Legal Soft Solution is excited to meet you at 35th Annual AILA California Chapters Conference & Webcast on November 10-12 | Learn More
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Legal Soft Solution is excited to meet you at 35th Annual AILA California Chapters Conference & Webcast on November 10-12 | Learn More
Legal intake specialists play a crucial role in converting leads into clients with their skills and ability to connect with the leads and convincing power. One of the essential activities in your law practice is an intake specialist, which transforms contacts into clients. Consider it the critical final stage of your marketing campaign. A good intake procedure can attract new clients, while a terrible one can drive them away. Those unfamiliar with this term may be perplexed as to what legal intake is and why it is necessary.
In law firms, client intake refers to onboarding new clients and gathering the personal information necessary to begin their legal cases. It could eat away a lot of time. It’s usually unbillable as well.
People’s first impressions of your company are formed by a combination of your marketing messaging and personal interactions with you. Many people prefer to contact an attorney by phone call to discuss their issues and the help they are looking for. Every day, intake professionals speak with a lot of people who are at their lowest points as they deal with life’s unexpected twists and turns. This requires a sympathetic ear to listen to clients who are perplexed, terrified, and in pain. As a result, it would be fair to say that first impressions are mainly formed over the phone. From the questions asked to the tone of voice, every part of that first conversation influences whether they hire you or hang up and call other law offices.
So, intake specialists should always be prepared to assist over the phone or when a new client walks through the door. It’s crucial to streamline your client intake process whether you’re starting or have an established practice to impact clients positively. Consequently, intake specialists must juggle multiple activities simultaneously, such as phone calls, visitors, referrals, and follow-ups. There is a lot to do to make sure that all leads become clients.
In a nutshell, it’s a solution that qualifies your leads so that prospective clients may be vetted more quickly. Legal Soft Solution brings all you need to know about the features of an intake specialist for setting up a successful & streamlined client intake process for your law firm.
People in trouble expect that others will put themselves in their shoes. Legal intake specialists need empathy. Empathy aids intake. It is very likely that clients that call your firm are in pain, are in a state of emotional crisis, and are vulnerable. Your client may be experiencing a life-threatening disaster, or they may be phoning you regarding divorce or bankruptcy. It doesn’t matter what the situation is; an intake expert must show empathy during these times of emotional distress. By being empathic and showing concern for the caller, you can build trust with them.
Legal Intake experts must be compassionate toward all clients. They should be easily able to grasp the client’s point of view during their time of need. Compassion will make them feel more at ease since they will realize you care about them.
Callers frequently want to jump right into their story, which might be beneficial to your intake. They’ll incessantly emphasize information about their case with a lot of stories as they speak. Still, you’ll need to exercise active listening to pick it up.
Active listening is a technique for staying engaged in a primarily one-sided conversation. If you’re working in a communal environment, it might also be a strategy to avoid distractions. As an Intake expert, it is your job to ensure that you understand what the other person is saying by concentrating on the specific words they are saying and regularly repeating them. Clients expect a lot, and it should be managed by Intake experts using organizational talents. Since many people connect daily with a law firm, it’s critical to keep track of all of their records. Know when and what has to be filed or handed on.
Intake always requires some juggling between the phone and the computer. As an Intake expert, you must complete a conflicts check, collect essential data, and, in some cases, deal with payment while listening intently.
Handling all of this at the same time while empathizing with the caller needs some real dedication. It requires keeping the clients talking while also performing the necessary computer tasks without missing any important information. This also includes inquiring about their previous experiences and how they dealt with a lot of stimuli. Were they able to bounce back and forth and keep the process going forward, or did they have to settle down and focus on one thing? It’s preferable to find out during the initial conversation rather than wait for the meltdown during live inbound calls.
Intake experts should be familiar with the type of cases the firm is interested in taking on. As soon as they decide the case is in their firm’s interest, they assess the client. This assessment is based on how organized and motivated the potential client is, how many proofs they have, and how financially stable they are. A good intake expert can verify these details as soon as possible to take further action. Identifying and signing the cases you want is important but challenging. The process must be structured and mobile.
Since you never know when a high-value client will contact you after hours, an intake person needs to keep track of after-hours inquiries. Determine which calls are of the highest priority and answer them as soon as possible. Many incidents happen late at night or on weekends when the injured party will not wait for a callback. A lot of clients consult with multiple attorneys before signing up for a service to ensure they make the right choice.
After hours, a prompt response is crucial. The intake experts are well versed in identifying cases of interest to the lawyers to concentrate on them instead of getting too busy with hopeless cases.
Intake is, in essence, a legal business process. With more experience, intake experts become more adept at reacting to different situations. If you manage more cases, you’ll make more money. To put it simply, Intake experts are experts in managing processes.
Just getting a client on board does not mean the job is done. Every day, the intake team receives many calls from clients seeking follow-up information. For any given case, an expert intake expert would quickly determine what needs to be done, by whom, when, and in what way.
An intake expert recognizes any potential delays or missed deadlines immediately so they can help resolve the problem. These factors will make any new client feel important since they will receive the attention they crave and believe their cases are urgent.
Intake experts must have the ability to convince clients of their ability to connect deeply with them and understand the importance of each case. In this way, clients are more apt to sign up quickly. Every client wants to know that they can trust the firm and lawyer they will hire to represent them before signing up.
It would be helpful to inform them of everything during the first call. Clients try to connect with more than one lawyer and firm before they find an attorney they are comfortable with most of the time. Intake experts can gain a client’s trust by reassuring them that every situation is one they are experts at handling.
A good expert will quickly gather the information needed to support their decision to pursue the case. If they are assured, they will wrap up their search and sign with you. Many times, the intake expert may be uncertain about taking up the case, so they require additional information about the lead, such as insurance & occupation, before making a decision. Whenever an intake professional takes too long or sounds undecided, the caller is most likely to choose another firm.
Intake experts need a diverse set of skills to guide the caller from contract to contract. An intake expert should convert leads into clients quickly and secure the e-agreement before losing touch and skipping communication flow to improve the conversion ratio.
Whether you are a lawyer or a law practice manager with a temporary concern, Legal Soft Solution can always help you. Talk to our expert team for the best assistance to any law firm management and legal team issue, or call us at (424) 341-4917. Book a demo now to know more about what Legal Soft Solution can offer.
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