Estate Planning Intake

Estate Planning Intake Training

Estate planning callers have usually been meaning to call for years. The risk is not a lost objection, it is a call that ends with "I will think about it" and never comes back.

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What is different about estate planning intake

The method does not change. The five stages, the 14-item scorecard and the boundary are the same. What changes is the wording, the questions to ask and where the pressure shows up.

Two Calls

The same moment, answered two ways

"I just need something simple"

The caller says: "I just need a simple will. How much is that?"

What most desks say

"It depends on your situation. The attorney will tell you."

The caller is sent off with no number and no next step.

What a trained desk says

"Many people start there. Our fees work like this: [the firm's fee structure]. The consultation is where the attorney hears your situation and tells you what you need. What made you decide to call now? ... Would Tuesday or Thursday work, and would your wife like to join?"

The firm's fees are stated, why-now is asked, and the second decision-maker is brought in.

Put it off again

The caller says: "I have been meaning to do this for years. Let me think about it."

What most desks say

"No rush. Call when you are ready."

The caller has put it off for years and is being allowed to put it off again.

What a trained desk says

"That is very common. What is the one thing you would want to be settled before you decide? ... Let me hold Thursday at ten for you until Wednesday noon, and I will call to see where you are."

The delay is acknowledged, the concern asked about, and the follow-up agreed.

Questions that always go to the attorney

These come up on estate planning calls all the time. Intake does not answer them; it hands them off with the fixed line and asks for the next step.

The hand-off wording and the full boundary are on the line between intake and the attorney. Wording on this page is an example only; the firm and the attorney set the final wording against their jurisdiction's rules. Scope, plainly: everything on this site concerns the conversation that turns an inquiry into an engagement. Nothing here is legal advice, nothing touches the legal work or the attorney's judgment, and any wording a firm adopts is reviewed by the firm against its jurisdiction's rules on attorney advertising, solicitation and fee communication before it is used.

About the Author
Dr. Jeffrey Scott Stanton, DCH

Dr. Jeffrey Scott Stanton, DCH is a behavioral strategist and the founder and Chief Learning Officer of R2R Diagnostic Group. He is the former EVP of Learning & Development at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, where he trained sales professionals on the conversations that turn an inquiry into a commitment. He applies the same method, the R2R Assessment and a 14-item call-review scorecard, to law firm intake teams. The work is the conversation only; legal questions and judgment stay with the attorney.

More on the method, the scripts, the dialogues and the scorecard is on the legal intake pages at jeffreyscottstanton.com.

Start With the Calls

Start with the estate planning calls you already have.

Send a handful of recordings or transcripts and get a scored review of where consultations are being lost.

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