Many times the legal intake position is misinterpreted and categorized somewhere in the realm of customer service, administrative services, receptionist, paralegal and sales – the least emphasis being sales.
While the intake department often gets pegged as an administrative/customer service role, the truth is legal intake IS the primary inside “sales department” of the law firm. Intake is the lifeblood of the business. Unfortunately for many firms the partners, attorneys, case managers and even the frontline staff don’t see the intake position as a sales role. The word “sales” is often misunderstood, misinterpreted and viewed as a “dirty word” in the legal profession.
Before I go further, let’s define sales and how it applies to law firms. World renowned sales trainer and motivational speaker, the late: Zig Ziglar defines sales as: “A transference of conviction or Feeling.”
Strategic Coach, Dan Sullivan has a wonderful definition: “Selling is getting someone intellectually engaged in a future result that is good for them and getting them to emotionally commit to take action to achieve that result.”
Wow! Think about that last definition…does everyone on your team taking intake calls know their REAL job/their REAL role every time they’re on the phone with a prospective client?
Professional intake is all about helping the prospect “intellectually engage” in a future result that is good for them, and getting them emotionally committed to take action to achieve the result your law firm can provide.
So, what action do you want qualified prospective clients to take when they call your office (schedule an appointment, meet an investigator on site, sign an e-sign document, speak with an attorney directly, meet face-to-face with an attorney, sign a retainer agreement)? Whatever that action step is for your firm – THAT is the CORE OBJECTIVE and ROLE of your intake department; even if the intake specialist is simply “teeing” up the prospective client to pass it off to an attorney, intake is sales by securing a commitment from callers. Here’s a list of what professional legal intake is commonly mistaken for:
• Glorified telephone reception
• Glorified telephone reception
• Administrative services
• Client support hotline
• “Information” hotline
• Client Screening department
• Case management data entry
Often times the managing partners of law firms will confidently nod their heads, and tell us, “yes, we know our intake team are inside sales people, and they know their job is sales”, but often times when we listen to call recordings that core objective is simply non-existent. There is zero selling, relationship building, empathy, conversion process being used – intake specialists are sound like call center agents or screeners, and they’re “winging it.”
The intake position may wear one or more of these hats in the law firm, but we define intake as a highly specialized form of inside telephone sales. Here’s our definition:
IN.T.A.K.E. = a linked sequential, principles based, legal intake system to quickly build trust and rapport, accurately qualify and secure good case opportunities, refer when necessary and quickly yet politely dispatch.
