--- title: "What a signed case costs, by channel, for law firms | Link & Impulse" description: "Your intake records have a source field, but it often just says “Internet”, “Google” or nothing. For law firms, we fix the tracking so every intake records the ad, campaign and search behind it, then report what a signed case costs, by channel, every month." url: "https://linkandimpulse.com/law-firms" --- Law firms # Which ad signed your last case? Your intake records have a source field. On too many signed cases it says “Internet”, “Google” or nothing, which means your cost per signed case is wrong. We fix your tracking so every intake arrives with the ad, campaign and search that brought it in. [Book a call](https://linkandimpulse.com/contact) [How the tracking fix works](https://linkandimpulse.com/tracking) Example Illustrative One intake record, before and after the tracking fix | Field | Today | After the fix | | ---------------- | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Received | Sep 18, 9:42 pm | Sep 18, 9:42 pm | | Arrived by | Phone call | Phone call | | How did you hear | “saw u on google” | Internet search (chosen from a picklist) | | Channel | not recorded | Paid search | | Campaign | not recorded | Free consultation | | Click ID | not recorded | EAIaIQob… | | Landing page | not recorded | /free-consultation | | First visit | not recorded | Sep 14 | | Status | Retainer signed | Retainer signed | Same caller, same signed case. Only the record on the right can be matched to what the ad cost. ## A case passes through five steps before it’s signed. If the source is lost at any of them, the intake record is left guessing. 1. ### The click The ad platform knows what the click cost, and tags the visit with a click ID. The ID is only in the address of the first page they land on. gclid=EAIaIQob… 2. ### The visit People land on one page and get in touch from another, often days later. Unless something stores the click ID, it’s gone by the contact page. /free-consultation 3. ### The call Many new clients phone rather than fill in a form. A call to the number on your site carries no source unless the number does. Sun 9:14 pm, 6 min 4. ### The intake Your intake team types where the client heard of you. Free text, spelled differently every time. “saw u on google” 5. ### The signing Your case management system knows the retainer was signed. It has no idea what the click cost. Retainer signed $3,940 per signed case from paid search When the source survives every step, working out the cost is simple. We do it for every channel you pay for. Illustrative, from the table below. ## What the tracking fix changes Your cost per signed case is only as accurate as the source on each intake. When the audit finds sources going missing, as it usually does, we fix the tracking. We only change what’s on this list. [The tracking fix in full](https://linkandimpulse.com/tracking) - Every web form records the ad, campaign and search behind it, even after a few pages of browsing. - Every call from the website carries the same information. - The source is saved on the intake in Litify, Filevine or Clio, and stays when it becomes a case. - Your ad platforms count real intakes, not page views, so they bid for people who actually get in touch. - It runs on your own domain, so browsers and ad blockers are less likely to stop it. - Nothing about a client’s matter goes to an ad platform. ### How you’ll know it worked We measure the share of new intakes arriving with their source attached, before we start and two weeks after. We don’t promise a figure. Referrals and walk-ins never carry a click ID, so the right share depends on your mix of channels. - Before Measured at your business - After Measured at your business Example ## Cost per signed case, by channel Once intakes carry their source, the cost per case is what you spent on a channel divided by the cases it signed. A freelancer’s setup or a form plugin stops before the case is signed. We follow the source all the way through, every month. TV, billboards and referrals each get their own line, not “Other”, and that’s often where the biggest spend goes. Media cost per signed case, one month Illustrative figures | Channel[^b1] | Media cost[^b2] | Signed[^b3] | Per case | | ------------------ | --------------- | ----------- | ------------ | | Paid search | $47,280 | 12 | $3,940 | | TV | $52,360 | 7 | $7,480 | | Billboards | $27,400 | 4 | $6,850 | | Radio | $21,600 | 4 | $5,400 | | Legal directories | $15,360 | 3 | $5,120 | | Attorney referrals | none[^b4] | 9 | not measured | [^b1]: Online channels (paid search, paid social, display and video, organic search, email, direct) are read from the click ID and tags, which know more than the caller