The Clio Legal Trends report shows some startling statistics: nearly two-thirds of
a typical law firm’s workday is underutilized with respect to billable client work.
One potential reason is that firms may not have enough clients. However, the truth is that 48% of a lawyer’s non-billable time is taken up by administrative tasks like booking appointments, generating and sending bills, and qualifying leads. These tasks reduce lawyers’ capacity to spend time on billable work. So what can you do?
Optimizing your legal intake can remove some of the burden of administrative work. When you adopt the right systems to both organize and improve access to firm information, you will see immediate results.
In this article, we provide some tips for optimizing your law firm intake service.
The benefits of optimizing legal intake
Perfecting your legal intake delivers a variety of benefits for your law firm:
Giving you more time
Time is money, after all. By optimizing your legal intake process, you free up more time for lawyers and staff alike. By using your CRM and other integrated systems to prioritize your workflow and follow up faster, you can reduce manual data entry and potential errors.
With a streamlined legal intake, you can move forward with cases faster, which reduces the time between initial contact and active case management.
Beyond the immediate operational benefits, automating legal intake can significantly boost your firm’s overall productivity and profitability. According to Clio’s Legal Trends Report, law firms leveraging legal technology and automation tools, are seeing remarkable results:
- Lawyers are handling over 25% more cases
- Firms are earning 158% more (72% after adjusting for hourly rate changes)
This increased productivity is mainly due to the implementation of legal technology and automation tools, including those for legal intake.
Tailored lead qualification
Instead of your lawyers taking every call that comes into your firm, you can set specific parameters to automatically filter and prioritize leads. Choose your filters based on practice area or availability, for example.
You can also use automation to prioritize your legal intake needs based on predetermined criteria. This approach helps your firm to focus on the most promising potential clients. Prioritizing leads in this way allows for immediate follow-up with potential new clients that meet your set criteria, which increases the chances of conversion.
Better client experience
Your clients will certainly appreciate your firm’s 24/7 availability with client intake.
24/7 reception services can enable your clients to initiate the intake process at any time, which means they can contact your firm when it suits them best. Immediate responses via live chat or quick follow-up through LEX’s outbound calling service means clients are not left waiting for a response. As LEX Reception is backed by real people, your clients will always speak to a reassuring legal receptionist. You can put their mind at ease and enhance your reputation for exceptional service. You can also personalize your prospects’ experiences by tailoring messages based on their inputs.
Comprehensive client screening
A legal intake service can ensure that all potential clients are asked a comprehensive set of questions based on their inquiry. You can set up custom scripting to fit the needs of your firm and practice area. By qualifying leads and gathering essential information early, you can be sure every client is the right fit for your firm. LEX Reception integrates with your CRM, so you will have access to all information gathered right away.
How to level up your legal intake
Streamline your service without losing the human connection. When optimizing your practice’s legal intake, there are several options you may wish to consider:
Legal call answering
Legal call answering services are the most professional and efficient way to automate your legal intake process. These services have trained legal receptionists who can answer calls 24/7, gather essential client information, and schedule appointments. By using a legal call answering service, you never miss potential client calls, even outside of regular business hours. This can significantly improve client satisfaction and capture more leads for your firm.
Creating a custom script for your practice area
With a legal intake service, professional receptionists qualify your leads and schedule appointments with customized scripts that sound like your firm. A well-crafted script guides the intake process and captures all the critical details. The script should include questions specific to your practice area, so you’re able to quickly assess the potential client’s needs and the viability of their case.
These questions should be designed to capture key details about the potential client’s legal issue, their timeline, and their expectations. Collecting this information efficiently saves time for both your firm and the client.
Integrating legal call handling with your CRM and other software
Integrating legal call handling with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and other software is a crucial step in automating your legal intake process.
For example, LEX integrates seamlessly with your existing software including Clio, CosmoLEX, PracticePanther, and more. These integrations allow for seamless data transfer from the initial call to your firm’s management systems. When call data is automatically entered into your CRM, it eliminates manual data entry, reduces errors, and ensures that all client information is immediately available to your team.
It’s also possible to trigger automated follow-up processes, such as sending welcome emails or scheduling initial consultations. This further streamlines your intake workflow and drives firm-wide efficiency.
Summary
Your client intake process is often the very first impression of your firm and your team. It’s the perfect opportunity to establish trust and demonstrate professionalism. A smooth legal intake answering service can give callers confidence that they’ve made the right choice.
LEX Reception offers a tailored call-answering service that boosts your law firm’s client intake processes. A 24/7 client intake service ensures that your clients can always reach a professional and empathetic voice – no matter when they call.
Experience the LEX difference. With advanced technology and customized call scripts, LEX both streamlines your intake process and qualifies leads. By partnering with LEX Reception, your law firm can improve client intake challenges, make your clients happier, improve client satisfaction, and free up valuable resources to focus on what you do best – practicing law.
