Why So Many Law Firms Are Outsourcing Their Intake Department

Having a robust, efficient and skilled intake service is crucial for any number of reasons in a law firm. Whether growth is your goal, or you simply want a better way to filter out enquiries and free up your core team’s schedules so they can focus on the important work they have on their plates, outsourcing your intake process will create an efficient business that’s always ready for potential clients.

Law firms are choosing to outsource their intake departments because it will make their operations more accessible. By being able to offer longer, or 24-hour, service, be more efficient at dealing with enquiries through screening and prioritization, and more cost-effective by utilizing the skilled workforce of a BPO, rather than your highly trained legal team, law firms can benefit greatly from partnering with an experienced BPO company.

To find out more about why outsourcing your law firm's intake department could be the best move for your business, as well as the main benefits of doing so, keep reading.

What Is An Intake Department?

The intake department is any person or department that handles incoming enquiries – calls, emails, contact form messages – and is the first point of contact into the business. The importance of this department cannot be underestimated, as it’s crucial that potential clients have a method of contacting a business that’s easy and quick.

This is often where growing law firms can go wrong, making the process of contacting the right person for advice too difficult and time-consuming, meaning you could be losing out on valuable cases.

The intake department will screen the calls and enquiries the business receives, making sure they’re filtered through to the right people, or politely pointed in a different direction for help.

What Are The Main Benefits of Outsourcing Your Legal Firm’s Intake Department?

Having a well-run and efficient intake department will increase the number of conversions and, therefore, your bottom, line, because with trained and helpful first-line agents all new potential clients will get the treatment they expect, as well as the thorough pre-checks, to bring them in as a customer.

First Line of Support

When making an enquiry, in particular for something that can often be highly emotive, being able to speak to someone about their needs and concerns will help your potential clients build a relationship from the start. Whether it’s over the phone, or through a quick response to a contact form request or email, that first interaction can make a huge difference to the client experience.

Scheduling Appointments

This isn’t something that your trained and experienced lawyers should have to spend their valuable time doing, and when working with a reliable and experienced BPO company you can trust that your scheduling and new client intake system is performing as it should. Allowing the outsource partner to filter enquiries, making sure they go to the right person or aren’t forwarded on (reducing the number of spam or inappropriate requests that may come in), will save time and, therefore, money.

Out-of-Hours Service

One of the main benefits of outsourcing your intake department is the ability to have agents on call 24 hours a day. No longer will your leads have to wait until the next business day to receive a response – or even longer if there are lots to get through – they can be dealt with as soon as they come in, providing a real customer experience that’s efficient and personal.

When you outsource your intake department you can have agents active at all hours, so your business could be gaining new clients as you sleep.

Lower Rates of Lead Abandonment

When your potential leads are being dealt with efficiently and professionally they’re much more likely to want to work with you. Most BPOs will have requirements and SLAs they need to hit with regards to call abandonment rate, response time and conversions, so you can be comforted knowing that they’re being dealt with, perhaps more efficiently than your own in-house team would have time for.

Outsourcing Isn’t Right For Everyone

It’s important to recognize where you and your business are in terms of your growth and even your ability to take on new work, as an outsourced intake department will create more cases and more clients that you need to be ready for. As with all of the outsourcing that’s on offer out there, it’s important to find the one that’s the right fit for you and who is flexible enough to offer a personalized service.