Demystifying Legal Intake
Legal intake is the process of gathering basic information for potential clients and/or current cases. It consists of asking targeted questions of your potential clients or current case clients to get enough information to determine if you can help and how to best help them.
Not all legal intake consists of a meeting in person or over the phone with the potential client . It may be as simple as supplying the client with a web form to fill out on your website. But, in any format, a formal legal intake process encourages your firm to document who you meet with and how you can help.
In short legal intake determines if you can take on the case. Mastering legal intake is the cornerstone of your firm’s client management and case preparation.
Essential Elements of Effective Legal Intake Training
An important part of a solid intake training program is making sure that there is a clear understanding of the systems that are used in the business. Your team should be provided with proper technical training that will allow them to navigate all the necessary software programs with ease. There is also a need for them to become familiar with the primary ways in which they will correspond with clients. The communication skills that you supply them with will give them the ability to make the clients feel comfortable, articulate themselves confidently, and present themselves professionally.
When it comes to the use of technology and your practice management software, you will want to provide some training on your system so that your intake representatives can leverage its features and provide the best service possible for your potential clients. You may want to consider investing in a new program for your practice if you are not satisfied with the one that you are currently using. The needs of your practice can evolve and change over time, so it makes sense that your software could as well. A strong practice management program offers a variety of benefits that can improve your entire operation. One thing that is important to consider is how your intake process will be improved by the use of the program that best suits your needs.
Once you have trained your intake staff on the use of the technology, they also need to be instructed on how to properly collect and manage client data. Effective intake representatives develop a keen attention to detail and convey the information accurately, avoiding many of the common documentation errors that can result in security breaches or loss of valuable data. This is accomplished through training and by implementing the appropriate measures, such as the appropriate security and dispute policies.
Legal Intake Training Best Practices
When it comes to legal intake, what are some methods that a firm can use to optimize the process to improve efficiency, client satisfaction and data accuracy? Here are some best practices that you can implement today:
Do they have a good enough internet connection? Can your team connect from wherever your client is sitting? If they provide additional information, can you enter it into the system for them and not have the client wait around?
Is there written documentation available to the client? This can be anything from paperwork to additional forms (like a tax form, for example).
After the initial call is a follow-up necessary? And ongoing follow-up to provide additional information?
Can you provide all of the information they need in person, by phone or online to save time?
How did they find you? Having that answer can tell you the marketing efforts that are yielding the most return on investment.
Was it easy to reach someone? Your legal intake process starts ahead of when someone picks up the phone or physically comes into your office. Is your answering service internal or external? Are they well-trained?
If there are problems, were they rectified quickly? Was the problem resolved?
Legal Intake Training Techniques
Here are a few efficient and effective training techniques you can use to bring legal intake staff into the fold:
Role Playing & Observational Learning- Part of the training should involve an instructor-led session in which the intake staff are given 2 to 3 scenarios along with the expected outcome so that they can practice and become familiar with what’s expected. The instructor can also use this time to highlight common pitfalls intake staff may run into so they know how to avoid them.
Learning Through Explaining – Ask intake staff to explain the process they will use to contact potential clients and what that means using their own words. Teaching information to someone else is generally a highly effective way to cement that knowledge in the memory bank so it can be accessed later when in the field.
Mentoring – Assigning a veteran intake professional to new staff members is a great way to ensure they have a resource they can speak to on a regular basis about the issues they face while confidence in handling calls and potential clients is still developing. A mentor also provides a new intake staff member with the assurance that someone is always there to help them out, boosting morale and increasing retention rates.
Shadowing – Shadowing is a great way to mix learning styles while keeping everything running smoothly. While listening in, the intake staff can observe how the expert gathers information, qualifies clients and moves the conversation forward. Staff can take notes and comment on areas they were unsure of, and ask questions after the call.
Gamification – By gamifying the training process you can turn your intake team into fierce competitors and allow valuable learning opportunities to happen organically. You can increase both the top of the mind awareness and problem solving skills of your intake staff through healthy competition. Gamification includes individual or team challenges, earning points or prizes as well as positive reinforcement.
