How does your firm manage online enquiries?
When law firms first started to promote themselves online, their websites were little more than brochures: ‘This is who we are, this is where to find us and you can phone or email us for more information.’ Many firms have at least moved on to a more interactive experience for clients and potential clients, but for others the only advance has been to create an online form for an enquirer to complete by way of indicating their needs. I suggest that this does not really advance such firms’ offerings.
Nonetheless, such an online presence does get you noticed by prospective clients searching for a local solicitor, or a solicitor with a particular expertise. So it should go without saying that, when an enquiry from such a search is received, the firm must respond quickly to capture the enquirer as a client. After all, yours may well not be the only firm to whom an enquiry has been submitted.
Regular readers of my blog will be bracing themselves for a story about how law firms have failed to rise to this modest challenge, but on this occasion you can relax a little, because my anecdote is this time about accountancy firms. Don’t get too complacent though, because there may be a sting in this little tale.
I recently had cause to seek the services of an accountant, so I did some research and narrowed down my choice to three firms. All of them had online forms and I duly submitted my queries to each of them. Only one produced an automated email response advising me that I would hear from them within one working day, and they duly contacted me within that time. The second took two days to respond, and even then only after I emailed them to ask whether I might hear from them. As for the third, well, I’m still waiting six days later.
I suspect that, in the case of the firms that have been slow to respond, it was not a case of the person in receipt of the online form simply not being bothered. Or at least I hope so. It is more likely that they do not have a simple mechanism in place to ensure that all online expressions of interest are immediately routed to one or more persons tasked to respond immediately, with backup systems in place to deputise for absentees. This really isn’t rocket science and yet, in failing to have such systems in place, these firms have caused their reputations more damage than by not having a website in the first place.
The sting in the tale? Do you know how your firm manages online enquiries? When I ask partners in firms with management responsibilities, often they don’t know…
Comments
Simple things make a huge difference
Your blog post points out what is an astonishingly widespread problem - not just law firms but as you indicate, many other industries. I am constantly amazed by how much some firms pour into creating a great looking site packed with tons of useful information, bios, testimonials and online enquiry forms yet they fail to respond to online enquiries in reasonable time or often not at all. The reason, as you say, is that they have forgotten to put into place simple back-office procedures to handle the actual enquiries they hoped their investment would generate. Partners need to ask their marketing dept some straightforward questions about how these follow up procedures work and what safety nets are in place to ensure that online enquiries are not being lost through simply not responding - they may find some very surprising issues.
Almost as important is getting proper statistics/analytics on where online enquiries have come from, which online marketing ads generated which enquiries, what online marketing spend has worked and what has not. Essentially everything you would and should do for any king of marketing. Again, some simple and often free online tools are available to help you achieve all of this. It will make a huge difference to the success or otherwise of your online presence. I would recommend partners demand a daily summary of simple online stats showing this information.
Andrew Bowen
JusticeDirectory.co.uk
'Super Lawyers' here to stay
First of all excellent article Martin, it is true that many law firms are yet to grasp web 2.0 technologies, let alone the basics.
Online enquiry forms are impetrative for any firm that maintains an online presence, and should be seen as the bare minimum in terms of interactivity for clients and potential clients.
Many firms however many the mistake of offering all clients a generic enquiry form, for example personal injury enquiry forms should differ to those appearing on business pages.
As a legal marketer I see the submission of an enquiry as a small part of a much longer process.
Many people like yourself take the time to research a number of companies before enquiring, having that option is very important. First of all you have to be there for people to find you.
Replying promptly to an enquiry is the next key step; the first accountancy firm you spoke got it just right.
The process should however go further than this, speaking to a potential client about the search terms they chose and whey they chose them is an excellent way to help improve user interactivity.
Google Analytics and Webmaster tools can also help in understanding the location of enquiries, searches used and recent trends.
It has to be said that the minds of marketers and solicitors work very differently, especially when it comes to legal marketing.
However we are seeing the birth, especially here at Ralli, of what I happily like to call ‘Super Lawyers’, those who understand social media for example, those who want to interact with clients in different ways and those who understand the importance of making a good impression online and offline.
Online enquiries
Martin
It is great to see that the Gazette has a blog and I am thrilled to be able to post a comment (some sites, particularly those adopted by law firms - a brave thing in itself - do not allow this!).
As a general point, the idea of an enquiry form is OK(ish) but it does seem very arcane given the Social Media platforms that do exist and I wonder what purpose it is meant to serve? An enquiry about what? The level of epertise? The expertise itself? Cost? Availability? If all the enquiry form is meant to facilitate is a standard response: Yes, No, it costs this much and we do have that, then in my view it does not go far enough, either on an emotional level of from an ROI perspective. Wouldn't it be far better, once you have a new, existing or previous client visit your site (which is one of the main focal points of SM - to drive the right traffic) to be able to offer something of value or better still a portal where certain legal services might be purchased. The experience needs to be memorable and rewarding and a pop up might be good or a video embedded in the screen.
I would describe the enquiry form as part of the Web 1.0 technology, which is almost obsolete now and more creativity needs to go into the offering.
As to who picks this up, who knows. I don't suspect it has anybody's name on the ticket largely because a lot of firms are not epecting to get any enquiries!
Julian