The Must Have Intake Questions

I get asked this quite often – hey, what questions are a must in my intake process?

The best intake questions are the ones that you design to fit YOUR potential clients and YOUR process.

Because intake isn’t just qualifying prospects so you don’t waste your time with unqualified people. It’s also identifying the people who ARE great potential clients and building trust with them so they are ready to HIRE you in your consultation, not ‘think about it’. A strong intake person can set up the prospect during intake so it’s a slam dunk for the attorney (or salesperson) to close in the consult. This is what’s being left behind with how we approach intake.

It’s like going on an amazing first date – the date was great and you’d like to see them again. You are even excited about where things might go long term, but you aren’t ready to MARRY them after a great first date. This is how sales consults without proper intake land for clients. It was a great meeting, they really liked you, they learned a lot, but they just aren’t ready to say yes…yet. Then they get busy with other things and never go forward. And if they do, hiring you in three months doesn’t help you when
payroll runs in two days. It causes cash flow roller coasters.

Intake most often doesn’t connect because people apply a template question approach to what needs to be a very personal conversation and process.

Intake isn’t just:
- Are they in my jurisdiction?
- Do they need the type of law I do?
- Do they have money to pay me?

Intake is also:
- Creating ‘like, know, trust’ so the prospect is more ready to HIRE your firm in the consultation versus needing to ‘think about it’.
- Changing the entire experience the prospect thought they were going to have calling a law firm to a positive, warm one.
- Discerning if the prospect is in action mode or research mode and moving them into the proper path accordingly (you should have a path for people ready to move and another for people in information gathering phase).
- Hearing ‘hot button issues’ so you can properly prep your attorney or salesperson for the consult so they can slam dunk the close.
- Getting the client excited to attend their consultation so they show up and show up ready to make a decision.

Too often people want the ‘magic’ intake questions.

The questions depend on who your potential clients are, what their worries and dreams are, how they heard about you and what you are selling – a paid consult? a free consult?

In searching for THE best questions, we miss the opportunity to train our intake team to connect, listen, discern and sell prospects into the right next step with a desire to move forward.