does. Offline and referral channels (TV, radio, billboards and transit, direct mail, legal directories, and attorney, medical and client referrals) become the picklist your intake team chooses from. [^b2]: Ad platform spend, plus the offline spend your firm records each month. [^b3]: Cases counted in the month the retainer was signed. [^b4]: No spend recorded, so no cost per case. Left blank rather than $0, which would make referrals look free. Example ## The calls nobody answered Your office is staffed nine to five, but people call when they get home. If they reach voicemail at 9 pm, they often call the next firm on the list. Your call tracking already logs every missed call, and we report on them for you. Share of calls that went unanswered, by day and hour, over one quarter Illustrative figures In office hours, weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm, 10% of calls went unanswered on average. Outside them, 47%. Weekends and evenings after 9 pm were worst. - Under 15% - 15 to 30% - 30 to 45% - 45 to 60% - 60% or more - Office hours * Unanswered in office hours 10% * Unanswered outside them 47% * What last month’s 31 missed after-hours calls were probably worth[^c1] About $46,500 [^c1]: 31 unanswered calls × a 1-in-20 sign rate × a $30,000 average fee. The report uses your own sign rate and fees. ## Four steps, one at a time Everything starts with an audit, and you can stop after any step. 1. Step 1 ### [The audit](https://linkandimpulse.com/audit) $5,000 We find where the source gets lost between your website, phones and case management system, and compare what your ad platforms count with the cases you actually signed. You get a written report on what’s broken and what fixing it takes. Fixed price, paid up front. Takes about two weeks once we have access. 2. Step 2 ### [The tracking fix](https://linkandimpulse.com/tracking) $5,000 Server-side tracking on your own domain, so every web form and call carries its source onto the intake record in your case system. We measure the share of new intakes arriving with a source, before and after. Fixed price, paid up front. Takes about two weeks once we have access. 3. Step 3 ### [The build](https://linkandimpulse.com/build) Priced after the audit A database of your firm’s own, joining spend, intake source and signed fees every night, with a dashboard. Once 60 to 90 days of clean data build up, it shows what a signed case cost you, by channel. 4. Step 4 ### [The retainer](https://linkandimpulse.com/build#retainer) Monthly, priced with the build We keep it all running. Each month you get a report on cost per signed case by channel, missed calls and tracking health, with one recommendation. The first call is free. [Book a call](https://linkandimpulse.com/contact) ## Numbers you can take to a partners’ meeting Every report we send follows these six rules. [How the numbers are made](https://linkandimpulse.com/how-it-works) - ### Every figure comes from your own data. The written parts of each report are built from the calculated figures, so they can’t include a number your data didn’t produce. - ### No recorded spend doesn’t mean free. A channel with no recorded spend shows a blank, not $0, which would make it look like your best deal. - ### Recent months are marked as incomplete. Some of last month’s inquiries haven’t signed yet, so it isn’t reported as a bad month. - ### We report what changed, not why. The numbers can’t separate the effect of the market, the season and your marketing, so we don’t pretend they can. - ### Problems are explained in plain English. “Four matters are in a stage we don’t recognise, so they’re missing from the signed count.” Not an error code. - ### Estimates are labelled. A case outcome with no fee gets an estimate from your usual terms, labelled as one. ## Your clients’ names stay out of it We count cases, not people. Client names, phone numbers and case captions aren’t stored by default. We don’t request them from your case management system, and if it sends them anyway, they’re discarded before anything is saved. The one exception is the client’s email address in Clio, which is how an intake is matched to its case. The tracking fix follows the same rule. No name or phone number ever appears in a page address, and your data is kept in a database of its own. [Security in detail](https://linkandimpulse.com/security) ## Start with a call We’ll talk through how intakes reach you and where their source gets lost. If it makes sense, the next step is an audit of your tracking and data, before anything is changed or built. [Book a call](https://linkandimpulse.com/contact) [How the tracking fix works](https://linkandimpulse.com/tracking) If an audit wouldn’t be worth it for you, we’ll tell you on the call.