Building rapport with potential claimants starts with the first interaction, which means that every spoken and written communication does matter. Once a lead is generated, you need to let the potential claimant know that their case is important to the firm. But, we know it doesn’t end there – in fact, this is where building true rapport with future claimants begins… with the intake team.
The intake team is a Law Firm’s Sales Team, they are the front line of defense. Once a lead enters the Intake Team’s realm, building a relationship is the most important goal. To be successful in building client relationships, building rapport is the #1 skill to possess. At Legal TV Leads, we have an experienced Intake Team that screens calls, so we created a few rapport-building tips from this experienced team to share with you.
Rapport-Building Tip #1: Mirror Your Prospect
Humans in general trust people they like. They usually like people that are similar to themselves. So, it makes sense to facilitate a quick connection — that the intake representative uses a tone that matches the tone coming from the other side of the call. There are many other ways to show a potential claimant that you are a good person, but tone-matching is quick way to get them to like you. Now, this doesn’t mean adopting a southern accent if the caller is from Alabama, but it does mean you can match their speech cadence in order to help them to like you. If they are laid back, then you should be laid back. If they are alert and fast paced, your speech should be the same.
Rapport-Building Tip #2: Demonstrate You Care
“A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside.” – Denis Waitley, Motivational Speaker
Now we know you can’t SMILE over the phone, but you can convey that you want to help, that you understand them, and that you CARE. They know you care once you demonstrate your understanding of their pain paints and believe that you want to help. No matter how much you small talk or tout selling points about your firm, nothing will connect and build rapport more deeply than caring about their pain. It is at that point that you can position your firm as the solution to their pain points.
Rapport-Building Tip #3: Find the Cues
When you are on the phone with potential claimants sometimes it is difficult to know if you are indeed connecting. Are they answering your questions, or can you tell they are half-listening? Are they distracted and multi-tasking? If so switch it up, ask more poignant questions and get them engaged asap. If they aren’t listening to you, then you aren’t building rapport and you are not going to sign this client.
Rapport Building Tip #4: Practice, Share, and Practice More
For the bulk of us, building rapport is a learned skill. Sure, there are those out there that are naturals and connect right away, but fear not – it is a skill that can be learned and honed over time. There are a few ways that practicing within intake teams can be beneficial in rapport-building skills.
For instance, following any calls that were hugely successful, write down what went well, why did you connect? Where did you pivot when needed and how did you navigate that call? Write it down and at your next intake-sales meeting share what went right. On the flip-side do the same and evaluate when calls went wrong. Now if the caller was unloading their dishwasher, with the TV on, dogs barking and children crying in the background there may be only so much that could have been done. But, when you can self-evaluate, share within your team and document then your lessons can be shared with other members of the team.
Now remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are solid rapport-building skills. If you manage an intake team, then remember to mark and review call recordings. Look for the good and the not-so-good calls. These calls can be used in training and role play exercises for new and existing team members. Most of us need to learn this skill so setting yourself and your team up for success is very important.
