Your firm’s intake process can impact your reputation and your bottom line.
Today’s clients are used to doing business with the convenience of brands like Rocket Mortgage and Uber. Not only are they accustomed to seamless transactions and readily available customer service, but the speed at which they can manage tasks determines which companies they do business with and which they leave for a competitor.
Traditionally, law firms have hired intake specialists to convert incoming leads into paying clients. While these first touch points are essential to ensuring complete client satisfaction, automation can offer a level of speed that helps make the specialist’s job more efficient and keeps revenue from slipping through the cracks due to untimely responses.
Here’s how your intake process affects your overall bottom line:
It’s your first impression with a new client.
At intake, the client is vetting your firm as much as you are vetting their case. Early on, clients determine what their experience working with your firm will be. Is your firm able to respond quickly to their concerns? Does the process feel efficient and easy? These are questions that clients are asking themselves that will eventually determine whether they sign a contract with you or not. While an intake specialist may be able to offer a personal touch while gathering information, automation tools can help offset the time it takes to gather information and get the client through the customer journey quickly and with a positive experience.
Time is money.
While some clients may be referred to you by a friend or family member they trust and therefore have more incentive to work with you, many are finding your business online in a pool of competitors. The leads coming in through email or live chat need to be treated as urgently as possible. While a specialist may not always be able to reach out to a potential client quickly, having automation in place that kickstarts the intake process in a friendly and personal way can bring in revenue that would otherwise be lost.
Vetting clients quickly helps prioritize actual incoming revenue.
Collecting key information via an intake questionnaire, conflict checking, getting a fee agreement signed, these are tasks that can put a case, and your revenue, on hold. Getting through this process in a timely fashion can help vet the cases that can actually bring in revenue compared to the ones that could fall through the cracks. Optimizing your intake process to get through this stage more quickly can allow your firm to focus on more profitable business and improve your overall cash flow.
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