Mental Health Considerations for Intake Specialists

This post was provided by Chris Mullins, The Phone Sales Doctor for Intake Specialists Worldwide. Contact Chris at phonesuccessdoctor@gmail.com or 603-249-5878. Chris would also love to review some of your real call recordings.

At my company, we listen to lots of prospect call recordings, and I hear firsthand what your team is dealing with every day.

Here’s a brief example of what was said on a real prospect call to an Intake Specialist:

“I was looking for online options, it’s going to make me emotional talking (caller is crying) about this. When I was around 20 years old I was diagnosed with depression. Someone diagnosed me with bipolar. It’s been like this all over the place. I’ve tried and tried to get help (but) it’s been impossible (still crying).

“I was in an abusive relationship 6 years ago. I have anxiety and PTSD. Some of my family has schizophrenia. I cannot often cope with life the way that most people can.

“I’ve tried counseling. I was told my issue was my relationship. I’ve been constantly shuffled around by doctors. I have an appointment next week with a new counselor. Then, Covid hit and I can’t go back to work, so I got even more depressed.

I’m having so much anxiety. I would never resort to suicide, I just wouldn’t. I have a daughter I have a family, but I have those thoughts because I’m overwhelmed with life. I know I’m different than other people. I have a fear of participating in life the way others do and I don’t feel like I can do it.”

These types of calls happen every day in all practice areas. Your Intake Specialist can easily take on the trauma of the callers. Did you know this? Do you have a process in place to take care of your Intake Specialists?

For example, you could execute what I call Venting Moments (VM). This will help support your Intake Specialists and at the same time help you build a stronger team. This helps retain your team longer and help with their own mental and emotional health.

Unconditional venting moments at any time allow the Intake Specialist to talk about the call they had. Some firms have a “safe word” like “apple” that the Intake Specialist can send (raising their hand) to the
appropriate person that will reach out to them quickly and allow them to talk to vent about the type of call they just had. Everyone needs a way to raise their hand to get help unconditionally to be able to take a break.

Healthcare costs to businesses skyrocket when employees don’t feel well. Some businesses give their employees a comfortable, safe place to work and offer some type of exercise or other fun perks. But what are we doing about emotional and mental health? Especially when you think of the types of phone calls, prospects, and clients your Intake Specialists, Attorneys, and Legal Assistants deal with every single day.

We’re working our employees to the burnout point. We expect them to produce, produce, produce. That does not promote mental and emotional well-being. That is not how to grow your business and it’s not how you will keep insurance costs down, as well as the huge cost of constantly hiring new people.

Give your Intake Specialists a place and freedom to vent. They often deal with the heaviest emotions of a case, and you as a firm owner should be doing everything you can to keep them mentally healthy.

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