For many businesses that rely on lead generation, maximizing return on leads can be the difference between profitability and bankruptcy. Especially in tough economic times, it is more preferable to spend time on revenue-generating activities than on time wasters like dealing with bad leads. Fortunately there are ways to improve your lead handling approach, a major part of which is your selection of lead providers.

Price

It’s easy to compare leads providers based solely on price. If Company ABC charges $25 and Company XYZ charges $35 then ABC is better, right?

Well, not exactly. The price of leads does hit your bottom line as a business expense, but that expense will be offset by the revenues you ultimately generate from those leads. Thus, the real measure is how profitable those leads are. For Bankruptcy Attorneys, then, the real measurement of leads providers is the quality of their leads.

Quality

In most industries, higher quality can demand higher prices. (Witness the difference between buying a Rolls Royce and a Kia, or hiring Julia Roberts vs. that kid from your high school theater class.) With lead generation, the quality of a lead involves several factors:

1. Is the individual an actual real person? — We’ve all chuckled at the Bart Simpson phone pranks, but getting leads from “Hugh Jass” and “Amanda Hugandkiss” is not funny when you’re having to pay for them. Unfortunately, a small percentage of these leads is to be expected in the lead generation business. The question is this: Does your leads provider make you waste time debating each one individually, or do they offer you a standard bad leads credit on your monthly bill?
2. Can the individual be reached? — Sometimes, the individual filling out a lead form mistypes their contact information or omits an area code, yielding an unusable phone number or email address. Alternately, they might have entered all their information perfectly but for whatever reason are not available to be reached. We covered ways to track down hard to reach leads in a prior post. Every one of these leads that can be tracked down can be transformed into a quality lead.
3. Is the individual interested in the product/service in question? — Think about a typical car buyer… They shop around for a while, narrowing down the make and model of car, until finally deciding what they want. Only then do they transition from “shopping” to “buying.” Similarly, individuals filling out your lead generation form may only be in the “shopping” stage. Depending on your industry, these leads may not be cost effective at all.
4. Is the individual ready to “pull the trigger?” — You could have a great lead, good contact info, and they’re interested in the product/service you provide. What good is the lead if they already found another provider? Even worse, what good is the lead if your own leads provider sold the lead to one of your competitors first?!? (For that matter, what good is your leads provider?)

It’s easy to see how something as simple as buying leads can quickly become complex. When looking for a quality lead provider, the bottom line should always be quality of leads. That means you should look for:

• Some sort of “bad leads credit” on your monthly bill
• A higher percentage of leads that are ready to buy
• A leads provider that hasn’t already sold your leads to somebody else

Using these criteria to judge your lead provider and working this program can help make your leads, and your business, more profitable.

With the current state of the U.S. economy, it’s no surprise that searches for “bankruptcy”, “bankruptcy attorney” and other bankruptcy-related keywords are on the rise.  According to Google estimates, over 2.7 million people searched for the term “bankruptcy” in December 2008.  When other bankruptcy terms are included, the monthly search estimate is nearly 9 million.   Due to current economic conditions, these search trends are likely to continue throughout 2009.

For Bankruptcy Attorneys, 2009 will likely be a busy year.   However, not all bankruptcy law firms will be able to capitalize on the increased search traffic for “bankruptcy” terms.  It is exceedingly difficult to rank highly for bankruptcy search terms and the pay-per-click advertising fees for these terms are often $15 per click or more.  Therefore, many attorneys get their leads from Bankruptcy Lead Generation websites such as BankruptcyHome.com

LeadRival is proud to offer Bankruptcy Lead Generation services to attorneys across the United States.  Attorneys who join the LeadRival sponsoring attorney network receive exclusive access to all leads in the counties where they practice.  LeadRival’s web properties are well positioned to capitalize on the current increases in bankruptcy searches.  Additionally, LeadRival offers a lead management system which attorneys can use to convert leads into clients.  To find out more about the LeadRival bankruptcy attorney network, complete our Attorney Network Information form today!

The Bankruptcy Lead Generation marketplace is a crowded space full of companies promising to deliver high quality leads through a variety of methods.  Bankruptcy Attorneys are faced with multiple questions when deciding what internet strategies to use to generate bankruptcy leads.  Following is an overview of several common lead generation products.

• Attorney Directories.  There are many “attorney directory” sites that claim to deliver clients to your practice.  However, these sites may not be as effective as you think.   Consider these items when evaluating an Attorney Directory site:
  • Perform a search on the Attorney Directory site for your city and practice area.  How many attorneys are listed in the results?  If there are already many attorneys listed, how will your listing stand out?
  • Does the directory allow you to list a phone number and a link to your website?
  • How does the attorney directory website rank on google for Bankruptcy Attorney and Bankruptcy Lawyer?  Is it on the first page? 
  • How easy (or difficult) is it to use the Attorney Directory lawyer search?  If users get confused or frustrated, they will hit the back button and try another site.
     
• Attorney Website Management.  Another common product in the bankruptcy lead generation marketplace is attorney website management.  These companies promise to build a website for your practice that will generate organic (free) leads for your lawfirm.  However, as with any contract be sure to read the fine print.  Make sure you find out the answers to these questions:
  • Who “owns” the site?  If you decide to terminate your contract do you get to keep the website, domain name, content, etc?  
  • After the site is built, what will the company do to promote it?  Will they give you a monthly report with details about their marketing activities?
  • Who will update and maintain the site?  You or the Vendor?
  • What about Search Engine Optimization?  Does the company use search engine friendly methods of web development?   Do they do any off-page search engine marketing?  
  • Results:  Can the company give you references that illustrate the results they have achieved for other clients?
     
• Lead Delivery Services. The final product we’ll look at are bankruptcy lead delivery services.  These are traditional lead generation companies who gather data from clients and then sell it to attorneys.   When looking at lead delivery services, consider these questions:
  • How are the leads delivered?  Email? Text Message? Instant Message?  Are the leads delivered real-time or is there a processing delay?
  • What data is sent with the lead?  
  • Are phone leads “warm transferred” to your office?  If so, is this a feature that you will be able to support or will these leads go to voicemail?
  • Does the vendor provide a method for dealing with bad or duplicate leads?
  • Is there a back-end lead administration website that will allow you to track and work your leads?
  • If you have any issues is there an account manager you can contact for help?
  • Are the leads in your area sold exclusively to you or are the leads sold to multiple attorneys?
  • How can you terminate the contract?  Is there a 6, 12 or 18 month contract term?

If you’re ready to start receiving Bankruptcy Leads through the internet, or if you are looking to supplement your existing bankruptcy lead pipeline, we’d love to talk to you.  Please complete our Attorney Bankrupty Lead Generation form and one of our sales representatives will contact you to explain the many options LeadRival offers for Bankruptcy Lead Generation.