How to Deal with E-mails from Prospective Clients

Website emailsA lawyer friend of mine casually remarked to me that she ignores the question-asking e-mails that come from her website visitors.

If you’ve got a website, then you’re getting e-mails from prospective clients. They’re asking questions about everything under the sun. They particularly want free legal advice.

Do you respond? How do you respond?

The answer (addressed from a pure marketing perspective) depends on your situation.

If you’re busy and never have a need for more clients, then feel free to blow it off. Ignore it. Just let it go. Yes, that’s rude, but we’re dealing with this from a marketing perspective only.

If you’re busy now but know you’ll have a need for new clients down the road, then you’re going to have to deal with the e-mail. After all, you built the website to assist you in generating new business. Why would you ignore the results of your efforts?

How to respond?

I’ve got three different approaches:

First, I sometimes answer the question asked by the person. I don’t get specific, and I try to be as helpful as possible without getting into a lengthy conversation. The fact is that these e-mails are usually reserved for people who actually need free legal advice and aren’t likely to hire us. If I have the time, I like to do what I can to help. You should consider the conflict of interest rules in your jurisdiction and be very aware of what it takes to create an attorney-client relationship.

Second, I send a stock e-mail response. I use a program called TextExpander (PC users check out ActiveWords) and I send a very nice, lengthy, but automated response that explains our process and options for getting specific answers. I sometimes customize the introductory part of the e-mail based on the question. The e-mail explains why it wouldn’t be helpful for me to answer the question without a thorough understanding of the facts. These e-mails go to people who might hire us down the road, but I’m not entirely clear about their circumstances. (I also use this approach for the very long, crazy e-mails some people send, although if they’re really, really crazy, I may ignore them).

Finally, I forward the e-mail to our intake person. She e-mails back or calls the person and moves forward with setting up a consultation. This approach is what I use for those folks who seem most in need of—and able to purchase—our services. I want us to move forward with the relationship.

Our website generates a ton of these e-mails. We attempt to route them to one person who handles them all (by posting an information e-mail address on the site), but visitors often find our individual addresses. It’s important to respond. These e-mails are often the beginning of a relationship. Ignore them at your peril.

Related articles:

  1. The Top 8 Personal Hygiene Mistakes That Turn Off Prospective Clients and Referral Sources
  2. 5 Things Prospective Clients Really Want to Buy
  3. How to Help Prospective Clients Take Action
  4. How One Word Can Spoil Your Prospective Client’s First Impression of You
  5. Can You Tell Your Prospective Client’s Story?

  • Megan

    Do you think that having an email option from your website is a necessity?  At one point I had a Contact Us page, but found that most people who used it were looking for free advice — I’d get their email, provide some variation of (1) short answer, (2) why I can’t give a specific answer, and (3) here’s how to proceed with representation, then hear nothing from them.

    Ultimately, I took down that page and replaced it with a “How to Hire Megan” page that directs them to call the office and explains that they’ll first have to pay a consultation fee.

    I don’t know for sure if it has resulted in more actual leads, but I feel like I’m spending less time chasing potential clients who can’t/won’t pay for representation.

    • http://divorcediscourse.com Lee Rosen

      Great question.

      Is it necessary? I don’t know.

      Very quick story – I just hired a real estate agent. In the process of selecting agents I emailed one that I’d heard good things about. I used the address I found on her website.

      I got no response.

      I moved on to someone else. I emailed her and she responded. I just signed the listing agreement.

      Should the first one have responded to my email? Yes. Would I have contacted her if I couldn’t have found her email address? I wouldn’t have – that’s just me.

      You should do what works for you and you should keep testing.

      Lee

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