Why we told a law firm to build a calculator that loses them clients
The severance estimator tells you when you do not need a lawyer. It earned 94 referring domains precisely because it costs the firm money.
German employment law search results are owned by directories and lead brokers who sell the same enquiry to four firms. Our client was paying €14,000 a month to buy back access to their own market.
We suggested they build a severance calculator. Not a lead magnet — a real one, that gives you a genuine range and tells you, in plain German, when your situation is simple enough that you do not need to hire anybody.
The objection
The obvious objection came immediately, from a partner, in the first meeting: this will lose us enquiries.
Yes. It does. That is the mechanism, not a side effect.
Why the loss is the point
Every other calculator in that market is a form that collects your email and tells you to speak to a lawyer. Everyone who has used one knows this. They are not tools, they are gates with a costume on.
A calculator that sometimes says 'you are fine, do not spend money on this' cannot be faked by a competitor who is not willing to lose the same enquiries. The honesty is the moat. It is expensive, and that expense is exactly why it works.
It earned 94 referring domains without a single paid placement, because other people — journalists, unions, forum posters — will link to something useful and will not link to a gate.
The part case studies leave out
This engagement produced almost nothing for five months. There was a meeting at month four where we had very little to show and said so.
Two years in, the lead broker spend is zero and consultations went from 31 a month to 218. The partners say the people who arrive are better informed and easier to advise, which follows: they self-selected through a tool that told them the truth.
But the honest timeline is two years, and month five was genuinely uncomfortable. Any case study that omits that is selling you something.
The test
Before you publish anything, ask what it would cost you if it were completely honest. If the answer is nothing, you have probably written an advertisement.
Built the severance calculator that earned Kessler & Roe ninety-four referring domains and cost them a handful of enquiries. Argues, correctly, that the second part is why the first part worked.