Over the past six years, several hundred attorneys and advocates have utilized our Social Security Disability lead generation service. Many obtain a phenomenal return on investment with the leads, but others sometimes report unsatisfactory results. We constantly strive to improve our lead quality, and from the conversion data reported to us from existing clients, our lead quality has steadily increased over time. Nevertheless, irrespective of lead quality improvement, I still encounter some firms who try our service, but struggle to achieve the desired results.
One of the most rewarding aspects of working at a lead generation company is witnessing a law firm or disability advocacy practice grow both in caseload and profit with the help of internet leads. It is thus all the more troubling when a client reports a negative experience with our SSD leads, since we have seen so many firms across the country who have attained success with these same leads. While I do firmly believe that any attorney or disability advocate can learn to process and to retain internet leads successfully, I have also come to the realization that not all firms possess the know-how to handle disability leads effectively in their current state.
For this reason, I wanted to highlight some of the common hurdles that could impede success with online SSD leads. These obstacles were compiled from conversations with clients and other individuals in the industry. Whether you purchase leads from our company or another, understanding these potential pitfalls before experimenting with online leads can spare you countless headaches and, in some cases, thousands of dollars.
- Initial Claims
- Follow-Up
- Sample Size
- You Are Not the Only Option
- Confusing Conversion Rate with Cost-Per-Case
In my experience, the vast majority of online disability leads involve those who need assistance completing and filing the initial application for benefits. Since such a high percentage of leads involve this stage of the process, an unwillingness to handle these claims will make your chances of obtaining successful results with online leads very slim.
I dedicated my last post to the importance of lead follow-up. The bottom line is that many of the claimants completing web forms come from adverse circumstances and may not be the most proactive in returning phone calls. Making contact with the leads is hard work, and those who are successful with internet leads will often make 15-20 outbound call attempts before deeming a lead unreachable.
Just as important as lead follow-up is packet follow-up. This refers to following up with the “desired” cases to ensure that the representation documents are returned. After all, you could send retainers to or schedule office appointments for 50% of your leads, but if the retainer agreements are not signed, you will not have any new cases. Claimants may forget about previous conversations with you or lose interest in moving forward, so it is crucial for you or your staff to maintain a persistent follow-up effort to maximize the packet return rate.
Grasping the importance of sample size is crucial for gauging success with internet leads. Flip a coin just five times, and heads may appear on all five instances. Flip a coin 5000 times, and the split will most likely be very close to a 50/50 split between heads and tails.
Similarly, to obtain statistically relevant data with your SSD leads, you should ensure that the sample size is adequate. For example, if you expect to convert about 10% of your leads, a sample size of fewer than 100 leads will often be insufficient to judge lead quality accurately.
Tens of thousands of attorneys and disability advocates handle disability cases across the country. Considering this competitive landscape, it is important for you to underscore the benefits of why choosing your firm is the better choice. Understand your unique selling point(s) (e.g., locally-based, experience, win rate, etc.) and convey this to the claimant in an informative and educative manner.
Sometimes an attorney or advocate will perform quite well with a lead service, but believe or “feel” that the performance was lackluster. For example, you may convert 20% and conclude that it does not make sense to use a pay-per-lead service where 80% of the product is rejected. While this seems straightforward, in the end, the lead cost will determine whether the service in question delivers a suitable return. Assuming a 20% sign rate, a lead price of $1000 per lead would result in a cost per signed case of $5000. However, with a lead price of $10 per lead, it would cost you $50 in marketing dollars to acquire a signed case. As you can imagine, a campaign that delivers a higher conversion rate may not always result in a lower cost per signed case.
The list above may shed some light on important factors to consider when purchasing internet leads. While by no means exhaustive in nature, they can help ensure that you have the proper infrastructure and knowledge base in place before assessing the efficacy of your internet campaigns.