WEBVTT
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If your law firm is spending money on marketing but not signing enough clients, the problem might not be your marketing.
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Hi, I'm Ron Wilson.
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It could be your intake, your follow-up, your systems, or the fact that nobody actually owns what happens after the lead comes in.
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And I am Jessica.
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This is get going in business, where we break down the processes, automations, training and numbers behind turning more leads into signed clients.
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We'll tell you what's working, what's broken.
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And we probably won't always agree on how to fix it.
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That's usually the fun part.
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Let's get going.
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Ron, I want to start with a scenario.
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Someone calls a law firm.
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They were just in a car accident.
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They're scared, maybe a little shaken up.
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They've got insurance companies already calling them.
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They dial the first firm that comes up on Google.
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And the person who answers says, and I've heard this, law offices, please hold.
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And they hang up.
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They hang up immediately and call the next firm on the list.
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And that next firm answers properly and gets a signed client out of it.
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And the first firm spent money on Google Ads to generate that call and got absolutely nothing.
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This is happening hundreds of times a day across the law firms in every market.
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And the crazy part is it's not a marketing problem.
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The marketing worked, the call came in, the firm just fumbled it at the one-yard line.
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So today we're talking about intake scripts, specifically the first 30 seconds of a legal intake call and why they decide almost everything.
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And I want to be clear up front.
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We mean a structured conversation framework.
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Right.
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There's a big difference.
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A script in the bad sense is someone reading words off a card while the caller can tell they're reading words off a card.
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A good intake framework is more like you know how a really good waiter knows exactly what to say and when, but it never feels like a pitch.
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That's what you're building.
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I like that.
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It's internalized structure, not a recitation.
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Okay, so let's talk about why the first 30 seconds matter so much.
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Because I think some attorneys hear 30 seconds and think that's an exaggeration.
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It's not.
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Think about who's calling a law firm.
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They were in an accident, they got served divorce papers, they got a letter from the IRS, they got arrested last night.
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These are not casual browsers, they are in some form of distress and they need help right now.
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And distress people, make fast decisions about whether they trust you.
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Exactly.
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The research on this is pretty consistent.
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Callers form a strong impression of a business within the first 30 seconds.
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In legal intake, that impression determines whether they stay on the line, whether they book, and whether they eventually sign.
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Fumble the greeting, and you're already in a hole.
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So let's walk through what a high-converting intake call actually looks like, because there's a structure to this.
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It's not just be nice on the phone.
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There are five distinct phases, and each one has a specific job.
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Starting with the greeting, which should take about five seconds.
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Five.
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That's it.
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And yet somehow, law firms manage to turn it into a 30-second ordeal.
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I've called firms where the greeting includes the firm name, a tagline, a disclaimer, and then how may I direct your call?
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By the time they're done, I've forgotten why I called.
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The greeting should do exactly three things: identify the firm, identify the person answering, and signal that someone is ready to help.
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That's it.
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Thank you for calling Smith Law.
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This is Maria.
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How can I help you today?
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Done.
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Get out of the way and let them talk.
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What are the things you absolutely cannot do in the greeting?
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Put them on hold in the first 60 seconds.
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Answer with just law offices.
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That sounds like a temp agency, not a professional firm.
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Start with a legal disclaimer before the caller has said a single word and sound distracted or flat because tone is everything on a phone call.
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You can't see the person.
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Their entire read of you is your voice.
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Okay, so the caller gets through the greeting, they start telling you why they're calling.
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What happens next is where I think most intake staff really fall down.
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The empathy bridge, and most intake staff skip it entirely.
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Explain what that is for people who haven't heard the term.
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After the caller tells you why they're calling, and you let them finish, you don't cut them off.
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Your first response should acknowledge what they just said before you ask a single question.
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So for a personal injury call, it might be, I'm really sorry to hear that happen to you.
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That sounds like a very difficult situation, and I want to make sure we get you the right help.
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Two sentences.
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That's all it takes.
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And what it does is signal that you're a human being who is actually listening, not a data entry clerk waiting for them to stop talking, so you can start filling out a form.
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Right.
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And here's the thing most intake staff jump straight from how can I help you, to okay, what's your date of birth?
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What county are you in?
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Do you have insurance?
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That's an interrogation, not a conversation.
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You've lost them emotionally before you've even started.
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I want to push back on one thing here, though, because I've talked to attorneys who say my intake person is not a therapist.
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I can't have them spending 10 minutes doing emotional support on every call.
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And I think that's a fair concern.
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It's a fair concern, and it's also a misread of what the empathy bridge actually is.
