Firms that take in a lot of leads often outsource their intake system to call centers.Like a lot of business solutions, there are a lot of pros and cons for using them. Let’s start with the positives:
Pros
Lower Costs:The number one reason why reasons business and law firms use call centers is that it’s a lot more cost effective that doing it in house. Many call centers are outsourced off shore to countries, such as the Philippines and India.
By using off shore call centers, the costs of infrastructure and labor are a lot less expensive than hiring your own intake staff, which could save your law firm a lot of money in the long run.
You Don’t Have to Worry About Training: When you use a call center for your intake system, you don’t actually have to train anyone.
If you choose this route, you can hire an outsourcing services company that will handle all the hiring, training and managing of the call center, which will save you time and resources.
You Can Take Calls 24/7: By using a call center, they can be able to provide your firm with 24-hour support. With the call center having the ability to work around the clock, you won’t have to worry about not being able to handle the overflow volume of leads coming in.
Cons
Lack of Firm’s Knowledge: By outsourcing your intake system, you run the risk of the cell center employees not fully grasping your business. Maybe you’re a personal injury lawyer who doesn’t like taking medical malpractice cases, but the call center doesn’t understand personal injury law perfectly and keeps sending those through to you. Your own intake staff will know exactly what cases you want.
Lack of Communication with the Lawyers: If your firm has its own intake staff in house, you are able to effectively communicate with them in person with positive reinforcement or constructive criticism. While you can still send feedback to a call center’s staff, you likely won’t be able to meet in person with a call center.
Cultural Barriers: When you outsource your intake system there could be some cultural and language barriers between potential leads and the people in the call center receiving the inbound inquiry. That barrier could potentially lead to a decrease in the satisfaction of your firm’s customer support.
Next Steps to Take
Whether your firm outsources its intake system off shore or has their own dedicated staff in house, having a lead and case management software can really alleviate the stress of your intake staff.
Luckily at eGenerationMarketing, we have our own lead and case management software called eLuminate. eLuminate will help your firm to manage leads that come in, claimants that become cases, contacts, documents and activities all in one convenient location.
You’ll also be able to make time stamped notes, generate documents and send mass emails, amongst many other things. eLuminate is complimentary for all of our clients. If you’re looking to increase your lead volume, please give us a call at 617-800-0089 and we’d be happy to answer any questions that you may have.