Not all leads are created equal. In personal injury law, a qualified lead is someone who not only needs legal help, but also meets your firm’s case criteria and is ready to sign. What’s the best way to increase the number of qualified leads your firm retains? Simple: Build better systems—starting with your Intake process.
Intake is more than answering phones. It’s your firm’s front line. And in the most competitive markets, the difference between signing a multi-million-dollar case and losing it often comes down to how quickly and effectively your Intake team responds.
Why Are Phone Trees Set Up to Route Calls to Intake?
Callers at many successful PI firms are routed directly to Intake—not Reception. Why? Because every minute counts.
Leads convert best when they reach someone who can evaluate and sign the case immediately. If you make a potential client wait for a callback or retell their story multiple times, they’ll likely move on to the next firm.
Even if some follow-up research is needed—like pulling a police report or confirming liability—it’s better to sign the lead first and determine case viability later. Your firm can always release a case within 90 days if it doesn’t qualify.
Setting up a phone tree to route calls directly to trained Intake staff reduces friction, avoids bottlenecks at Reception, and increases the chances that your firm signs high-value cases before they get away.
The Problem with Routing All Calls Through Reception
Receptionists serve an important role, but relying on them to field all calls slows down the intake process. They’re often tasked with juggling multiple duties and may not have the training, authority, or access to determine if a caller qualifies as a case.
That delay—even a short hold or promise to call back—can be costly.
Instead, your firm should create a system where trained Intake professionals answer both business-hours and after-hours calls. These team members should have access to case criteria, the ability to sign a client on the first call, and follow-up protocols when more information is needed.
We also help firms set up qualifying criteria and scripting for after-hours call centers, so you don’t lose potential clients when your office is closed.
Are You Getting Qualified Leads?
It might be time to take a closer look at your lead quality if:
- You’re seeing a low conversion rate
- Too many leads are poor case fits
- Your Intake team is spending valuable time chasing unqualified prospects
These issues can often be traced back to intake scripting, lead forms, and training. Are you asking the right questions up front? Are your Intake specialists clear on what qualifies as a “Want” for your firm? Do they know how to communicate your value to the caller?
Refining your process can lead to better-fit clients and fewer wasted hours.
How Do You Know If Your Intake Team Is Performing?
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Successful firms monitor:
- Contact rate
- Conversion rate
- Average handling time
- Missed calls
More specifically, focus on the percentage of “Wants” — leads that meet your case criteria. For some lead sources like referrals, this percentage should be high. For paid lead vendors, it may be lower.
Then, evaluate how your team handles those “Wants.” A strong Intake conversion rate for “Wants” is between 93.5% and 97%. If a specialist is converting fewer than 93%, it signals a need for training and coaching. If someone is converting 100%, it could mean the “Want” status is being adjusted after the fact—which skews your true data.
Our team can help ensure your “Want” status remains accurate, so you can trust the metrics that drive staffing, training, and marketing decisions.
Tips to Attract Better Leads
Better intake performance starts with better alignment across your firm.
- Collaborate with your marketing team to ensure messaging and targeting bring in the right cases.
- Use CRM tags and intake software to track where your best (and worst) leads are coming from.
- Monitor cost per lead and cost per case by source. If a source becomes too expensive for the quality it delivers, you can pivot faster.
We help you connect the dots between marketing, intake, and case outcomes to drive smarter decisions.
How Xcelerator Helps
Our consultants start by assessing your current performance—even if you haven’t been tracking the right metrics.
We:
- Review prior-year data and current CRM fields
- Analyze intake recordings and lead quality
- Evaluate your phone system, scripting, and chase protocols
- Speak directly with your team to understand real-world workflows
Then we help you:
- Create dashboards with dynamic KPIs
- Implement hands-on training to elevate team performance
- Build better systems to capture and convert more qualified leads
What Sets Law Firm Xcelerator Apart
When it comes to Intake, we’re not outsiders guessing what works. Every consultant on our team has real personal injury law firm experience.
Led by Micki Love and Chad Dudley, Xcelerator brings nearly 80 years of combined experience optimizing PI firm operations and Intake. We offer:
- Board-certified attorneyswith real case experience
- Specialists who’ve built and scaled intake teams
- Nationwide insightinto what works (and what doesn’t) at top-performing firms
Ask any consulting firm: Do all of your consultants have real PI experience? We do.
Get More Qualified Leads—and Convert Them
The right intake process doesn’t just capture more leads—it turns the right leads into signed clients.
If you want to:
- Increase your percentage of “Wants”
- Boost your conversion rate
- Build a more responsive, effective Intake team
…then it’s time to talk.
