Is Your Company’s Intake Process Dragging Your Marketing Down?

Companies are getting increasingly wise to the power of integration in marketing. In addition to having an up-to-date and mobile-friendly website, more and more businesses are adding local search marketing, social media, and pay-per-click campaigns to their strategy. These efforts work in conjunction to get a targeted audience to find the right business and convert.

Unfortunately, for some companies, there’s a chink in the chain. Businesses that are seemingly doing everything correctly to get new clients in the door might be overlooking an important part of marketing that actually happens once those people are through the door – the client intake process.

If you have not thought about how client intake works at your company and whether you have a streamlined process, this post is definitely for you. In fact, making a few changes could step up your game and improve your ROI when it comes to your overall marketing efforts.

3 Big Intake Mistakes Companies Make

The same issues often span a variety of industries. Here are three of the most common.

1. Taking Days to Respond to Leads

When it comes to getting back to potential clients, days are too long. In many instances, even hours are too long. If you’re paying for professionals to implement marketing strategies, chances are you are losing money as the span of time stretches between a lead coming in and someone from your team reaching out. Be assured that some companies competing with you have designated people ready to call back in just minutes. They’re the ones who will get new clients to sign up before you’ve even freed up time.

2. Failing to Test the Process

You might have a prospective client inquiry form on your site or a designated phone number for tracking, but has anyone tested these features make sure they work as planned? Auto-responses, no voicemail, error messages – these problems can cause a jarring and unprofessional experience that will turn potential clients away.

3. Providing Intake Person with Too Little Info

First impressions are important. The person who speaks to a prospective client first is a major determining factor of whether that lead closed. The designated intake person must have a script or directions on how to respond appropriately to leads. Without this information, conversations with prospective clients can be awkward, ineffective or misinforming.

How an Intake Call Center Works for Law Firms

For law firms specifically, it’s often more helpful to source the intake process to professionals who work exclusively in this area of marketing, rather than handing off the task to a designated in-office person. A third-party management company that offers law firm intake services can help generate new leads, field intake calls faster and during after-hours and overflow, and close more leads to keep business coming in.

An experienced intake management company offers a streamlined process. They take the time to learn about the firm’s specific area of law and the questions their professionals should ask potential clients during the first conversation. The company will also provide accurate audit trails and reporting services, so the firm’s marketing team can understand which types of marketing bring in the most leads. With dedicated professionals working on client intake, a firm’s response time is faster. And, prospective clients gain the peace of mind that they have reached a place that’s on top of their needs and ready to get started.

If You Use Your Own Team

We all know it’s preferable to talk to a real person when calling a company for help or to get more information. Even better is a person with training to answer questions properly and get the ball rolling as fast as possible. Whether it’s a third-party company or a staff member, this level of readiness is critical.

Even for firms that have designated in-office staff working on client intakes, a third-party management company might still be beneficial. They will train staff to use consistent intake questions, so firms get the most helpful information from the very beginning. They can also offer call recording and review through a call tracking system, offering the full low-down on everything that has been discussed.

A third-party management company can also establish best practices with the in-office team, such as:

1. Timeliness: picking up during office hours and returning calls the same day when possible.
2. Friendliness: answering in a pleasant tone and a friendly attitude.
3. Empathy: showing understanding when a caller explains their situation and waiting until they’ve finished before asking for the necessary intake information.
4. Documentation: getting all the necessary information using an effective CRM system.
5. Preparedness: recognizing a high-quality lead and knowing when to immediately escalate the call to the right member of the firm.

If you’ve got a handle on your marketing plan, tending to your client intake process will take it to the next level. Making these improvements to intake will boost your ROI as well as your reputation as an eager and prepared company.