Google's Local Service Ads Analysis

Speaker 1 0:01

You're tuned in to the Marketing Lawcast with Jennifer Goddard . This is where estate planning and elder law firms turn for high-octane marketing strategies and powerhouse success stories . Brace yourselves for game-changing digital marketing tips , professional sales training and exclusive interviews with industry gurus and top-tier attorneys , smashing the six and seven-figure barrier . It's time to drive your practice to success . Welcome to the Marketing Lawcast .

Speaker 2 0:39

So what about Google's local service ads ? You probably have seen these in some of the searches in your local markets . I just did a screenshot . A state planning attorney , colorado Springs . These ads that you see that show up here in the shaded area . They say Google screened . These are called local service ads and they do show up at the top of the page . I want to talk about them because there's a little bit of controversy and there's some pros and cons to these local service ads . So let's take a look . Let's go through the pros . They're very easy to use . It's a mostly automated setup , very little setup required , and for people that want to do it yourself , it's a pretty easy place for you to DIY .

Speaker 2 1:31

They may generate cheaper leads . Your cost per lead will depend on how many lawyers are focused on your target city . So I can't say what your cost per lead will be , but if you're in a more competitive market it's going to be higher And obviously in a less competitive market it'll be lower . Estate planning leads on LSAs tend to average around $50 each And we kind of see overall a 25% conversion rate . So your cost for a new case should average out around $100 , depending on your market and your budget . They do carry a cache . For some attorneys They really like that idea of that Google screen And for some prospects that may be something that is giving them a sense of trust . They've been Google screened . I don't know how important that is , it wouldn't matter much to me But there is a level of trust for that Google screened cache And , like I said before , the ads appear at the top of the page . So you might think , well , that's a no brainer , i should be doing local service ads . But let's look at some of the cons . Leads may not be very well qualified . You don't have an opportunity with local service ads to redirect people back to your website or through your webinar or through anything other than what is set up there on Google . So we find sometimes people come to us and they've been running LSAs and they're very disappointed in the quality of the leads And that is because you really don't have an opportunity to push them to a landing page or to your website to sort of start the qualification process .

Speaker 2 3:19

For a small firm . You may have too many unqualified callers . It could tie people up answering the phone . I've heard this complaint a lot . We got a lot of calls . It interrupted our day . It was costiness money And it was very frustrating for my staff because the people were not very well qualified . So like one in four calls likely to be somebody that you could actually work with . So in a bigger firm that may not be a problem , but in a smaller firm it's just you and one other person . That could be an issue that you might just have too many unqualified callers .

Speaker 2 3:59

And one of the reasons that we see some of these issues is because you really don't have any control over the message . If you remember that screenshot I showed you , all the ads look the same , they're very generic and they just appear based on a category and how much budget you've put behind that campaign . So you don't get a lot of opportunity to control the message . You have no opportunity to control the message . You always are going to show up with a bunch of other people , like three or four or five other people at the top of the page , and all the ads look exactly the same . So there's no way to really differentiate yourself from your competitors . So , overall , should you be using local service ads ?

Speaker 2 4:47

Well , here's kind of a decision tree for you . Number one do you have a system in place to screen the calls and pre-qualify the prospects that this may generate ? Can you cover your phones most hours of most days ? Because if you have unanswered calls , google is going to start not showing your ad . So can you cover your phones Or are all of your phone calls going to be going to an answering machine or go unanswered ? Are you OK with a generally lower income , less sophisticated prospect ?

Speaker 2 5:24

Now , some of you guys may be . Maybe you have an associate who is coming on board and you need to just push some leads to them And you're OK . If it's just a mom and pop Will-Base sweetheart trust Will-Base sweetheart Will , that's OK with you . Others of you may say I really don't want to bother with that . The one differentiator that you really have with these LSAs is how many Google reviews you have . So if your ad pops up and you've got four five star reviews and it's popping up at the same time with three other people who have 84 five star reviews , you're not going to get a lot of clicks on your ad . You're not going to get a lot of calls . So if you have a lot of Google reviews , a lot of five star reviews , that could be in your favor for running these LSAs .

