The Value of Client Intake
Why Developing a Robust Client Intake Process is Vital to Success
One of the most overlooked aspects of a business is the initial contact with a client. Many firms leave their frontlines to the least experienced staff or have made it purely automated, removing any human contact. These missteps could be costing you clients and making it difficult for you to grow.
At WM Marketing, we can help you develop a streamlined client intake process that turns prospects into paying clientele. Our marketing experts will help you optimize your intake so that you can obtain more clients and offer superior customer service from start to finish. If you want to increase your profits and improve your intake, contact our office at (661) 402-0555.
What Is Client Intake?
In the legal sphere, client intake describes the process of onboarding new clients. In most cases, a firm’s intake system will involve a series of questions to obtain information about the potential client. Some firms choose to use an online questionnaire, while others have a staff member collect the necessary details.
While it may not seem critical at first glance, the first contact with a prospective client can set the tone for the entire relationship, including whether they decide to retain your services. A company’s client intake system should be efficient, repeatable, and operated by a highly trained employee.
Why Is Client Intake Important?
“We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed. We start with the customer and we work backwards.” - Jeff Bezos
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world know that a positive customer experience is the key to success. Client intake is a customer’s first experience with your business. If your intake staff is rude or unhelpful, that is the impression that the customer will take with them. It could be the deciding factor in whether to move on to your competitor.
If you do not have a strong intake system in place, you may miss opportunities. Messages can get lost in the shuffle, a person can forget to call someone back, or a meeting can get overlooked. These honest mistakes can cost you clients and squander otherwise well-spent marketing dollars if you do not have a solid client intake system.
What Is Your Firm Doing About It?
Now is the time to review your own processes to determine whether there may be some areas for improvement. Great marketing can get the calls to come in, but converting a prospective customer into a paying client takes more.
Biggest intake mistakes most law firms make:
- Not having a consistent, easy-to-follow system in place
- Letting calls go to voicemail
- Not following up
- Rude customer service
- Not having a well-trained and dedicated intake staff
A poor (or non-existent) client intake system could be costing you time and money. A prospect should be treated with next-level customer service from the moment they contact your business. Investing in this critical first contact could help you grow your practice and your bottom line.
As our founder says, “If you can’t outspend your competition, beat them on the experience”.
What We Can Do For You
At WM Marketing, our team offers innovative solutions to help you improve your existing client intake process. As the old adage goes, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
Many companies out there want to sell you on their intake services with flashy promises of “guaranteed signed cases” and “automated lead capture”, etc. Here at WM Marketing, we don’t want to do it for you, we want to help you develop the skills you need to sign each case that comes your way.
We can help transform your systems to make your intake processes smoother and more efficient. Contact our office today at (661) 402-0555 to discuss how we can help.
