Building a Better Client Intake Process for Your SSDI Law Firm

When people who have had their Social Security or disability claims denied and come to your SSDI law firm as potential new clients, they have complex concerns and costly problems. The client intake process is your firm’s first opportunity to assure the client that your firm will handle their case well. Yet disorganization can make that difficult, making more work for your staff, delaying results for your clients, and hurting their confidence in your firm. These problems, in turn, can limit the number of clients your firm can serve. 

Building a better client intake process will create a better first impression with potential new clients, establish reasonable expectations for both of you and give your staff the best opportunity to exceed expectations. As you work toward this goal, these are three specific areas to focus on improvement. 

Lack of Organization 

Practicing law involves pages and pages of documents, most of which you need your clients to sign. Managing these documents and signatures can quickly become overwhelming if your firm struggles with organization. If your legal aides must spend 10 minutes finding a necessary document before you can help a client, you waste your client’s money and your staff’s time. This lack of organization creates issues after you sign a client as well. In SSDI cases, delays in filing appeals and applications can cause the entire case to crumble, and you need a proven way to gather and organize the data you need to move your clients’ cases forward. 

Automate Document Collection Through Your CRM and eSign Software 

Moving away from paper documents is a starting point for fixing this problem. Sending and signing documents digitally prevents paperwork piles that can create delays in a busy law firm, but this solution requires careful planning. Simply going digital does not eliminate the need for organization. The organization just changes. You need the right tools to ensure that the intake documents are, in fact, getting sent and signed, and then a way to organize those documents once you have the signatures. 

To address this concern, look for a CRM platform that will automate document collection and data entry tasks. Using eSign software, the right platform will automatically send documents to your clients as they move the intake process and, later, their case, collect those signatures and store the signed documents in an organized way connected to that client’s account. When you need a particular document to send to the Social Security Administration or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding your client’s case, you can quickly find and send that document without wasting time. 

Repetitive Emails 

People tend to ignore email communication they feel is too repetitive, and this is true for SSDI law firm clients, too. Even if a client needs your services, repetitive emails feel like spam and may drive them away. If you send repetitive emails because you forget if you sent an email or not, it hurts your professionalism and increases the chances that your client will ignore your emails and choose a different firm. 

Use Automated Email Campaigns to Limit Repetition 

To move clients from initial contact into contracted clients, you will need to send them some emails. Automated email campaigns from a CRM program that funnel clients naturally through the decision-making process will limit repetition and increase the number of clients you can sign. 

Once the client comes on board, your email campaigns continue. When your staff takes in a new SSDI client and asks the initial case evaluation questions, they enter that client into the next stage in your CRM program. The system then sets up an automated email to move clients through the next steps of their type of claim. Each email is new to the client, relevant to the status of their case, and effective at generating the next required action. 

Repetitive Office Tasks 

In the office, a poor client intake process can lead to repetitive tasks for your team members. Your staff may need to retrace their steps, double and triple-check that forms are signed and filed on time, and send the same emails repeatedly to each new client. They may also face repeated data entry tasks, which can increase the chances for mistakes. This repetition increases your billable time, which can drive up costs for your clients who are already struggling after their claims have been denied. Repetitive tasks can also frustrate your staff. 

Create Workflow Automations to Free Staff from Repetitive Tasks 

Setting up workflow automations will prevent this type of repetition in your office. Automation starts with standardizing your client intake policies and procedures. Every staff member should know where to find and how to use your client intake forms, and which questions are the most essential. 

Streamlining and standardization of the client intake process is the first step, but once you have a new client signed with your firm, you must integrate them into their case using a customer management program to avoid repetition. 

For example, with the CRM tailored to your type of firm, you can eliminate the need to repeat data entry tasks. Once the data is entered into the system and assigned to that client’s case, it never has to be re-entered. In addition to eliminating repetition, having a system like this in place lessens the risk that you will make a costly mistake. 

In addition, create a system that assigns a stage to each client and then creates an automated workflow for each stage. These may be “needs follow-up” or “signature pending on appeal form,” depending on the stage the client is in. Using the CRM, your staff can see at a glance where a client is and what stage they need to move to next, limiting time wasted looking back through a client’s file to determine where they are in the process. 

Customize Your Client Intake Process to Your Firm 

As you work to build a better client intake process and search for a CRM to help, make sure you can customize the intake process to your firm’s workflow. From the intake form itself to the emails, texts, and phone calling campaigns, make sure each option is customizable to fit exactly what you need. 

Create Automation and Improve Client Intake with Law Ruler 

The key to eliminating these challenges is the right CRM software. With automated data entry, emails, and intake processes, a CRM platform can eliminate time waste, streamline the onboarding process, and increase satisfaction for both clients and staff. Quality intake makes your job easier and gives your clients a better experience with your firm. Law Ruler is a CRM system that helps not only with managing your customers but also with keeping your law firm organized and efficient. With automated emails, texts, and voice calling campaigns, a customizable client intake form builder, a comprehensive intake dashboard, and multiple automated workflows, Law Ruler will streamline the intake process and eliminate repetition for your firm. Reach out today to schedule a demo to see this CRM system for yourself.