Having a clear and methodical intake process is one of the best ways a firm can efficiently evaluate claimants and determine which cases are pursuable as clients. If your firm doesn’t have a standard intake process, you could be missing out on thousands of dollars in lost revenue every year by missing great claims, or simply wasting your billable hours by working inefficiently. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to determine if your firm’s intake process is as streamlined as it could be:

#1: Does Your Staff Have a Script?

Even the best-trained intake staff may miss vital questions now and again. When a claimant calls your firm, you should have a set of prepared questions ready to ensure you can thoroughly evaluate the caller and determine if you can take his or her case. For example, here are some pretty necessary questions for any attorney taking Social Security disability cases:

• Are you already receiving Social Security benefits?
• Do you already work with an attorney?
• Will you be out of work for at least 12 months?
• Are you seeing a doctor?
• How old are you?
• Why can’t you work?

Missing just one of these vital questions would be detrimental—Who knows when you’re going to get the claimant on the phone again.

Social Security disability leads from eGenerationMarketing include answers to all of the above questions, but we strongly recommend calling your leads regardless of how “good” the claim looks initially.

#2: Who Answers the Phone When You’re Away?

Speaking with a claimant as soon as possible is critical to signing new clients. It may be challenging to contact a claimant if you miss the initial call. Personal injury claimants may be out of the office during usual work hours, and Social Security disability claimants may be too ill to answer the phone at all times.

There are a few ways to ensure a caller knows you’re interested in his or her claim when you’re not around. Be sure to have an informative and clear voice mail outlining your office hours and other vital information for your callers. You can also have a third-party call system speak with leads when your intake staff is unavailable.

#3: Is Your Staff Trained?

Of course your intake staff is trained to answer the phone, interview claimants, take down vital information, and most likely update any CRM software you use. But training your intake staff to understand the areas of law you practice well will make a huge difference in their ability to screen leads and claimants. Here are just a couple of examples:

• Knowing some common Compassionate Allowances will make choosing viable SSD cases simple
• Understanding how no-fault insurance plays a role in personal injury claims will eliminate ineligible claimants immediately
• A well-trained intake staff should be able to quickly and efficiently update your CRM without any errors or confusion

The examples are endless. If you purchase leads from us, our superb Client Services team would be more than happy to help your staff with any confusion they have with our lead generation services, or our in-house case and lead management software, eLuminate. The more familiar your staff is with your area of law and software you use, the easier it’ll be to process leads.

#4: Can Your Staff Choose to Pursue a Case?

This also comes with a well-trained staff, but if you do not allow your intake staff to make the calls on whether or not to pursue a case, you'll be wasting your valuable time approving or denying your intake staff's recommendations. If your staff is new or if you're not quite ready to give the intake team that authority yet, make sure to always have at least one senior staff member on hand near the intake staff. This dramatically decreases the time it takes to vet claimants and send retainer packets.

If you’d like to supplement your current caseload with high-quality legal leads, give us a call at 617.800.0089. One of our representatives would be happy to try to find a lead package that fits your firm’s unique needs.