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Two sentences, it's not 10 minutes of emotional processing, it's acknowledging the human on the other end of the line before you switch into information gathering mode.
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That's not therapy, that's just basic communication.
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Fair enough.
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So after the empathy bridge, you move into qualifying questions.
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And the order of those questions matters more than most people realize.
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This is a big one.
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The wrong order sounds like When did this happen?
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What's your date of birth?
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Do you have insurance?
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What county are you in?
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That's a screening checklist.
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The caller feels like they're being evaluated for worthiness.
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And they kind of are, but you don't want it to feel that way.
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Exactly.
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The right order starts with can you tell me a little more about what happened?
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You let them tell their story.
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Then you follow up with the qualifying details once they've felt heard.
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You need to establish the nature of the legal matter, jurisdiction, timing, especially if there's a statute of limitations concern, conflict check basics, whether they've talked to another attorney, and their availability for a consultation.
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Notice what's not on that list.
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Budget, whether they can afford a retainer, any question that sounds like you're deciding if they're worth your time.
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Those conversations happen later in the consultation, not on the intake call.
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And this is where I think the mindset shift is really important because a lot of intake staff are trained to screen cases.
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And screening and selling are completely different jobs.
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Completely different.
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The intake call's job is to get qualified leads to a consultation.
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That's it.
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Deciding whether the case is worth taking, that's the attorney's job in the consultation.
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When you train intake staff to screen aggressively, they screen out bad cases and good ones.
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Okay, so you've done the empathy bridge and you've asked the qualifying questions, and you know this is a case your firm can handle.
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Now what?
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Now you get them scheduled.
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And this is where most intake calls fall apart completely.
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The intake person says something like, I'll have someone call you back, or let me check with the attorney.
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And the caller hangs up, calls another firm, and signs with them.
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I'll have someone call you back is the kiss of death.
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It really is.
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The transition to a consultation should be direct and confident.
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Something like, based on what you've told me, this is absolutely something our firm can help with.
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I'd like to get you scheduled for a consultation with attorney Johnson.
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We have availability Tuesday at two or Thursday at 10, which works better for you.
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Two specific options, not when are you free, two options.
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And there's a reason for that.
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Two options creates a decision between yes and yes.
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An open-ended when are you free creates a decision between yes and no.
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You're giving them an easy path to commit.
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It's like when a restaurant server asks, Can I get you dessert?
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versus we have the chocolate lava cake and the creme brulee tonight, which sounds good.
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One of those sells a lot more dessert.
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Exactly.
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And then the last phase, the close and confirmation, is something most firms rush through or skip entirely.
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Before you hang up, you confirm the appointment details, you tell them what to expect next, and you give them a reason to feel good about the decision they just made.
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What does that actually sound like?
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Perfect.
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You're scheduled for Thursday at 10 with Attorney Johnson.
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You'll get a confirmation by text and email shortly.
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If anything comes up or you have questions before then, don't hesitate to call us back.
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We're glad you reached out.
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That last line is not filler.
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Callers who feel validated about their decision are far less likely to cancel or no-show.
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Let's talk about practice area variations because I think this is where a lot of firms go wrong.
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They build one script and try to use it for everything.
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One script does not work across every practice area.
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The emotional register is completely different.
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A personal injury caller and an estate planning caller are in totally different HID spaces.
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Walk me through a few of them.
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Personal injury.
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The caller is often in physical pain, scared about money, already dealing with insurance companies.
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Lead with empathy, ask about medical treatment early because it signals you're building their case and communicate urgency.
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Evidence preservation, statute of limitations, acting quickly is genuinely in their interest.
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Family law is a completely different animal.
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Completely.
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These callers are emotionally raw.
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Divorce, custody, domestic violence.
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The emotional stakes are as high as the legal ones.
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Your intake person needs to slow down, listen more, and ditch the clinical language.
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Don't say dissolution of marriage to someone who just found out their spouse is filing.
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Say divorce.
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Speak like a human.
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Criminal defense is where speed becomes the dominant variable.
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Someone who was arrested last night needs to talk to an attorney today.
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Your script should acknowledge that urgency immediately and offer same day or next day consultations as the default.
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Not we might be able to fit you in later this week.
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Immigration is one I think a lot of firms underestimate in terms of how different the intake needs to be.
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Language barriers are a real operational issue.
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You need a plan for transferring to a bilingual staff member or scheduling a callback with an interpreter.
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And immigration callers are often afraid of what sharing information might mean for them.
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Your script should explicitly address confidentiality early in the call, not buried at the end early.
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And estate planning is the other end of the spectrum.
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Much more unhurried.
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These callers are often dealing with grief or anticipating it.
