The "Law Firm Growth Secrets" Interview
Law Firm "New Client Funnel" Diagram
(mentioned in the interview)
Interview Transcript
Chris: I’d love to welcome everyone to the Law Practice Digital Marketing Show.
On the show we talk with the world's top experts at growing Law Practices.
Today we’re talking with Scott Duncan.
Scott is the Owner and CEO at Golden State Web Consulting, an online marketing firm focused on growing Law Practices using digital marketing.
In this interview, Scott is going to walk us through the unique way that they’ve been able to help their Law Firm clients grow their monthly revenue using a unique strategic online marketing Strategy.
Scott Duncan. Welcome to the Show.
Scott: Thanks Chris, it’s an honor to be here and to get to share all the fun stuff we’re doing with your audience. I’m excited to get into it!
Chris: Ok first big question.
What led you to starting Golden State Web Consulting and why do you focus exclusively on working with Law Firms?
Scott: Well I wish I could say that there was some master plan to it, but honestly, my wife works for an attorney and I started helping them with their website and online assets.
I’ve gotten a good insight as to what the challenges are for Law Firms in terms of how online marketing can help them grow their practices.
What I started noticing along the way is that there is a tremendous amount of competition among Law Firms.
After tons of trial and error over the years, we got really good with it and Golden State Web Consulting is now specializing in Law Firm Digital Marketing. So… Long story short… I accidentally got into this but I’m good at it and I love getting up every morning and helping folks in the industry.
Chris: So what kind of law Firms do you work with specifically?
Scott: We like to work with Law Firms that are located in midsize to larger cities as opposed to the smaller towns. Within that group I tend to really enjoy working with Firms that have a particular specialization that they want to focus on such as firms that handle insurance cases. These types of cases tend to be complex and have a high return on investment.
These firms typically have up to 50 attorneys and need a consistent flow of new clients. They also have the capital required to take on more complex lengthy cases that may necessitate a contingency payment arrangement in order to accommodate clients.
Chris: I love it. So let’s get to the part everyone is waiting for. I’d like for you to walk us through the exact strategy that you put in place for all of your Law Firm clients that gets them new business using the internet.
What is the core framework of your system?
Scott: We call it our “Law Firm New Client Machine” and we focus on 10 components. The 10 components of this funnel consist of a website, a lead collection system, automated followup system using email and sms, reviews, automated review replies, smart business cards, social media, custom funnels for existing marketing, our online exposure machine and finally paid advertising.
Underneath each of those components, we have systems in place that get us to our ultimate goal of getting more new clients. But at the core, a lot of what we do is to take what a Law Firm may already have in place and make it actually work for the business instead of it being just something that someone set up because they thought they were supposed to.
Chris: Ok great… so how do all of those pieces fit together?
Scott: There are 10 components of this “Law Firm New Client MACHINE”. So let me explain how all this works.
First Is the website. The best way to convert more visitors, to new clients, is to tell your practice’s story and show potential clients why you are the best and only choice to win their case.
We build the Practice a State-of-the-Art Website, that is Google Friendly, fast, and secure, which will funnel all your site’s visitors into component number 2, our new client, lead collection system.
The lead collection system starts with a Downloadable Guide.
Once people visit the website, they’ll want more information on how you can actually help them. Some will call or message right away, but we also want to capture the folks that would normally be lost because they leave and never come back. That’s why we create a custom guide that walks potential client’s through their journey with the Law Firm. THE Magic IS….To get this guide they have to give you their contact info. Once we have that info, we place the potential client in what we call an “Automated Client Converter Follow up Machine”. This brings us to component number 3
The Automated Client Converter Follow up Machine uses SMS, Email and phone calls. The second that someone downloads the custom guide that we create, the law firm's office staff is alerted with their name, email and phone number. Staff can call the lead right away and personally answer any questions they might have. This leads to a huge increase in client sign ups that normal practices miss out on, every single month. We also automate followup using Text Messaging and Email. From there we start to focus on using what you’re already doing in your office to get even more clients.
