Custom Intake

Crystal Field Updated by Crystal Field

Answering calls is good. Qualifying callers is even better. Doing the admin and intake work, too? That's amazing.

Smith.ai brings unparalleled improvement to your business' workflow by qualifying leads through phone and webchat. Using your criteria, we determine who someone is, how they fit into your business objectives (e.g., new potential clients), and what to do with them, such as book them on your calendar.

However, our services don't stop there. Smith.ai also provides custom intake services, in which we gather additional data for your qualified callers. This can range from simple information to complex, multi-page scripts that could take someone in your own office over a half-hour to complete. Some examples of custom intake we're currently doing include:

  • Estate Planning Questionnaires
  • Real Estate Sale/Purchase Questionnaires
  • Family Law Full Intake (e.g., contested/uncontested, contact information for all parties involved, incomes)
  • Employment Law Full Intake (e.g., salary, on/off the clock, hours worked per week, size of the company)
  • Targeted Email List - Qualified Customer Needs (e.g., what demographic needed, number of leads)

(We can even generate emails to your qualified customers with attachments, your own logo and text, and more, to be sent after the call. This is perfect for when we qualify a customer and do some intake, and you want them to fill out forms and read documents before proceeding.)

Pricing

We estimate the cost of custom intake based on the number of normal calls our receptionists could answer in the same time period. To do this:

  1. You provide us with your intake script or needs
  2. We run a battery of mock calls using your script
  3. We provide you with a per-call price based on our confidence in the call length and effort

To get an estimate on your intake script now, please get in touch.

FAQ

What qualifies as custom intake?

Per our reasonable use policy, Custom Intake is defined as questioning (verbal or data entry), post-qualification, that prepares a qualified client for action or service from the business. Examples of this include family information for wills and trusts, network setup for IT, or project scope for marketing. Working with external ticketing systems (e.g., filing a ticket in ZenDesk) constitutes Custom Intake.

Smith.ai distinguishes these calls from typical calls as the lead is already qualified, and at this point, our team is doing virtual assistant work on behalf of the business. As we mentioned before, each business is unique. Therefore, we reserve the right to redefine what constitutes Custom Intake at any time, which is often influenced by total call time.

How did you come up with my call cost estimate?

Based on our call handling experience of hundreds of thousands of calls, we know the length of calls and the pace of conversation. We use your script and needs to create an intake process, then test that process internally to establish an average time for the call. There's no "speeding it up" when it comes to dealing with customers, who are 50% of the call. We then use this estimate to consider how many normal (non-custom intake) calls our receptionists could answer in that same period of time.

Can we shorten my intake to reduce costs?

Sure. Every question you eliminate saves time, and every bit of fluff reduced (e.g., eliminating specific phrases or disclaimers you want us to say) saves time. However, we do understand that the information is quite important to your business. If you're already working with us, it's because you value efficiency and delegation. So, candidly, we'll help cut down the fluff, but we don't recommend cutting down the important stuff. We have our basic intake option, or the extended intake depending on your needs. You can find more information at Using Intake Forms with Your Smith.ai Service.

How does this compare to an in-house (or hourly virtual assistant) doing it?

In-house, you would need to staff an employee for an entire day. You're unable to predict when calls will come in. Even assuming a scenario in which you're paying an employee only $100 per day, you're still paying them whether or not they're answering calls. With us, you're paying specifically for those calls and only spending $20 per day. Our service is also month-to-month, there are no contracts and you can cancel your service at any time if you do feel we're not the right for you.

What is third-party intake?

A third-party intake is the process of onboarding new clients and acquiring any necessary information through an external form. They can be up to one minute of additional questions per the Reasonable Use Policy.

Questions? Contact us!

If you're already a Smith.ai client and need help, please email us at support@smith.ai or call us at (650) 727-6484 for assistance.

If you're not yet a Smith.ai client, please schedule a free consultation to get started with our virtual receptionist services or email us at sales@smith.ai. We'll help you select the best plan to match your business’s growth goals and budget.

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