Cost per lead vs. cost per signed case: the number that matters

When firms ask me about leads, the first question is almost always the price per lead. It is the easy number to compare. It is also the wrong number to decide on.

What your firm needs is clients, not names. So the number that matters is what you pay for each client who signs.

What is the difference between the two?

Cost per lead is what you pay for one person who asked for help.

Cost per signed case is everything you spent on a source, divided by the number of clients it brought you.

You can write it two ways:

• Total spent on leads ÷ number of signed cases
• Price per lead ÷ share of leads that sign

The second line is the useful one. It shows that your signing rate matters as much as the price.

Why can a cheap lead cost you more?

Because the signing rate multiplies everything.

If 1 in 10 leads signs, each new client costs you 10 times the lead price. If 1 in 30 signs, each client costs 30 times the lead price. So a lead at half the price that signs a third as often is the more expensive lead.

There is also a cost that doesn't show up on the invoice: time. Every lead takes calls, messages and often a consult. Time spent on people who could never qualify is time you don't spend on people who could.

Why does filtering before delivery matter so much?

Because every person who could never become a client still costs you time. Someone who doesn't meet the basic requirements of their case, has no plan to start for years or never wanted a lawyer will still take your calls, your messages and maybe a consult.

A good lead source does that filtering before the lead reaches you. A weak one passes it on to your team. Both can charge the same price per lead. Only one of them saves your intake hours.

That is why I tell firms to ask any vendor what happens before a lead is delivered. The answer tells you a lot about your future cost per signed case.

Why is comparing price per lead between vendors so misleading?

Because a "lead" is not the same thing everywhere. Two vendors can sell you very different products under the same word.

Before you compare prices, compare what you get:

• Exclusive or shared. A shared lead is sold to several firms, so you race them to the phone. An exclusive lead goes to your firm only.
• What was checked. The basic requirements of the case, the timing, the wish for professional help and a verified phone number, or only a name and an email.
• How fast it reaches you. A lead delivered a day late is worth less than one delivered right away.

Only when those match does a lower price mean a cheaper lead.

What should you count as cost?

Start simple: what you paid for the leads. That alone is enough to compare sources.

If you want the full picture, add the time of whoever calls and follows up, and the time spent on consults that did not sign. You don't need to be exact. You only need to count the same things for every source.

How long should you wait before you judge a source?

Longer than feels natural. Immigration clients take months to decide.

Some people are ready to start the process right away. Many others have a date or a deadline months from now, and they sign when it gets close. A good share of the cases from any batch will sign months after the lead arrived.

So if you judge a source after three weeks, you count the leads but miss many of the clients. Record the source of every lead, then look back at month three and again at month six.

What lowers your cost per signed case?

Most of it is on the firm's side, and that is good news, because you control it.

• Speed. Contacting a lead within minutes, not hours, makes a clear difference to how many you reach.
• Follow-up. One call and one email is not enough. Plan two weeks of calls and messages for every lead.
• The consult. A consult that answers the person's worry is where the case is won.

In my experience, the same kind of lead signs at very different rates depending on how fast and how well a firm follows up. The price per lead stays the same. The cost per signed case does not.

How do you know what you can afford to pay?

Work backward from your fee.

Take what one case earns your firm after the work is done. That is the most you could spend to win one client and still break even. Whatever share of it you are willing to spend on getting clients is your target cost per signed case.

Then divide by your signing rate to see what a lead is worth to you. Once you know that number, a price per lead stops being a guess.