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Warm, conversational, not transactional.
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There's rarely a crisis level urgency unless it's a contested probate situation.
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You can afford to slow down.
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Okay, so let's talk about the mistakes.
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Because you can have a beautifully structured script and still blow the conversion.
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What are the most common ways firms undermine their own intake?
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Number one, letting calls go to voicemail during business hours.
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If a potential client calls during business hours and hits voicemail, a significant chunk of them will not leave a message.
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They'll call the next firm.
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If your intake staff can't cover all incoming calls, you need an answering service or a virtual receptionist as backup.
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This is not optional if you're spending money on marketing.
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I want to underline that.
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The second one is calling back too slowly.
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The research on lead response time is pretty stark.
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Your odds of converting a lead drop dramatically after the first five minutes.
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After an hour, you're competing against the attorney they already booked with.
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Five minutes.
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That is not a lot of time.
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It's not.
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And this is where the system behind the script matters.
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If someone submits a web form at 9 p.m., your automated system should respond immediately with a confirmation and a next step.
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Not wait until someone checks email the next morning.
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That's a system problem, not a script problem, but it it kills your script's effectiveness before the call even happens.
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The third mistake, and this one I feel strongly about, is treating intake as a screening function instead of a sales function.
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I push back on the word sales a little.
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I know what you mean, but some attorneys bristle at that framing.
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Okay, fair.
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Let's say conversion function.
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The intake call's job is to convert a qualified lead into a consultation.
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That's the metric, not did we screen out the bad cases?
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The attorney screens cases in the consultation.
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I'll accept that.
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And the fourth mistake is having no follow-up system for no shows and cancellations.
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A booked consultation that doesn't show up is not a lost cause.
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It's a follow-up opportunity.
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But most firms have no automated reminder sequence before the consultation and no re-engagement sequence if someone cancels or no shows.
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The CRM says the consultation is booked.
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Nobody has spoken to the person since Tuesday.
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They don't show up Thursday, and the firm just moves on.
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And that's a signed client they left on the table.
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Because some percentage of those no shows would have come back with a simple text or email.
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Let's talk about training because the biggest objection I hear from attorneys when we talk about intake scripts is it sounds scripted.
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And I want to address that directly.
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So how do you fix that?
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Role play.
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Weekly, not once at onboarding.
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Run practice calls with real scenario, emotional callers, hostile callers, confused callers, callers who give you almost no information.
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The more your staff has encountered a situation in practice, the more naturally they'll handle it live.
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And record the actual calls.
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With proper disclosure, yes.
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Record intake calls and review them as a team, not to criticize individuals, to find patterns.
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You'll discover things you would never catch otherwise.
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The greeting that's slightly off, the qualifying question that's coming in too early, the transition to scheduling that's too tentative.
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Here's the one I think matters most.
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Teach the why, not just the what.
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This is huge.
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Staff who understand why the empathy bridge works, why you give two scheduling options instead of one, why you confirm by both text and email.
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Those staff members will adapt intelligently when a call goes sideways.
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Staff who are just following steps will freeze the moment something unexpected happens.
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And score the calls.
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Create a simple rubric.
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Did they use the greeting correctly?
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Did they acknowledge the caller's situation before asking questions?
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Did they offer specific appointment times?
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Did they confirm the booking?
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Score calls monthly and use the data to coach.
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That scorecard approach is underused.
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Most firms either have no measurement at all or they're measuring things that don't connect to conversion.
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How many calls did we take today tells you nothing?
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What percentage of those calls resulted in a booked consultation that tells you something?
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Which brings me to the part of this conversation that I think most intake script articles completely skip.
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The script is the front end of a system.
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If the back end doesn't work, the script doesn't matter.
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This is the part that kills me.
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Firms spend time and money building a great intake script.
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Caller comes in, intake person does everything right, consultation gets booked, and then what happens?
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.000
Someone writes it on a calendar and hopes the person shows up.
00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.319
That's not a system, that's a wish.
00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:35.200
The intake script is one step in a chain.
00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:47.200
Marketing generates the call, the call goes through intake, intake feeds into a CRM, the CRM triggers automated reminders, the consultation happens, the client signs.
00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.920
Every link in that chain has to be connected.
00:17:50.319 --> 00:18:03.279
If your intake script doesn't feed into a CRM that tracks consultation status and flags no shows for follow-up, you're converting callers with your script and then losing them in the gap.
00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:11.039
And that gap between intake and signature is where a lot of firms hemorrhage revenue without realizing it because the intake numbers look fine.
00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.279
We booked 40 consultations this month.
00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:14.559
Great.
00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:15.839
How many showed up?