That leads us to component number 4, Our Review Machine which automates the tedious work of getting more reviews and we call this “The Client Success Scoreboard”.
We make sure that every single client that you have a positive outcome with, is given the invitation to leave you a positive review. We automate this process so that we can ensure that you’re stacking reviews faster and more consistently than your competitors. This also helps your website’s ranking on google and other search platforms.
With component number 5 we automate Replying to these Reviews.
It’s really important to reply to reviews that come in as quickly as possible. Google loves to see new content and potential clients like to see a law firm that is engaged and actually cares about their clients.
Next, component number 6, provides every Attorney in the firm with a digital Smart Business Card.
Every person they meet is a potential client or a referrer of a client. Traditional business cards get lost and you don’t retain the contacts info if they don’t share it. Our cards make sure that they save your contact information and it gives them the instant option to share their info back with you. This also gives us the opportunity to automate a followup with anyone that you meet. This immediately makes you stand out in your market without you having to do any extra work.
Component number 7 is our Facebook Social Media Makeover.
It’s no secret that successful businesses usually have active social media pages. When someone stumbles upon your social media page, it should seem active and it should be educational. We ensure your social media page is highly educational when it comes to winning cases and it will funnel them to your website to collect their information (so we can use automation to help close the new client).
Component number 8, we Create Custom Funnels for existing Advertising traffic by creating landing pages that are specific to your current advertising methods.
It’s important that ads drive traffic to very relevant landing pages, based on the calls to action that you are currently using.
Next is component number 9, is our Online Exposure Machine.
We submit the firm's website to all of the important online directories and data aggregators. This will help to get more exposure in your local market as well as improves your website rankings on Google.
Finally, component number 10, Is our Monthly New Client Traffic Machine.
We set up Google Local Service ads for your top keywords, that funnel new, targeted leads to landing pages that we custom build. These leads are the people that are looking for help now, and the ads are going to make sure that the Law Firms we work with, have a constant stream of new clients!
Chris: I love all of that. So what do you consider a successful result of this system at the end of every month?
Scott: Glad you asked! Our goal is to return a minimum of 5 to 10 times what our clients are investing with us.
Chris: Ok… so lets say that a Law Firm wants to get started with your system.
Where do they go to sign up?
Scott: We’re pretty swamped but if anyone wants to apply to become a client all you have to do is go to goldenstatewebconsulting.com and message me using the contact form. I love meeting new folks in the industry and talking shop so I’ll hit you back within 48 hours to chat.
Chris: And what happens once a new law firm signs up? What is the onboarding process like?
Scott: The day someone signs up with us, we have them select a point of contact in their firm that will be who we talk to. This is going to be our connection to the practice and someone who can handle getting us everything we need.
This helps because it takes the pressure off of busy managers and owners so that they don’t have to be that person. We collect brand information and start designing mockups right away. Typically we are ready to showcase a “New Client Funnel” for a business within 30 days. The point of contact approves the stuff they like and then lets us know what doesn’t work. We fix any issues and are ready to go within 4 weeks of initial sign up.
From there, we get everything live. Over the next month, we monitor everything to make sure everything is working. We tweak anything that isn’t connecting and work closely with our point of contact with once a week meetings.
After we get it dialed in, we typically only have to talk with the business once a month and that’s just us checking in. The best part of our “New Client Funnel” is that once it gets to working, it's pretty hands off for the law firms owner, manager, and the employees. We take care of everything and it just brings in a lot of new business.
Chris: If you could give any piece of advice to a Law Firm who was looking to grow using the internet besides all of the good stuff you’ve already laid out… what would that advice be?
Scott: My biggest piece of advice is to just get started with digital.
We obviously have this dialed in and down to a science. Even if you don’t work with us though, just focusing on one thing for 30 minutes a day can add up!
Chris: I love it!!
To everyone listening, I hope that you’ve pulled a ton out of our interview with Scott Duncan today.
Scott, thanks for being with us today on the show.
And like Scott said, if you have any questions, you can find Scott at goldenstatewebconsulting.com