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One of the most stressful parts of building a client base for law firms is the intake process itself. Finding the right clients, guiding them through your unique value proposition, signing all the necessary documents, keeping up with communication — it can be incredibly difficult to juggle. If your firm can nail this process time and time again, not only will you be operating like a well-oiled machine, you’ll begin to see your pipeline fill up. Delighting your clients with a solid first impression and timely communication can lead to increased word-of-mouth referrals and even a spike in quality online reviews.
In this live stream recording, “Law Firm Master Class: How To Streamline Intake And Manage Google Reviews,” PracticePanther’s Product Marketing Manager, Dan Bowman, and Kenect’s Head of Business Development, Mike Melis, discuss strategies to turn excellent client communication via texting, into a smooth intake process, and ultimately more online reviews.
The power of text messaging during client intake (7:31)
If you have important information to relay to your clients, or you need a quick response, your best course of action is going to be to text them. Think about your own personal texting use for a minute, and then check your phone. Do you have any unread texts? Now check your email. You probably have more than a few unread messages in your inbox! In fact, 98% of all text messages are opened, and 95% are read within 3 minutes.
Getting started with the client intake basics (12:00)
Defining your process and solidifying it across your firm is the first step towards creating a better client intake experience. If different attorneys are operating in different ways, then of course your clients are going to have a different experience. Set a standard across your workplace and stick to it.
You can’t intake clients without piquing their interest first. One of the best strategies to build trust with a potential client is by cultivating quality online reviews. Attracting potential clients through reviews should be part of your marketing strategy. 93% of clients use reviews as the first step in choosing a law firm.
What’s in a review (18:50)
The top 4 things clients look for are:
Quality: Star ratings are the first item people will look at and 5-star reviews are preferred.
Recency: 73% of clients won’t look at reviews that are older than 90 days.
Quantity: In order to be taken seriously, a minimum of 50 reviews is necessary, though getting over the 150+ mark will drive even more conversion.
Owner response: After reading reviews, the next item clients will look at are any responses that business owners leave on comments.
Capturing a 5-star review every time (20:24)
Timing is everything when it comes to asking for a review. As the requestor, it’s your job to drive the engagement and take control of the ask. The better you handle this, the less likely you are to get negative reviews. Once you find the sweet spot in your client engagement where you know a request for a review will be fulfilled, repeat it with each client. Utilize Kenect’s text messaging app to collect those reviews since you know your clients will read your message, and see the text conversation within your PracticePanther account. Lastly, always respond to every review you receive to increase engagement, you can even post stellar reviews on your homepage!