Speaker 2 6:13

Do you have capacity in your firm right now to handle a generally lower income , less sophisticated prospect ? Is your organic marketing foundation strong ? Do you have the budget to give it a try And do you want to ? Do you want to try and see how they perform in your market ? So those are some of the questions that I would ask before I would recommend using those LSAs . For most of my clients , the answers to some of these questions are no and they're disqualifiers . They don't want that prospect , they don't want to have a lot of phone calls interrupting their day . They have a different sales process , a different marketing process and they use that book of call so that they can control the conversation and they control the process . So most of my clients are not good prospects for LSAs , but I'm not saying that it might not be right for you . If you can answer these questions in the positive , it may be something for you to give it a try , and if you want to give it a try and see how it works for you .

Speaker 2 7:11

So again , this progression guys , their growth acceleration model was we drive the leads , we maximize the conversion and then we optimize the results , and it really just looks like this We're going to use the organic and then we're going to move to paid , and they're going to make sure that we've got our email marketing working for us . We're going to make sure our website is designed to convert . We've got reputation management in place and we've got automation to follow up on our leads . Then we may look at our spend . If everything is working well , we may just need to add more to the budget .

Speaker 2 7:48

Now the next two things I want to talk about in terms of optimizing results is where's your average fee ? You can hit your goals faster if you can command premium fees . And what's your sales process look like ? Are you able to convert leads to new clients at premium fees ? Do you have a finely tuned sales process ? The biggest issue for estate planning and elder law firms is converting at premium fees .

Maximizing Results Through Sales Mastery

Speaker 2 8:17

And , guys , i just want to walk you through this . You have this spreadsheet in your bonus materials How to reverse , engineer your target revenue where you are able to charge more and close more . So if we have a target revenue of $300,000 , we have a closing ratio of 50% and an average fee of $2,000 . That means we need to see seven new people every week To get to 600,000 , if we don't change the fee or the closing ratio means we have to see 13 people every week . This starts to be difficult for you as a solo or small firm to see 13 new people and then also do the work and meet with new clients .

Speaker 2 9:11

But you can see at the bottom of this spreadsheet which you can play with these numbers . If we increase the average fee from 2000 to 5000 , and we bump the closing ratio from 50% to 60% , now we hit that target of 600,000 with not 13 , not even seven , but with four new consultations per week . So you can see where our marketing budget can be optimized If we get really good at the sales process . How much does it cost me to get four new leads versus seven or 13 ? Less cost is less . If I can convert those at a higher fee and more frequently , i can literally double my revenue from 300 to 600,000 with a smaller marketing budget , less staff , less overhead and less time in the office .

Speaker 2 10:14

When I talk to a state in planning and elder law attorneys , this is the thing that scares them off of hitting these bigger numbers $600,000,000,000,000 . Yeah , they don't want to see 13 or 20 people every single week and then try to do the work and then try to serve the client and meet and do the closing . There's not enough hours in the day Yeah , i agree , there's not . This becomes really important that we can still reach these numbers with fewer people , a lower marketing budget , less overhead , if we get really good at the sales process . That is how we maximize results . So I just took together , when talking to lawyers , what are the five signs that you may need to work on your sales mastery .

Speaker 2 11:16

Then the first one is if you find yourself saying all my internet leads suck , i'm never able to close my internet leads , it's probably not them , it's probably you , it's probably your sales process , because these people that are coming to you through the internet , they've done a lot of work to find you and to schedule with you . They've carried a lot of water , they've done a lot of work to get you to the internet , so it's probably the sales process . The second thing if you hear yourself saying I can't charge premium fees in my market , my market won't support premium fees a sales process issue , because what we find is that when our clients learn how to connect with their prospects , identify the pain and bring the value , it has nothing to do with the market you're in . It's about how well you do that , and people want that solution from you . They want that problem solved and that pain relieved . If you're tired of chasing prospects who always , at the end of the consultation , say some things like well , that sounds great , but I need to think about it , that may be a sign that you need to work on your sales mastery .