00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:17.039
How many signed?
00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:18.319
Show me the number.
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:19.200
Exactly.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:25.440
So let's talk about what you should actually be measuring once you've built or revised your intake script.
00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:27.599
Because you can't improve what you don't track.
00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:36.640
The first number is intake to consultation rate of all qualified leads who call what percentage book a consultation.
00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:40.799
Industry average is somewhere around 40 to 50 percent.
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.880
High performing firms are hitting 65 to 80 percent.
00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:46.480
That's a massive gap.
00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:55.200
If you're at 40% and you move to 65% on the same call volume, you've added a lot of consultations without spending a single additional dollar on marketing.
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:56.720
That's the leverage.
00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.160
And the second number is consultation to sign rate.
00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:06.240
Of the consultations that actually happen, what percentage sign an engagement?
00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:10.880
If that number is low, the problem might be in the consultation itself.
00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:14.000
But intake sets the tone.
00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:22.480
A caller who felt heard and valued on the intake call shows up to the consultation differently than one who felt processed.
00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:24.160
And then no show rate.
00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:27.119
What percentage of booked consultations don't show up?
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:30.960
Because if your no-show rate is high, that's often an intake problem.
00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:35.680
Either the booking wasn't confirmed properly, or there's no reminder sequence in place.
00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:45.039
I've seen firms with no show rates above 30%, and they have no automated reminder, no text the day before, no email the morning of.
00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.119
They just book it and wait.
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:54.160
If your intake process depends on someone remembering to send a reminder at 445 on Friday, you do not have a process.
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:55.759
That's the whole thing.
00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:58.319
The script gets the caller to say yes.
00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:02.960
The system makes sure that yes actually turns into a signed client.
00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:06.720
You need both, one without the other is just half a solution.
00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:13.440
And the firms that grow consistently, not just the ones that have a good month, are the ones that have connected the whole chain.
00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:19.359
From the first call to the signed engagement letter, every step is tracked, automated where it can be, and measured.
00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:21.200
The script is the handshake.
00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:30.400
The system is everything that happens after the handshake, and most firms have put a lot of thought into the handshake and almost no thought into what comes next.
00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:44.960
So if you're listening to this and you're thinking about your own intake process, start with the five phases: greeting, empathy bridge, qualifying questions in the right order, a direct transition to scheduling with two specific options, and a confirmation close.
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:46.240
That's your framework.
00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:51.279
And then ask yourself honestly: what happens after the call ends?
00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:53.039
Is there a CRM?
00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:54.880
Are reminders automated?
00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:00.960
Is anyone tracking whether those consultations are actually showing up and signing?
00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:08.480
Because if the answer to any of those is sort of or I think so, that's where your revenue is leaking.
00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.640
The script is the easy part, honestly.
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:13.680
Building the system behind it is where the real work is.
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.079
And where most firms stop short.
00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:25.039
They fix the script, see a small bump in bookings, declare a victory, and never look at what's happening between the booking and the signature.
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:27.119
Don't declare victory at the booking.
00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:29.119
Declare victory at the signature.
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:31.680
That's the number that pays the bills.
00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:40.240
Before you spend another dollar trying to generate more leads, make sure you're converting the ones you already have.
00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:47.680
Fix the process, connect the systems, automate what makes sense, and measure what actually turns into signed clients.
00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:54.319
If this episode gave you something to take back to your firm, subscribe to get going in business and share it with someone who needs to hear it.
00:21:54.559 --> 00:22:01.440
And if you want help figuring out where your process is breaking, visit getgoing inbusiness.com.
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:03.680
Until next time, get going.
00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:08.960
If your law firm is spending money on marketing but not signing enough clients, the problem might not be your marketing.
00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.640
Hi, I'm Ron Wilson.
00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:19.920
It could be your intake, your follow-up, your systems, or the fact that nobody actually owns what happens after the lead comes in.
00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:21.280
And I am Jessica.
00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:29.039
This is get going in business, where we break down the processes, automations, training and numbers behind turning more leads into signed clients.
00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:31.679
We'll tell you what's working, what's broken.
00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:34.399
And we probably won't always agree on how to fix it.
00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:36.159
That's usually the fun part.
00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:37.600
Let's get going.
00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.439
Ron, I want to start with a scenario.
00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:45.039
Someone calls a law firm.
00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:47.039
They were just in a car accident.
00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.520
They're scared, maybe a little shaken up.
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:52.000
They've got insurance companies already calling them.
00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.719
They dial the first firm that comes up on Google.
00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:59.439
And the person who answers says, and I've heard this, law offices, please hold.
00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:00.479
And they hang up.
