Conversion Rate
The percentage of leads that become paying clients. The number that tells you whether your intake process is working.
Conversion rate is simple math with profound implications.
Take the number of people who became clients. Divide by the number of leads. That's your conversion rate.
If you get 100 inquiries and 20 become clients, your conversion rate is 20%.
Why This Number Matters
Conversion rate tells you how efficiently you turn interest into revenue.
A firm with a 10% conversion rate needs 10 leads to get one client. A firm with 30% needs only 3-4.
That difference compounds. If leads cost money (whether through advertising or staff time to handle), higher conversion means lower cost per client. Same marketing spend, more clients.
What's a "Good" Conversion Rate?
It depends on:
Practice area: Personal injury firms often see 20-35%. Criminal defense might hit 40-50% (people calling at 2 AM after an arrest are motivated). Family law varies widely.
Lead source: Referrals convert at 50%+. Cold web leads might convert at 10-20%. Paid advertising leads often fall somewhere between.
Your selectivity: If you only take "good" cases, your conversion rate is lower by design. You're declining viable leads because you're selective.
There's no universal benchmark. What matters is tracking your own rate over time and improving it.
Improving Conversion
Conversion improves when:
Speed increases: Calling leads back within an hour instead of 24 hours typically doubles conversion or more.
Qualification improves: Spending time on good fits instead of bad fits means more closes per hour of effort.
Follow-up happens: Many firms drop leads after one failed callback. Systematic follow-up rescues otherwise-lost opportunities.
Experience improves: When potential clients feel heard and supported from first contact, they're more likely to hire you.
Conversion at Each Stage
Most firms think of conversion as a single number. But it's actually a chain:
- Lead → Qualified lead (qualification rate)
- Qualified lead → Consultation (contact rate)
- Consultation → Hired (close rate)
Each stage has its own conversion rate. A problem at any stage tanks your overall number.
Tracking each stage separately reveals where you're losing people—and where to focus improvement.