Perhaps you’re a law firm owner who has been doing a bit of marketing and you’ve built up an email contacts list – awesome.
So, you have a bunch of leads there, but maybe you’re having trouble converting those leads into paying clients for your firm.
Doing webinars is a really great way to boost that conversion rate.
Webinars are really effective at showing people who you are and the sort of value you can provide.
If done well, you’ll have a captive audience for 30 minutes to an hour, and in that time, you can really show them how you can help them get a result.
It really does help to warm those leads up and convert them into clients, and that’s why I LOVE webinars.
I’ve used webinars in both my legal businesses.
At my law firm, we used webinars really effectively to convert first home buyers into paying clients.
We noticed that we were getting a lot of leads through our online quote tool. First home buyers came to our website, got themselves a quote, but then they’d just sit on the quotes and not get in touch.
Through experimentation, we found that regular live webinars were a really effective way for us to convert those people into paying clients.
We also use them here at Automio.
They are super, super effective at bringing in clients by showing people exactly how you can benefit their lives.
I’m going to take you through the five key steps to running a successful webinar for your law firm that’s going to help you convert your leads into paying clients.
Step One: Start with an icebreaker
Pretty simple, right?
From the get go, it’s really good to get a bit of audience participation happening.
So I always start with asking people to type in where they’re from in the comments section, and what the weather’s like there.
Alternatively, you might ask if they prefer chocolate spread or peanut butter – it really doesn’t matter. The point is, asking a question that’s going to get the audience using the chat box is going to make for a much more interactive, fun webinar. It means you’re not just talking at people for an hour, and setting the tone in the intro makes a big difference to engaging your audience throughout.
As part of the intro, tell people who the webinar is for. It’s really important they understand right off the bat that they’re in the right place.
In my case, I might have said, “This webinar is for first home buyers who are looking to get into their dream home in the next couple of months.”
Straight away, people on that webinar who are in that position know it’s going to benefit them.
Step Two: The expert’s story
It’s really important that early on in the webinar, you are positioning yourself as the expert.
The best way to do that is with a story.
You don’t want to sit there and tell people how many years experience you have, the types of law you do, how many years you’ve been practicing law, which university you went to…
That’s not how you make people think you’re an expert.
This is about taking people on a journey to explain how you became the expert in this area of law, or this niche that you practice in.
For example, if you’re doing a webinar all about helping female entrepreneurs launch their online business, you could talk about your own experience as a female entrepreneur.
Tell them how you started your business, the journey you’ve been on, and the things you learned that got you to where you are now.
That’s how you get your audience keen and invested and interested in what you have to say.
It’s really important that you don’t do that usual lawyer thing where we talk about how many years experience we have. You can wrap that into the story, but don’t just focus on those things alone.
Step Three: Teach a framework
Part of your webinar is going to be delivering some valuable content that solves a real pain point and helps your ideal client. That content will usually be delivered in a series of points.
For example, your webinar might be three strategies to help first home buyers get into their dream first home faster.
To make that super engaging, instead of presenting slides and setting out three bullet points, turn your three steps into a visual framework drawn into a shape.
Turn your three strategies into a triangle, and write a step at each point of the triangle – all of a sudden, you’ve got a framework.
This makes what you’re saying a lot more memorable and engaging.
Instead of just making a few points, you’re actually providing your audience with a valuable framework they can visualise and take away with them in their mind.
It doesn’t change the content in any way, but delivering it in a framework is super effective.
You can do it on a slide, but what I find most effective is getting an iPad with an apple pen, linking it up to the webinar and actually drawing it out live.
So have a go – there is a little bit of tech involved there, but it’s really easy to master and it’s super effective for getting your points across.
Step Four: Pitch your offer
It’s really important that towards the end of the webinar, you’re making an offer to your audience, because if you’re not, then the webinar is just information. That’s great, but the reason you’re doing the webinar in the first place is to bring in clients.
It’s part of your marketing, which means it should have a next step, or a call to action, that your audience can follow.
So you need to make a pitch.
The best way to move into the pitch, because sometimes this can feel a bit awkward, is to say, “OK, I’ve taught you three strategies about how to get into your dream first home faster. You can either go away and try to do that, or you can engage me as your lawyer, and I will help you through that process.”
It’s called the turn, and it really is the best way to pitch your services to the people on your webinar.
It’s also the most comfortable way of taking them from the meat of the webinar, where you’re delivering the content, into your pitch.
Then, in terms of your pitch, you need to offer something specific. Saying something like, “OK, well wasn’t that nice, now give me a call if you need anything” just isn’t going to be effective. You need to say “Look, here is how I can help you.”
It’s important to be really clear about what it is you can do for your audience.
You may or may not mention your price, depending on what the price is. My rule of thumb is, if you’re making an offer of something that’s $2,500 or more, don’t mention the price. If it’s less than that, it’s generally fine.
It’s also really good to offer some sort of fast action bonus.
A fast action bonus might be a free copy of your book, or some sort of a digital course you’ve created, for the first 10 people to take up your offer.
You need to be really clear about what your offer is, as well as what the next step is.
Usually it will be to book a call, but it could be something else, like to take an action on your website. If that’s the case, make sure you give them the link and again, be really clear about what you want them to do.
Step Five: The Q&A
Do the Q&A after you’ve made your pitch, and after you’ve presented your offer.
The Q&A is really important because it draws out a lot of important information about your offer that you may not have mentioned.
Something I’ve learned about lawyers is that often when it comes to Q&A, we’re worried that nobody will answer a question.
To deal with that, it’s so easy to simply pre-seed some questions of your own. Have a think about the questions you’ve been asked by your ideal clients recently, or perhaps on another webinar, and be ready to read out and answer those questions during your Q&A session.
This approach saves you from awkward silences, and the people who are there will likely benefit from that information too.
Your pre-seeded questions will still be relevant to your audience, and if designed well, they can help to reinforce the points you covered in the webinar.
The Q&A session is another good way to further position yourself as an expert, because the way you respond to questions is really important for your potential clients to see.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end. Webinars might seem intimidating, but they’re a proven tool you can use to convert your leads into clients. Just follow these five guiding principles, and remember, practice makes perfect! For more tips and ideas on growing and scaling a modern, successful, seven figure law firm, sign up to my Savvy Lawyers Facebook group.