00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:03.600
They hang up immediately and call the next firm on the list.
00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.359
And that next firm answers properly and gets a signed client out of it.
00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:12.400
And the first firm spent money on Google Ads to generate that call and got absolutely nothing.
00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:16.879
This is happening hundreds of times a day across the law firms in every market.
00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:20.239
And the crazy part is it's not a marketing problem.
00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:26.560
The marketing worked, the call came in, the firm just fumbled it at the one-yard line.
00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:33.920
So today we're talking about intake scripts, specifically the first 30 seconds of a legal intake call and why they decide almost everything.
00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:35.680
And I want to be clear up front.
00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:42.000
We mean a structured conversation framework.
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:42.959
Right.
00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:44.879
There's a big difference.
00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:52.879
A script in the bad sense is someone reading words off a card while the caller can tell they're reading words off a card.
00:01:53.120 --> 00:02:02.719
A good intake framework is more like you know how a really good waiter knows exactly what to say and when, but it never feels like a pitch.
00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:04.239
That's what you're building.
00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:05.120
I like that.
00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:07.680
It's internalized structure, not a recitation.
00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:11.840
Okay, so let's talk about why the first 30 seconds matter so much.
00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.159
Because I think some attorneys hear 30 seconds and think that's an exaggeration.
00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:17.280
It's not.
00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:20.479
Think about who's calling a law firm.
00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:28.400
They were in an accident, they got served divorce papers, they got a letter from the IRS, they got arrested last night.
00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:35.280
These are not casual browsers, they are in some form of distress and they need help right now.
00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:39.120
And distress people, make fast decisions about whether they trust you.
00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:40.159
Exactly.
00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:42.960
The research on this is pretty consistent.
00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:48.240
Callers form a strong impression of a business within the first 30 seconds.
00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:56.960
In legal intake, that impression determines whether they stay on the line, whether they book, and whether they eventually sign.
00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:59.680
Fumble the greeting, and you're already in a hole.
00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:05.520
So let's walk through what a high-converting intake call actually looks like, because there's a structure to this.
00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:07.680
It's not just be nice on the phone.
00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:11.360
There are five distinct phases, and each one has a specific job.
00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:14.960
Starting with the greeting, which should take about five seconds.
00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:15.759
Five.
00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:16.479
That's it.
00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:20.879
And yet somehow, law firms manage to turn it into a 30-second ordeal.
00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:28.000
I've called firms where the greeting includes the firm name, a tagline, a disclaimer, and then how may I direct your call?
00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.199
By the time they're done, I've forgotten why I called.
00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:40.159
The greeting should do exactly three things: identify the firm, identify the person answering, and signal that someone is ready to help.
00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:41.439
That's it.
00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:44.000
Thank you for calling Smith Law.
00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:45.120
This is Maria.
00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.039
How can I help you today?
00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:48.000
Done.
00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:50.479
Get out of the way and let them talk.
00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:53.439
What are the things you absolutely cannot do in the greeting?
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:56.240
Put them on hold in the first 60 seconds.
00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:59.199
Answer with just law offices.
00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:03.919
That sounds like a temp agency, not a professional firm.
00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:14.479
Start with a legal disclaimer before the caller has said a single word and sound distracted or flat because tone is everything on a phone call.
00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:16.079
You can't see the person.
00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.639
Their entire read of you is your voice.
00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:23.040
Okay, so the caller gets through the greeting, they start telling you why they're calling.
00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:26.879
What happens next is where I think most intake staff really fall down.
00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:31.279
The empathy bridge, and most intake staff skip it entirely.
00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.000
Explain what that is for people who haven't heard the term.
00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:40.959
After the caller tells you why they're calling, and you let them finish, you don't cut them off.
00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:47.120
Your first response should acknowledge what they just said before you ask a single question.
00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:53.279
So for a personal injury call, it might be, I'm really sorry to hear that happen to you.
00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:59.120
That sounds like a very difficult situation, and I want to make sure we get you the right help.
00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:00.560
Two sentences.
00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:02.160
That's all it takes.
00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:10.959
And what it does is signal that you're a human being who is actually listening, not a data entry clerk waiting for them to stop talking, so you can start filling out a form.
00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:11.839
Right.
00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:20.639
And here's the thing most intake staff jump straight from how can I help you, to okay, what's your date of birth?
00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:22.160
What county are you in?
00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:23.839
Do you have insurance?
00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:26.959
That's an interrogation, not a conversation.
00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:30.399
You've lost them emotionally before you've even started.
00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:37.519
I want to push back on one thing here, though, because I've talked to attorneys who say my intake person is not a therapist.
