One of the most challenging steps of any case lead generation campaigns is establishing contact with your potential clients. If you cannot connect with your Social Security disability lead via telephone, we recommend using email. Follow these tips and techniques to ensure that you’ll have the strongest chance of successfully communicating with your case leads.
Minimize capitalization in the email title
It may seem tempting to be professional and capitalize the title of your email as such:
- Smith Law Reaching Out for Lily Brown About Social Security Disability Benefits
The capitalization seems stiff and formal, which can be intimidating for Social Security applicants seeking help. Changing the format of the title humanizes your firm to the case lead and makes the email appear to be from a friend.
A better title would be:
- Social Security disability assistance from Smith Law
This title is shorter, which is critical because nearly 50% of emails are read on phones, and subject lines can often get cut off. You’ll notice that only the proper nouns are capitalized, unlike the first example, which seems more like the title to a college essay. Finally, this title emphasizes that you’re here to help. Many Social Security disability applicants are wary of lawyers, assuming that they are out to scam them. This is of course not the case, and a kind word such as “assistance” or “help” can go miles in portraying a positive image of your firm.
Repeat the applicant’s name and disability
As stated above, many disability applicants are nervous about accepting help from an attorney. To make a good first impression, be sure to repeat the your Social Security disability lead’s name and disability as many times as possible throughout your email. “Hi Lily” is a much better opening than “Hello There” or, even worse, “To Whom it May Concern.”
Mentioning the name of the claimant's disability throughout the email will make the lead realize that you’re aware of his or her ailments and are prepared to help with the application process for his or her specific need.
Double-check for typos
This may seem obvious, but making sure that you send a polished email the first time may be the difference between signing a case or not. People who are applying for Social Security disability benefits are disabled, which means that they may misinterpret a critical word if it’s misspelled or left out of a sentence.
Let’s say you meant to type, “We’d love to discuss this further with you” but accidentally wrote, “We’d love to this further with you.” The missing verb “discuss” completely changes the sentence, leaving it up for the applicant to determine what you meant. If you sent this to Lily, she could potentially believe that you’re ready to sign her on as a client without even hearing from her!
Use simple terms
More than 9 out of 10 of the case leads we generate are applying for Social Security disability benefits for the first time. This means that they will not know what terms like RFC Analysis or ODAR Office mean. Avoid confusing your leads by keeping your email as simple as possible
Bad example: Lily, your ALJ hearing will be scheduled at your nearest ODAR office.
Better example: Lily, you will have a meeting scheduled with a judge who will evaluate your claim at a court location nearest you.
Respond quickly
Nobody wants to live glued to an inbox, but a prompt response can mean everything when contacting a case lead. If you don’t respond as quickly as possible to potential clients, they may assume that they’re being ignored.
According to Edison Research, nearly 70% of consumers expect a response after reaching out to a brand, product, or company within the same day. If you are not quick on the reply, your case lead could lose interest in your services.
Additionally, eGenerationMarketing’s leads are exclusive, but we cannot stop people from filling out multiple contact forms on other websites. The your firm waits to contact a case lead, the more likely he or she is to find representation with another firm.
Keep track of your communication
When managing a large amount of case leads, it’s always important to keep track of whom you’ve contacted and how long ago you contacted them. eGenerationMarketing offers case lead management software called eLuminate, which allows you to easily email potential clients anywhere with an internet connection. You can even save templates of your most successful initial emails to be used in the future. eLuminate is available free of charge for any client receiving leads.