Law firms have to convince potential clients that they will be the best fit to provide them a service, which is a sales process. So, in this Expert Insight Interview, Allison Williams discusses efficient intake for law firms, aka phone sales. Allison Williams is a Law Firm Mentor, which is a business coach for solo and small law firm owners to grow their revenues.
The interview discusses:
- How to remove the sales stigma from the communication
- Traits and characteristics of fine intake professional
The Sales Stigma
A common misconception with professional services firms is that they are not “in business.” However, not understanding that they still have to sell their services to the potential clients and not ensuring that every person is in a sales pipeline is a loss of business opportunity. The intake person in the law firm has the first contact with the prospective client, and that contact usually determines whether the prospect chooses the firm. That is why it is of utmost importance to remove the sales stigma from that conversation. The main concern is how to convince that person to schedule a meeting and pay for it. And the key is not to focus on the convincing part but the actual person. By gathering the information about people, you will connect and learn their point of urgency, direct them towards coming to the office and lastly, try to sell them the solution they need. The goal is to get a prospective client emotionally connected with the idea of coming to the office. By asking clients to identify the significance of the problem and reassuring them that coming to the office was the right decision, you help clients to overcome their internal objections.
Piece of PIE
Calling a law firm is a very emotional and stressful process for potential clients, so showing empathy, compassion, and kindness plays a significant role in proving to clients that you care to help them. An intake professional must be a piece of PIE where P stands for personable, I for inquisitive, and E for the employee. Personable is someone who is conversational, naturally empathetic, and trustworthy. Inquisitiveness means being able to learn how clients’ problems affect their circumstances. Some people share more information, while some are more reserved, and you need to extract valuable information from both types of people. Allowing people to talk, listening to them, and doing the pregnant pause enables you to control the tone of the communication and to find out what matters to them to be able to reach the sale point. And as in the last part of the PIE, an employee needs to possess the right, serving-oriented mindset while working.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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