00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:41.600
I can't have them spending 10 minutes doing emotional support on every call.
00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.600
And I think that's a fair concern.
00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:49.120
It's a fair concern, and it's also a misread of what the empathy bridge actually is.
00:05:49.360 --> 00:06:02.000
Two sentences, it's not 10 minutes of emotional processing, it's acknowledging the human on the other end of the line before you switch into information gathering mode.
00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:05.279
That's not therapy, that's just basic communication.
00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:06.079
Fair enough.
00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:09.360
So after the empathy bridge, you move into qualifying questions.
00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:12.959
And the order of those questions matters more than most people realize.
00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:14.560
This is a big one.
00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:18.160
The wrong order sounds like When did this happen?
00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:19.360
What's your date of birth?
00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:20.959
Do you have insurance?
00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:23.199
What county are you in?
00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.759
That's a screening checklist.
00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.839
The caller feels like they're being evaluated for worthiness.
00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.879
And they kind of are, but you don't want it to feel that way.
00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:33.839
Exactly.
00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:38.879
The right order starts with can you tell me a little more about what happened?
00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.199
You let them tell their story.
00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:46.319
Then you follow up with the qualifying details once they've felt heard.
00:06:46.560 --> 00:07:02.959
You need to establish the nature of the legal matter, jurisdiction, timing, especially if there's a statute of limitations concern, conflict check basics, whether they've talked to another attorney, and their availability for a consultation.
00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:04.720
Notice what's not on that list.
00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:13.279
Budget, whether they can afford a retainer, any question that sounds like you're deciding if they're worth your time.
00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:19.279
Those conversations happen later in the consultation, not on the intake call.
00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:25.920
And this is where I think the mindset shift is really important because a lot of intake staff are trained to screen cases.
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:28.480
And screening and selling are completely different jobs.
00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.000
Completely different.
00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:35.199
The intake call's job is to get qualified leads to a consultation.
00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:36.079
That's it.
00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:42.319
Deciding whether the case is worth taking, that's the attorney's job in the consultation.
00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:49.199
When you train intake staff to screen aggressively, they screen out bad cases and good ones.
00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:56.639
Okay, so you've done the empathy bridge and you've asked the qualifying questions, and you know this is a case your firm can handle.
00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:57.600
Now what?
00:07:58.079 --> 00:07:59.600
Now you get them scheduled.
00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:03.439
And this is where most intake calls fall apart completely.
00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:10.480
The intake person says something like, I'll have someone call you back, or let me check with the attorney.
00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:16.160
And the caller hangs up, calls another firm, and signs with them.
00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.959
I'll have someone call you back is the kiss of death.
00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:20.160
It really is.
00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.560
The transition to a consultation should be direct and confident.
00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:31.279
Something like, based on what you've told me, this is absolutely something our firm can help with.
00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:36.080
I'd like to get you scheduled for a consultation with attorney Johnson.
00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:41.679
We have availability Tuesday at two or Thursday at 10, which works better for you.
00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.039
Two specific options, not when are you free, two options.
00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:46.879
And there's a reason for that.
00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.639
Two options creates a decision between yes and yes.
00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:56.240
An open-ended when are you free creates a decision between yes and no.
00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:59.600
You're giving them an easy path to commit.
00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.360
It's like when a restaurant server asks, Can I get you dessert?
00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:08.320
versus we have the chocolate lava cake and the creme brulee tonight, which sounds good.
00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:10.320
One of those sells a lot more dessert.
00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:11.360
Exactly.
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:19.279
And then the last phase, the close and confirmation, is something most firms rush through or skip entirely.
00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:30.480
Before you hang up, you confirm the appointment details, you tell them what to expect next, and you give them a reason to feel good about the decision they just made.
00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:32.320
What does that actually sound like?
00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:33.600
Perfect.
00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:37.279
You're scheduled for Thursday at 10 with Attorney Johnson.
00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.879
You'll get a confirmation by text and email shortly.
00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:46.159
If anything comes up or you have questions before then, don't hesitate to call us back.
00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.240
We're glad you reached out.
00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.720
That last line is not filler.
00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:57.120
Callers who feel validated about their decision are far less likely to cancel or no-show.
00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:01.759
Let's talk about practice area variations because I think this is where a lot of firms go wrong.
00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.080
They build one script and try to use it for everything.
00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:07.519
One script does not work across every practice area.
00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.799
The emotional register is completely different.
00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:16.720
A personal injury caller and an estate planning caller are in totally different HID spaces.
00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:18.399
Walk me through a few of them.
00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:19.840
Personal injury.
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:26.080
The caller is often in physical pain, scared about money, already dealing with insurance companies.
