Welcome to Episode 21 of The Legal Intake Experts podcast! For more than a decade, Answering Legal has helped growing law firms ensure they never miss a chance to connect with new leads. Now, we’re pulling back the curtain to share our best strategies for strengthening your intake process and turning more callers into clients.

In this one, things really go off the rails, as host Nick Werker has taken over full control of the show. With producer Joe metaphorically duct taped to his chair and co-host Tony Prieto also held hostage, Nick spends the episode confessing some of Answering Legal's past failures.

Nick first takes us inside a pair of call-forwarding mishaps that could have been avoided through better education and communication from his team. Our experts then turn their attention to mistakes involving law firms’ online listings and discuss nightmare scenarios like Google marking your practice as closed, competitors suggesting damaging edits to your profile or your firm’s location coming up as a Chipotle. This episode features one mistake after another, with plenty of valuable lessons about what not to do at your practice.

Chapters:
1:01 Nick Usurps the Episode (and Takes Producer Joe Hostage)
2:14 New Segment: Mistakes
5:53 Mistake #1: Call Forwarding and the Missed LSA Calls
8:08 Why Separate Tracking Lines Are Worth Setting Up
10:26 Should You Forward Your Cell Phone, Too?
13:40 Mistake #2: A Bad Review, a New Phone Provider, and a Surprise IVR
16:51 Taking Ownership Instead of Blaming the Client
19:14 Mistake #3: Where Law Firm Marketing and Intake Overlap
21:57 Google “Suggest an Edit” and the Lawyer Whose Office Was a Chipotle
24:29 Intake Lessons That Apply to Any Business
25:41 Freeing Producer Joe / Outro

Topics Covered:
-Setting up separate lines for LSAs, Google Ads, Spanish-language billboards, and other sources so messages arrive pre-labeled
-Conditional call forwarding on a personal cell phone (and why your clients will love it)
-Taking ownership of a bad review instead of pushing blame onto the client
-Auditing your local presence, listings, and tracking numbers

People & Resources Mentioned:
-Gyi Tsakalakis and Conrad Saam — Lunch Hour Legal Marketing
-Near Media
-Christopher Earley — Earley Law Group
-Delisi Friday — First Call Friday
-Darren Shaw — Whitespark
-Michael Cooney — WhatConverts
-CallRail
-Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) and Google Business Profiles

The Legal Intake Experts is a part of the Answering Legal Podcast Network. Learn more about the show here: https://tinyurl.com/yk9x2p58

Want to connect with our experts?
Reach out to Nick Werker via email at nick@answeringlegal.com
Reach out to Tony Prieto via email at tprieto@answeringlegal.com

Interested in learning more about Answering Legal? Book an appointment to speak with us here: https://tinyurl.com/watz5s8h

You can also give us a call at 631-502-5070.

This podcast is produced and edited by Joe Galotti. You can reach Joe via email at joe@answeringlegal.com