Speaker 2 12:32

If you've built your practice and most of your business comes from referrals from financial advisors , you may not have ever really developed strong sales skills , and this is the reason why Financial advisors are the best trained salespeople on the planet . They're constantly in sales training . They pre-sell your prospects . So one of the things that I hear a lot is if I get in front of people , i close them . My closing ratio is almost 100% . That tells me that most of your business is coming from a pre-sold referral source a financial advisor . Like I said , they're the best salespeople on the planet .

Speaker 2 13:13

So then , when you start to bring in internet leads , the weaknesses in your sales skills and your sales process are going to show up . Now you don't wanna dump your referral sources , but what you're wanting to do is add in this huge market of the internet , and so you may have to upgrade your sales skills and your sales process in order to reap the benefit there . If in your initial consultations you are talking more than your prospect is , then you probably need to look at your sales skills and your sales process because you want that to be reversed . In that initial consultation , the prospect should be doing all the talking . You should be asking all the questions rather than them asking you . If your initial consultation kind of goes where the client is asking you questions and you are answering questions , then you're gonna have a hard time closing these internet leads at premium fees And you're gonna need to work on that , on sales skills and process . So , guys , that's kind of the growth model from driving leads to converting them , to optimizing the results .

Speaker 2 14:32

So how are you doing ? How are you doing with your internet marketing ? now , this is one of the things in your bonus materials . It's that ultimate marketing checklist So you can download that and really give yourself a self-assessment as to how well you're doing with your internet marketing .

Speaker 2 14:52

Now , guys , here's the cool thing . You made it . We are at the end . So , to get your bonus materials , just pull out your cell phone . You can scan that QR code , you can follow this link and we will email it to you . You don't have to remember it . We're gonna email it to you when we're done . So those of you who are still here , you're gonna get all those bonus materials . Good for you .

Speaker 2 15:16

Now you also might be thinking I can use some help doing all of this . If that's , you , go ahead and post in the comments . Let's talk In the chat box . Just put in there . Let's talk if you think you might need some help . Here's what we covered today , guys the importance of setting clear goals and targets for the year , realigning your KPIs and your tracking to achieve your outcomes , mapping out your plan to accomplish those , your budget , your channels , knowing the important trends to set you up for success . Now here's what I have for you .

Speaker 2 15:56

If you would like to talk and get some help to do this , we have a 15 minute call that we call as discovery call . You can schedule that at our website at imsrockscom . Forward slash apply In that 15 minutes . we help get clarity around what your goals are and where you are now and whether we think we can even help you . If we think that we can help you and you think you would like for us to try to help you . We'll tell you that right on the call . We'll say , yeah , this is something we could definitely work with you for .

Speaker 2 16:28

Then , from that call , if that looks like something you'd like to do , we'll schedule a strategy session .

Speaker 2 16:35

In the strategy session , between the discovery call and the strategy session , we do our due diligence , we audit your current online position , we identify where the opportunities are for you and then we get on the phone .

Speaker 2 16:49

We show you exactly how we would get you to your goals and that's when we tell you how much it would cost . So if you would like to schedule that 15-minute discovery call with my team , guys , grab your cell phone right now , scan this QR code and book your call with my team now . 15 minutes . Get clarity around where you are , where you want to go and whether or not we could even help you get there . If the answer is yes and you would like for us to help you and we think we can then we'll do our due diligence and we'll get on a strategy session with you . We'll show you exactly what it's going to take to get you to the next level and exactly what it's going to cost . So we'd love to hear from you . Chat us up in the chat box if you'd like our help and take your phone out right now and scan that QR code and book your call .

Speaker 1 17:48

That's a wrap on this edition of the Marketing LawCast . Thanks for joining us . Head over to wwwimsrockscom for more growth-focused insights . If you're ready to skyrocket your firm's marketing , don't hesitate to book a free discovery call with our team right on our website . Here's to your success . See you next time .