00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:34.480
Lead with empathy, ask about medical treatment early because it signals you're building their case and communicate urgency.
00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:41.440
Evidence preservation, statute of limitations, acting quickly is genuinely in their interest.
00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:43.759
Family law is a completely different animal.
00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:44.879
Completely.
00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.600
These callers are emotionally raw.
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.639
Divorce, custody, domestic violence.
00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:54.399
The emotional stakes are as high as the legal ones.
00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:59.759
Your intake person needs to slow down, listen more, and ditch the clinical language.
00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:05.519
Don't say dissolution of marriage to someone who just found out their spouse is filing.
00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:06.879
Say divorce.
00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:08.159
Speak like a human.
00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:11.519
Criminal defense is where speed becomes the dominant variable.
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.679
Someone who was arrested last night needs to talk to an attorney today.
00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:24.000
Your script should acknowledge that urgency immediately and offer same day or next day consultations as the default.
00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:27.519
Not we might be able to fit you in later this week.
00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:35.039
Immigration is one I think a lot of firms underestimate in terms of how different the intake needs to be.
00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.279
Language barriers are a real operational issue.
00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:45.840
You need a plan for transferring to a bilingual staff member or scheduling a callback with an interpreter.
00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:51.759
And immigration callers are often afraid of what sharing information might mean for them.
00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:59.440
Your script should explicitly address confidentiality early in the call, not buried at the end early.
00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:02.480
And estate planning is the other end of the spectrum.
00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:04.000
Much more unhurried.
00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:07.519
These callers are often dealing with grief or anticipating it.
00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.320
Warm, conversational, not transactional.
00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:16.240
There's rarely a crisis level urgency unless it's a contested probate situation.
00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:18.320
You can afford to slow down.
00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:20.559
Okay, so let's talk about the mistakes.
00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.399
Because you can have a beautifully structured script and still blow the conversion.
00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:28.000
What are the most common ways firms undermine their own intake?
00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:32.879
Number one, letting calls go to voicemail during business hours.
00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:41.120
If a potential client calls during business hours and hits voicemail, a significant chunk of them will not leave a message.
00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:43.279
They'll call the next firm.
00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:51.279
If your intake staff can't cover all incoming calls, you need an answering service or a virtual receptionist as backup.
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This is not optional if you're spending money on marketing.
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I want to underline that.
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The second one is calling back too slowly.
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The research on lead response time is pretty stark.
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Your odds of converting a lead drop dramatically after the first five minutes.
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After an hour, you're competing against the attorney they already booked with.
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Five minutes.
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That is not a lot of time.
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It's not.
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And this is where the system behind the script matters.
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If someone submits a web form at 9 p.m., your automated system should respond immediately with a confirmation and a next step.
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Not wait until someone checks email the next morning.
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That's a system problem, not a script problem, but it it kills your script's effectiveness before the call even happens.
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The third mistake, and this one I feel strongly about, is treating intake as a screening function instead of a sales function.
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I push back on the word sales a little.
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I know what you mean, but some attorneys bristle at that framing.
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Okay, fair.
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Let's say conversion function.
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The intake call's job is to convert a qualified lead into a consultation.
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That's the metric, not did we screen out the bad cases?
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The attorney screens cases in the consultation.
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I'll accept that.
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And the fourth mistake is having no follow-up system for no shows and cancellations.
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A booked consultation that doesn't show up is not a lost cause.
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It's a follow-up opportunity.
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But most firms have no automated reminder sequence before the consultation and no re-engagement sequence if someone cancels or no shows.
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The CRM says the consultation is booked.
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Nobody has spoken to the person since Tuesday.
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They don't show up Thursday, and the firm just moves on.
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And that's a signed client they left on the table.
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Because some percentage of those no shows would have come back with a simple text or email.
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Let's talk about training because the biggest objection I hear from attorneys when we talk about intake scripts is it sounds scripted.
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And I want to address that directly.
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So how do you fix that?
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Role play.
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Weekly, not once at onboarding.
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Run practice calls with real scenario, emotional callers, hostile callers, confused callers, callers who give you almost no information.
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The more your staff has encountered a situation in practice, the more naturally they'll handle it live.
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And record the actual calls.
00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:41.840
With proper disclosure, yes.
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Record intake calls and review them as a team, not to criticize individuals, to find patterns.
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You'll discover things you would never catch otherwise.
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The greeting that's slightly off, the qualifying question that's coming in too early, the transition to scheduling that's too tentative.
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Here's the one I think matters most.
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Teach the why, not just the what.
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This is huge.
