Every call matters. Every person who reaches out to your firm to discuss a new case is important. They may be calling for something that you consider trivial, for something that you think is not worth pursuing, or about an area of law that you do not handle. But they called you. They could have called any number of law firms, and they may have, but they reached out to you and you have the opportunity to make that interaction a positive experience.

If it is a case that you want to sign up, most firms will enter all the information into their case management system (“CMS”). There are some firms that only enter the cases that they sign up into their CMS, and they lose a lot of great data. They also lose a lot of potential cases.

Every single lead should be entered into your CMS while the call is happening. Your intake team may tell you that they can take a call and type it into the system while they are talking. They can. Get them headsets so they can do it. Firms are doing it all over the country. The first sign of a firm that has an inefficient intake department is intake specialists taking call information on pads of paper. That firm is hemorrhaging cases.

Even when you decide that it is not a case you want, you can track the type of case that the person called about and how they heard about your firm, and get their contact information. This gives a lot of great information about the quality of leads that you are receiving, making sure that all calls are handled properly, and allows you to track the effectiveness of different advertising channels.

So, if you want to make sure your intake department is working effectively, sit there and watch whoever handles your intake take a few calls. See if they enter it into your CMS in real time or simply write it on a pad of paper. Watch and see if they only enter it into the system if they get a contract or accept the case. See how they turn down a case and whether they are still getting vital information and being compassionate about the rejection. All of these things are simple things to do, cost nothing, and will make your intake department run smoother.