The Sales Funnel Matrix and Law Firm Marketing Plans

Definition: “Matrix: Something that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates, takes form, or develops: The Greco-Roman world was the matrix for Western civilization.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 2008.

Fundamental to the success of any law firm marketing campaign and any law firm marketing plan is understanding the concept of the “sales funnel.”

Yes, whether you like it or not legal services marketing (just like any other professional service such as business consulting, CPA services or even psychological counseling – think Dr. Phil) is a business and as a business it must follow the fundamental rules of marketing.

The cornerstone of any successful marketing method must begin with the understanding that not every person you or your firm comes in contact with is ready to be a client. In fact a great many prospects will never become clients.

In other words, your marketing efforts from all sources will generate leads (that go into the top of the funnel) and only a very small percentage (maybe 1% or less) will ever drop out of that funnel as clients.

Law firms tend to concentrate (generally to the exclusion of all else) most of their marketing efforts on improving the “closing rate” or the percentage amount of prospects that they can convert to clients.

Hence the fascination with RFPs, networking, luncheons, presentations etc. The idea being: “If we spend more time trying to build “relationships” (what ever that might be defined as) we’ll close more new deals.

So called “thought leaders” tend to foster this approach and sadly it’s a total marketing misconception.

Charles Green, Author of Trust Based Selling has written an excellent article titled: “Why Your Sales Process Matters Less Than The Psychology Of Selling.”

The article is a fantastic and well done discussion with numerical analysis of an entire marketing pipeline start to finish.

Unfortunately it misses the whole point of what a marketing funnel is supposed to do.

A superb marketing funnel is designed to generate the maximum amount of qualified prospects possible in your given marketing universe. It is from that pool of qualified prospects that we apply the concept of relationship building tactics so that new clients are developed over time.

Now here is the point of today’s post.

No matter how good you are relationship building…you won’t close any deals if you don’t have anyone to talk to!

Here’s the good part though…the more people you have to speak with…the more new clients you will have in spite of having “zero” relationship building skills.

Here’s a simple example.

Suppose you are a mega-superstar “relationship” builder.

You have 10 qualified leads and over the course of a year, you wine them, dine them, schmooze them, golf with them and literally do anything they want of you.

If at the end of a year; you have closed 50% of them and thus acquired 5 new clients, you would be considered a “marketing genius” anywhere in the world of professional sales and marketing (the average sales professional closes around 16% of qualified prospects.)

Let’s say I on the other hand through my integrated marketing efforts have created a pool of 100 top notch prospects.

Let’s also say I’m just an average “Joe/Jane” and close only 16% of these prospects in 12 months – nowhere near the “genius barfly pick up-artist” ratio you have.

Pop quiz…who has made the most money?

All things being equal (i.e. the average new client billing size is the same in each example) I will have 16 new clients…and you will have 5 even though you are almost 400% better at closing (read “building relationships”) than I am.

Please reread the above until you understand it.

Even though you have four times the “interpersonal skills” that I do…I have made more than three times the amount of money than you have in the same twelve month period.

Take a look at last week’s post titled “Lawyer Marketing Video: How To Sue Drug Companies For Free – 6,500 YouTube Views And Counting.”

That is an example of a lead generation tactic that is designed to “flood” (and I do mean…flood) the top end of your sales funnel with qualified prospects.

What could you do with 6,500 qualified people to “practice” your relationship building skills on over the next 12 months?

I don’t know how you answered the above question, but I’ll take 6,500 qualified leads that were developed through “smart marketing” any day over solely relying on my “relationship building” skills and I think most of you out there would agree.

More highly qualified leads equals more money no matter what business you’re in.

That is called “results.”

No disrespect to “thought leaders,” but I’d rather be a results leader.

Related posts:

1. Ten Reasons Why Law Firm Marketing Plans Fail
2. Dr. Phil’s Army Of “Morons” and Law Firm Marketing Plans
3. Does Your Law Firm Marketing Plan Actually Kick Some Ass?
4. Individual Attorney Marketing Plans and Total Confusion