For law firms, most of the business is generated through the legal intake, marketing and running ad campaigns, promotions and networking, using both offline and online venues.
But it is not really necessary that you get the optimum result that you had expected when you had inputted money for running those campaigns.
There might be numerous reasons why the firm is not able to fruit maximum results.
One of the reasons for not being able to perform well is not having a consistent and systematic intake process in place.
Here are some of the most obvious mistakes to be avoided when doing a legal intake:
1. Use your website as a marketing tool and not as an intake tool:
Most of the law firms make the mistake of using their firm website as an intake tool.
Though it might seem like a great idea to have a comprehensive intake form on the website that would collect all the data from the client without you ever having to talk to anyone directly, in actuality, this creates a barrier between you and the client who might actually be interested in your services.
Engaging legal services requires a lot of trusts and asking a client to fill out their personal information without the establishment of that trust might be too much to ask.
2. Automate follow-ups with drip emails:
The next in line of mistakes done by the law firms are failing to follow up enough.
There are situations when we see that some client has not booked an appointment or has not signed the retainer.
This does not mean that the firm has lost its cause.
But if there is a lag in the follow up with them, there is far likely chance of the lead moving forward.
The more there is a check in and follow up with potential clients, the more they will trust and end up hiring you.
One can also use drip marketing services, wherein automated emails are sent at pre-defined intervals to clients to mark a follow-up.
3. Online questionnaire for streamlining data entry:
Law firms should ensure that they have a good intake process in place as legal work requires collecting a lot of information.
Online questionnaires make the process of collecting and entering the information more easier for both law firms and clients.
But clients and law firms can avoid duplicate data entry, there is no requirement of printing, scanning or faxing etc, there is no issue of not being able to understand poor handwriting etc and this also helps in mapping the data into inserted fields and export the same into a spreadsheet for reporting purposes.
4. E-Signature to speed up retention times:
As most of the legal task is carried out remotely these days, less time is spent in interfacing with clients in person.
Most of the law firms rely on email, scanning and fax for sending the documents to the clients.
Compared to this cumbersome task, e-signing the documents works like a breeze.
The client just needs to click open the document, put in their digital signature and then the same can be sent back to the other party with everyone receiving an executed copy upon signature of all parties involved.
To conclude, though overlooked, client intake is one of the most important parts of the law firm’s operations.
A poor and incapable handled process can result in wasted time, costly mistakes and lost business.
Managing a smooth flowing process can help in increasing the efficiency and profitability of your practice.