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Staff who understand why the empathy bridge works, why you give two scheduling options instead of one, why you confirm by both text and email.
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Those staff members will adapt intelligently when a call goes sideways.
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Staff who are just following steps will freeze the moment something unexpected happens.
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And score the calls.
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Create a simple rubric.
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Did they use the greeting correctly?
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Did they acknowledge the caller's situation before asking questions?
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Did they offer specific appointment times?
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Did they confirm the booking?
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Score calls monthly and use the data to coach.
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That scorecard approach is underused.
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Most firms either have no measurement at all or they're measuring things that don't connect to conversion.
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How many calls did we take today tells you nothing?
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What percentage of those calls resulted in a booked consultation that tells you something?
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Which brings me to the part of this conversation that I think most intake script articles completely skip.
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The script is the front end of a system.
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If the back end doesn't work, the script doesn't matter.
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This is the part that kills me.
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Firms spend time and money building a great intake script.
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Caller comes in, intake person does everything right, consultation gets booked, and then what happens?
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Someone writes it on a calendar and hopes the person shows up.
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That's not a system, that's a wish.
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The intake script is one step in a chain.
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Marketing generates the call, the call goes through intake, intake feeds into a CRM, the CRM triggers automated reminders, the consultation happens, the client signs.
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Every link in that chain has to be connected.
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If your intake script doesn't feed into a CRM that tracks consultation status and flags no shows for follow-up, you're converting callers with your script and then losing them in the gap.
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And that gap between intake and signature is where a lot of firms hemorrhage revenue without realizing it because the intake numbers look fine.
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We booked 40 consultations this month.
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Great.
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How many showed up?
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How many signed?
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Show me the number.
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:19.200
Exactly.
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So let's talk about what you should actually be measuring once you've built or revised your intake script.
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Because you can't improve what you don't track.
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The first number is intake to consultation rate of all qualified leads who call what percentage book a consultation.
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Industry average is somewhere around 40 to 50 percent.
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High performing firms are hitting 65 to 80 percent.
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That's a massive gap.
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If you're at 40% and you move to 65% on the same call volume, you've added a lot of consultations without spending a single additional dollar on marketing.
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That's the leverage.
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And the second number is consultation to sign rate.
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Of the consultations that actually happen, what percentage sign an engagement?
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If that number is low, the problem might be in the consultation itself.
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But intake sets the tone.
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A caller who felt heard and valued on the intake call shows up to the consultation differently than one who felt processed.
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And then no show rate.
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What percentage of booked consultations don't show up?
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Because if your no-show rate is high, that's often an intake problem.
00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:35.680
Either the booking wasn't confirmed properly, or there's no reminder sequence in place.
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I've seen firms with no show rates above 30%, and they have no automated reminder, no text the day before, no email the morning of.
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They just book it and wait.
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If your intake process depends on someone remembering to send a reminder at 445 on Friday, you do not have a process.
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That's the whole thing.
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The script gets the caller to say yes.
00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:02.960
The system makes sure that yes actually turns into a signed client.
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You need both, one without the other is just half a solution.
00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:13.440
And the firms that grow consistently, not just the ones that have a good month, are the ones that have connected the whole chain.
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From the first call to the signed engagement letter, every step is tracked, automated where it can be, and measured.
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The script is the handshake.
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The system is everything that happens after the handshake, and most firms have put a lot of thought into the handshake and almost no thought into what comes next.
00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:44.960
So if you're listening to this and you're thinking about your own intake process, start with the five phases: greeting, empathy bridge, qualifying questions in the right order, a direct transition to scheduling with two specific options, and a confirmation close.
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That's your framework.
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And then ask yourself honestly: what happens after the call ends?
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Is there a CRM?
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Are reminders automated?
00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:00.960
Is anyone tracking whether those consultations are actually showing up and signing?
00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:08.480
Because if the answer to any of those is sort of or I think so, that's where your revenue is leaking.
00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.640
The script is the easy part, honestly.
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Building the system behind it is where the real work is.
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And where most firms stop short.
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They fix the script, see a small bump in bookings, declare a victory, and never look at what's happening between the booking and the signature.
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Don't declare victory at the booking.
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Declare victory at the signature.
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That's the number that pays the bills.
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Before you spend another dollar trying to generate more leads, make sure you're converting the ones you already have.
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Fix the process, connect the systems, automate what makes sense, and measure what actually turns into signed clients.
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If this episode gave you something to take back to your firm, subscribe to get going in business and share it with someone who needs to hear it.
00:21:54.559 --> 00:22:01.440
And if you want help figuring out where your process is breaking, visit getgoing inbusiness.com.
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:03.680
Until next time, get going.