Technology in Legal Intake Training
Technology can be a tremendous asset in the legal intake process, helping firms streamline communication with leads and potential clients, ensure security and establish client relationships. Among the most important technological tools is Client Relationship Management (CRM) software, which can help maximize intake effectiveness. A robust CRM suite can help firms track leads from the first touch point through to final retention, offering easy opportunities for follow-up messaging at each step in the process. Many systems also make it possible to automate legal forms or other messages, ensuring that the same content gets to every lead or client . Cloud-based legal management software ensures that firms have access to essential documents, anytime, anywhere. Document sharing, task scheduling and cost tracking capabilities are essential components in any law firm management system. Finally, firms should invest in digital communication tools. Online chat, chatbots, video conferencing, voice-over-IP options and email all play critical roles in the legal intake process. Clients will prefer their means of communication and being flexible enough to extend that flexibility to your leads fosters good will from the outset.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Legal Intake Training
Once legal intake training has taken place, it is important to implement a system that will measure the effectiveness of that training without taking away from the benefits of that training. Certain metrics can be used to assess how well the newly trained legal intake staff member is performing and being utilized in the role. Continuing to conduct regular training exercises with the newer legal intake person is important to help gauge how well he or she is adapting to the job.
Metrics
One way of gaining better insight into the effectiveness of the staff person’s work is to look at how well he or she follows the company’s lead intake process. Which areas seem to come naturally to him or her, and which areas fall short? If there is an area that is lacking, training can be focused on that area to correct the problem rather than focusing on areas that are not a problem. Another metric might be measuring how well the lawyer feels the legal intake process is going with the staff member. Is the lawyer still getting back to you about every little thing or are the number of feedback issues starting to taper off over time? If the number of feedback queries to the new legal intake staff member is still fairly high after several months, there may be a problem.
Immediate Feedback
An important tool in order to get ongoing feedback on a new legal intake staff member is by keeping them tied in to a chat function or messaging app so that he or she can always have access to the lawyer and other staff members’ comments and directions. Providing a system of monthly one-on-one reviews with the lawyer would also be helpful but a chat function provides more immediate feedback.
Legal Intake Training Pitfalls
During legal intake training, common challenges can hinder the effectiveness of the program and limit the ability of the firm to convert leads into clients. In this section, we will explore these challenges and offer solutions to overcome them.
One common challenge is the lack of a consistent process for legal intake. Without a standardized process, every staff member or attorney involved in the legal intake training may approach calls in their own way, resulting in an inconsistent and potentially ineffective process. To overcome this challenge, it is important to create a clear and standardized legal intake training process and checklist before implementation. Be sure to communicate this process to all involved and explain the impact it will have on overall quality.
Another challenge is a lack of buy-in from staff. If legal intake training is perceived as another task on their list rather than a tool for helping the firm grow, some staff members may not fully engage with the program. To improve engagement, it is important to communicate the benefits clearly. For example, reinforce how legal intake training may result in more qualified leads entering the pipeline. This process can create more business for the firm, reducing stress for staff.
A third challenge is the technical issues that arise during legal intake training. For instance, if the digital system for lead tracking and follow-up is slow or faulty. When the system malfunctions, it can lead to missed opportunities and complaints from both clients and staff. To make the most of this program, be proactive in learning about all the systems that will be used during legal intake training.
Finally, legal intake training can create attitudinal issues. Oftentimes staff can become overwhelmed, resulting in high turnover. To combat this, be sure to regularly check in with staff members during training to assess their comfort level, discover areas of confusion and identify staff members who could benefit from further support.
By being forewarned of these common pitfalls, a law firm can set themselves up to make the legal intake training process as efficient and successful it can possibly be.
Future Developments in Legal Intake
In a future characterized by ongoing technological progress, it is likely that legal intake training will become all the more streamlined and automated. Virtual reality might provide a helpful tool for trainees; young and agile lawyers could move back-and-forth between training sessions in the office and the home of the client, thereby bringing a more human face to the process; and highly-adaptive , AI-based customer relationship management (CRM) systems may appropriately guide clients as they advise and answer questions about their legal issues.
Will there still be traditional one-on-one training long into the future? It’s hard to say; but first-rate legal intake training should always provide an opportunity for personalization and cultivation of relationships. Those interactions can never be fully automated.