When hiring an intake specialist for your law firm, what are some of the traits you are looking for?

Maybe you are looking for someone with exceptional communication skills since they will be on the phone most of the time. Perhaps you are looking for someone who has some database entry on their resume and understands how precision is critical. But have you ever thought of hiring someone who is empathetic? At Alert we strive for our intake specialists to be as empathetic as possible because when they receive a phone call, it’s most likely someone who is seeking an Attorney because they are not under the best of circumstances.

Empathetic intake specialists are who your law firm needs to be hiring, along with other specialties, since empathy is the hardest trait to find. There are a few ways you can test empathy before even hiring potential candidates. Take it from us, we’ve hired hundreds of empathetic intake specialists over the years.

Practice an Improv Exercise

One way to test for empathy is to give the candidates an improv exercise to see how they handle situations on the fly and see what type of empathetic traits they show during the process. Have a variety of scenarios prepared and give them a couple tries. After the first try, if there are a few things you think could be improved, let them know and then set them up with a different scenario and see if they picked anything up from what you just taught them.

Here are a couple of scenarios you can try.

Agent – “Thank you for calling XYZ Law Firm, how may I help you?”
Caller – “Oh finally! Every time I call you guys the line is busy!”

Agent – “Hello and thank you for calling the Law Offices of ABC & ZXY. How may I help you?”
Caller – “My mother just died from ovarian cancer and I want to know if I can file a lawsuit against the drug company. Can you help?”

Use these to try and have a back and forth conversation and just see how the candidate fares. This will tell you a lot about them and if they are a right fit for your law firm.

Articulation/Tone Exercises

Testing to see if a potential employee is empathetic is not as easy as it initially seems. Another test to try is an articulation/tone exercise. What this means is, giving the candidate a script and just seeing how they react to certain situations. Do they have a calming voice when reading the script? Or are they just getting irritated with the potential client?

Here is a scenario for you to try.

Agent – “Thank you for calling XYZ Law Firm. How may I help you?”
Caller – “Hi, I was just in a terrible car accident that was not my fault and I want to know if this firm can help me?”
Agent – “I am so sorry to hear that you were in an accident. I’ll need to gather some information to see if we can help. May I get your name please?”
Caller – “Can’t you just connect me to the attorney?”
Agent – “I’d love to connect you with the appropriate person but will need a little information to make that determination. I promise it won’t take long. May I start with your name please?”

Try this scenario and see if the candidate is giving off a calming presence or upsetting the potential client further.

Talking to HR for more Clarity when Hiring

“Finding a candidate with empathy is not an easy task. But this is what I do at Alert Communications, find the best person for the job,” says Angel E., Human Resources Manager.

Angel has worked at Alert for two years and has hired hundreds of employees who have empathetic leanings.

“Whether it’s seeing the potential in the candidate or just seeing the candidate exude empathy, I use the techniques we are mentioning in this blog and they really work.”

Not only do you get a sense if the candidate is right for the position, but you also give them an understanding of what the job will be entailing. It’s not a job for the faint of heart.

Alert Communications is a Great Option

If this all sounds like a lot of work, an easier (and the best) route is to hire Alert Communications to become your intake specialist. We have already vetted hundreds of candidates to take phone calls who have all the skills you are already looking for. Don’t waste your own time and give us a call at 844-694-6825 or visit us at https://www.alertcommunications.com/contact-us/. We can’t wait to hear from you!