One of the most significant steps in growing your business is getting potential clients to contact your law firm. Many attorneys focus on marketing efforts to get people to call them, but few have an effective strategy for how to convert the contact into a client under contract. You cannot simply hope that the person who answers your law firm’s telephone says the right thing or obtains the correct information to ensure that the caller becomes a client. You must have a plan and a process in place that works to make it happen!
One of the essential elements of your intake process is to establish a guideline for everyone in your office to follow, so anyone who answers the potential client’s call or email has a strategy for converting them into a client. A few simple recommendations are as follows:
● First, obtain the potential client’s name, telephone number, email address, and other relevant information. Simply having the means to follow up with the potential client is key in proving that you are the right law firm to assist them with their legal matter.
● Second, find a way to connect with the potential client. Don’t rush through the telephone call or online chat. Instead, ask open-ended questions, listen to their story, and show that you are interested.
● Next, implement a way to measure the success of your intake procedures. Are there certain employees who are successful with converting potential clients into paying clients? Provide help to those who are not as successful and build a strong intake team.
● Finally, use technology to simplify and automate your law firm’s responses. If you do not have follow-up emails set up, it is time to use technology to your benefit! You should have automated emails that confirm appointments, re-schedule missed appointments, or provide your contact information that the potential client can easily share for referrals.
The above are basic suggestions for an intake process. However, if you do not have an intake system in place or want to improve the procedures you currently use, take advantage of The Rainmaker Institute’s Intake University!
The Rainmaker Intake University LIVE is an intensive 8-week program designed to train your intake staff and attorneys on how to track your leads, obtain better quality prospects, set more appointments, and retain more clients. One of the core components of our Intake University program is metrics training. We’ll train your intake staff how to create metrics tailored to your firm. This is a skill that keeps producing results.
Our next University LIVE webinar is Thursday, October 28th at 10am PST/1pm ET. If your law firm’s phone is ringing but you aren’t seeing the ROI, this webinar is for you! We will give you the tools to convert more of your leads into clients and increase your ROI by 30% by the END OF THE YEAR! If you are ready to take your firm to the next level, register today!
