, that can be a great way to humanize you and your firm. The key is not just to send your contacts something to get your firm’s name in front of them, but to send information they’ll find helpful and engaging.

Social Media

Don’t sleep on social media! It’s a great way to share information in a way that’s accessible to potential clients on their terms. YouTube and TikTok are valuable tools for helping people understand legal concepts in an engaging way, as well as positioning the attorney on camera as an authority. Facebook and Instagram are also good avenues for getting across a firm’s personality, highlighting successes, and keeping readers up to date about developments in the law that could affect them.

B2B Marketing for Law Firms

Lead nurturing isn’t just for law firms whose clients are consumers, and cultivating relationships with business clients often requires a different approach. The sales funnel is generally longer and frequently involves multiple decision-makers, all of whom need to get on board before the sales process can advance. 

As with consumers, email marketing is effective, and personalization is just as important—if not more so. A well-timed email in a drip campaign can help move a client past a pain point in the decision-making process. 

Share content that shows your firm understands the problems facing your business clients, and has the ability to solve them swiftly and efficiently. Businesses rise and fall on results. B2B marketing for law firms needs to emphasize your firm’s successes. If your lead nurturing strategy highlights what your law firm has been able to accomplish for similar companies, that will go a long way toward motivating a lead to become a loyal client.

How TMF Can Help

The Modern Firm has long helped clients with building relationships with their own clients. We have recently started more actively supporting our clients with email marketing and social media campaigns, which has been especially successful for B2B law firms.

One of the ways we work with clients is to create automations for email drip campaigns, working with law firm’s customer relationship management (CRM) systems, such as Clio. These automations can be fairly elaborate, ensuring that clients receive appropriate updates at each stage of their representation, or different emails to leave the door open and maintain connection if they drop out or cancel an appointment. Our preferred platform for automations is ActiveCampaign.

We can also implement integrations with CRMs like Clio and email platforms such as Mailchimp. For many law firms, we manage monthly newsletters which are supported by The Modern Firm’s content services. Our Marketing team also simply consults with law firms to help them identify measures they can take on their own, online or off, to nurture client and referral connections.

Nurturing leads doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing endeavor. As The Modern Firm’s Director of Marketing, Erin Ricchiazzi, notes: “We meet clients where they are. We’re available to put together a complex automation for an email drip campaign if that’s what they need, but we can also just help with a monthly newsletter, or give guidance about options if they want to handle things themselves. It all depends on the individual law firm and its needs.”

Have Some Fun with Nurturing Referral Relationships

Developing lead nurturing best practices is serious business, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t also be enjoyable. That’s especially true when it comes to nurturing referral relationships with existing clients or colleagues. They already have a feel for your capabilities and accomplishments, so you can put some energy into making sure the continued relationship is an enjoyable one for you both.

That could be something as simple as sending cards at birthdays or holidays, or a thank-you note or gift when a referral becomes a client.

Some other creative ideas we’ve seen:

• Gudorf Law Group in Dayton, Ohio gives clients who have completed the estate planning process access to their Legacy Club, which offers benefits ranging from educational events and discounts on services to social events like an Oktoberfest celebration and holiday parties.
• A Maryland family law attorney hosts regular social events, including a wine tasting,  to thank her professional referral sources.
• A North Carolina estate planning attorney presents clients with a “Congratulations” layer cake from a local bakery at their signing appointment.

Showing your genuine appreciation for the relationship helps your referral sources feel seen and cared for, and means that the next time they have a potential lead to refer, they’re more likely to think of you. 

Building relationships with our clients is one of the most rewarding parts of our work here at The Modern Firm. If you’d like to learn more about how to nurture referral relationships and lead nurturing best practices, let’s touch base to discuss the right moves for your law firm.