Non-utilized talent is the greatest source of waste for most firms, and it often starts at intake.

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Throughout this month’s series of tips, we’ve been looking at intake through the optic value and waste, as explained in our revamped Gimbal Guide, 8 Ways to Stop Losing Time & Money in Your Practice. One of those 8 ways is to get the RIGHT people doing the work.

This week, we want you to think about the people doing your intake and ask yourself: are they the right people? 

Do they know enough about your practice to answer questions from potential clients?

Do they have any sales training (because after all, a lot of intake is sales!)?

Does their communication style work for your clients? 

Are they personable and confident? 

All of these may seem obvious to you, but evidence suggests that the person who answers the phone at most law firms doesn’t meet this test. In fact, according to a survey Clio put out, very few law firms are able to provide the answers clients need when they first call. 

And then there’s the next issue: Does the level of seniority and experience of the person doing your intake match the position? 

If not, you’re suffering from the waste of Non-utilized talent. There’s more about this waste (and yes, it is the greatest source of waste in most firms) in our free Guide.

If you do your own intake, or you’ve got someone who’s knowledge or skills would better serve your practice if they were doing something else, then you’re wasting valuable resources at intake.

And what if the best person for the job isn’t a person at all? 

Many parts of the intake process can be automated. Think: 

automated emails that send out forms or requests for information; 

reminders about upcoming meetings; 

automatic transfer of client information into your time & billing software; 

and automated generation of document sets using the information from your intake form. 

The goal: you never have to rekey client information again. That will reduce errors and save time. 

This week’s tip? Make sure you’ve got the right people doing your intake. Next week, we’ll give you the top 5 elements you need to build into your intake process.

Legal professionals who can identify where they’re wasting limited resources and then do something about it will consistently deliver more value for themselves, for their firm and, most importantly, for their clients. Put simply, they’re much more likely to be recognized as true value-driven professionals.

And that’s it. Sign up below so you don’t miss the next instalment in this series!

Thanks a lot everybody! See you next week.