You don’t need more leads. You need to stop losing the ones you’ve already paid for.
Five intake mistakes that cost your firm signed cases every single day, and the exact fix for each one.
Most law firm owners think the answer is more leads. It usually isn’t. Every mistake in this playbook quietly burns leads you already paid to generate, and you’ll never see it in a report. Fixing intake is the highest-ROI move in your firm because it drops your cost per client and makes every dollar of ad spend go further. Fix one of these and you’ll sign more clients. Fix all five and you’ll change the shape of your firm.
The five intake mistakes, and what each one costs you
What you get in the playbook
Seven pages, built to be used the same day you read them. Scripts you can hand to your intake team, and a checklist you can work straight through.
- All 5 mistakes broken down — what each one costs you, and the fix, one section each
- The pre-frame script — the 15 seconds that turn an uncertain caller into a confident one
- The ‘By the Way’ follow-up text — word for word, sent 2 days after the consult
- The after-hours math — what an answering service costs, and what you recover
- Your intake funnel worksheet — 9 stages, your numbers, your targets
- The 5-fix implementation checklist — every box, in priority order
Here’s what one fix actually looks like
Every caller is uncertain. They don’t know if they called the right firm, or if you can help, or if they just made a good decision. Your intake staff has about ten seconds to settle that. Most firms skip it and go straight to name, phone, email.
“Law Firm, how can I help you?”
“Okay, what’s your name? What’s your phone number? What’s your email address?”
Prospect hangs up still unsure whether they called the right place.
“Law Firm, how can I help you?”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but you made a fantastic choice calling us. We handle this type of case every day, and in my opinion this is one of the best firms in the state for exactly this situation.”
Then collect name, phone, email.
What you do with it once it lands
The playbook closes with a 5-fix checklist. Here’s how it opens.
Fix the phone
Get a real person answering 24/7, then set your Google Business Profile to Open 24 Hours. Google quietly drops your ranking as your closing time approaches.
Write the pre-frame
Draft one for each major practice area, then role-play it in your next team meeting until it sounds natural instead of scripted.
Text your last 30 days
Pull every consult that didn’t sign, then send each one a genuinely useful note about their case. No ask. The conversation restarts itself.
Scale your law firm across leads, intake, operations, and finance.
We walk through this exact playbook one-on-one with coaching clients inside SMB Team, including pre-frame scripts written for your practice area and a funnel review with your real numbers.
Talk To Our TeamYou already paid for these leads.
Stop losing them.
Enter your details and the playbook lands in your inbox. Bring the checklist to your next intake meeting.
Get the 5 intake mistakes playbook
Written for law firm owners and the intake teams answering the phone. Scripts, a funnel worksheet, and a checklist you can work through this week.
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