Depending on where you live, the average personal injury lawyer makes anywhere from $65,000 to $95,000 a year. You want to get to the higher end of that spectrum and eventually exceed it, but there’s only so many billable hours in a day and only so much time you can spend hanging around the emergency room in search of the next client. A smart online strategy, undergirded by mobile, is key to getting more personal injury cases.
It was once said that “Chili’s is the new golf course” as far as where business gets done. In that same vein, we can also say that the web is the new Yellow Pages as far as where lawyers get found. And mobile is where the action is.
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential prospect. They’ve obviously just been in an accident and have perhaps already been approached by lawyers who were prospecting at the hospital. You weren’t there, but the good news is that they were a little too scared to just sign on right away. But they won’t wait long—certainly not long enough to get back home, go to their desktop computer and do a comprehensive search.
Instead, they pull out their phone and run a search for “best personal injury lawyers near me” or “winning personal injury lawyers near me.” This is where you need to win the battle.
For the moment, let’s assume that you’re doing the right things on your website. You’ve got good content that establishes your expertise. You’ve listed yourself in the appropriate directories to make sure your firm comes up for those important search terms.
Do you know how well your site is going to work for someone on a phone—maybe a fairly small device? The first step is to use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, where you can get a simple up-or-down verdict on whether your site works on a mobile device.
But don’t stop there. Have your family and friends browse your site on their phones. Make sure that when a mobile user clicks on your phone number it works. Ensure that the content establishing your authority is clear, regardless of device size.
Then you have to to make sure the intake process at your office is working correctly. You might need to have someone call in pretending to be a client to ensure your customer service support is handling inquiries as you would want them.
Remember, everything needs to happen fast. The caller needs to feel supported, that the appropriate sense of urgency is felt by the law firm they called and they need to hear back from you right away. All of that means your intake process needs to be humming.
Getting more personal injury cases isn’t easy, but it can be done and it can be done without wearing yourself out with long hours in hospital waiting rooms. Make sure the resources you have in place—your website and your service team—are working as you need them to work.
