Stop throwing away marketing dollars. If your PI firm is spending on ads but tracking leads in Excel, this episode is your wake-up call. Legal intake expert Yani Smith reveals why most firms are leaking cases – and exactly how to fix it.

Dominate your market today. Grab a copy of Chris’ latest book, Personal Injury Lawyer Marketing: From Good to GOAT. 

Your marketing budget means nothing if your intake system is broken. In this episode od Personal Injury Mastermind, Yani Smith exposes why PI firms spending millions on advertising are still losing cases to competitors. Learn the exact systems, tech stack, and team structure needed to transform your intake from a cost center into a profit machine. From scaling your team to managing referral partners, this is the playbook most firms wish they had years ago.

We discuss:

• Building the right intake team structure (from 20 to 200+ cases)
• Essential KPIs for measuring intake performance
• Modern tech stack requirements for PI firms
• Quality control systems that work for both in-house and remote teams
• Referral partner management and tracking
• Data-driven strategies for improving conversion rates

Guest Details

Yani Smith is the Founder & CEO of Legal Intake Pros, launched in 2023. Previously, she spent a decade optimizing intake systems for PI firms, including her role at Steinberg Law Firm where she tripled the intake department size. Her expertise in conversion optimization and business intelligence has led to the implementation of cutting-edge intake management software, refined training protocols, and robust quality control systems. At Legal Marketing Company, her clients typically see a 2.5X increase in cases within their first year.

• Yani Smith: LinkedIn
• Legal Intake Pros: Website, Instagram

Chris Dreyer and Rankings Details

Chris Dreyer is the CEO and founder of Rankings.io, the elite legal digital marketing agency. 

• Rankings: Website, Instagram, Twitter
• Chris Dreyer: Website, Instagram
• Newsletters: The Dreyer Sheet 
• Books: Personal Injury Lawyer Marketing: From Good to GOAT; Niching Up: The Narrower the Market, the Bigger the Prize
• Work with Rankings: Connect

Time Stamps

00:00 Intro

01:12 Meet Yani Smith - Intake Team Best Practices

01:34 The Marketing Money Pit, Why Firms Struggle with Intake

04:56 Quality Control Essentials: In-House vs. Outsourced Intake

10:00 Data Transformation: How to Triple Your Intake Department

12:30 Tracking What Matters: Essential KPIs for Intake Teams

16:29 Team Structure Guide: From 20 to 200+ Cases per Month

20:28 Modern Tech Stack

23:15 Lead Docket Deep Dive - Optimizing Your CRM

27:34 Managing Referrals: Live Transfers vs. Automated Systems

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