Working Leads – Intake
Welcome Aboard – Basic Training –
Part 1 Working Leads – Part 2 Reviewing Active Leads –
Post Consult Reports –
Working Leads
Ok let’s get started by talking about how we get leads or inquiries in the first place. We are essentially an internet law firm. Starting in 2003 we built a website that today has nearly one thousand pages. Many of these pages have been optimized so that when people search for US Immigration services in many cases our law firm appears, sometimes in the top ten.
When you think about the many thousands of US Immigration law firms there are out there its quite an accomplishment to get any search results where we rank in the top ten. We have a Search Engine Optimization expert retained to work hard to keep the search terms we have in the top ten but to also work hard so that more search terms are make it into the top ten too.
Given how much we’ve invested in our website with all of the exceptional content we’ve created and what is spent on building it and then marketing it, each lead or inquiry we get should be regarded as being quite precious and should never be taken for granted or wasted even if we ultimately cannot help that person realize their American Dream.
The Consultation Form
On each page of our website we have a Free Consultation Form as illustrated below. On a mobile device the form appears at the bottom of each page or if you turn your device to for horizontal viewing the page form is on the right. So when every a visitor is ready to complete the Consultation form it is right there for them to complete.
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What a Lead Looks Like
When the prospect completes the form it comes to us looking like this: –
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As can be seen, we get the name and email address, which are required fields and we often, but not always get a phone number. We ask for their citizenship because not all countries have a treaty relationship with the US that enables them to take advantage of the visas available. We also ask for an indication as to when they might be interested in relocating. Finally we give them an opportunity to outline their immigration interest and submit a resume if they wish. So as you can see when we get a lead, if its completed well we should have a lot go on.
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Lead Distribution
A lead comes in one of two ways; by direction submission through the website or if a prospect decides to just call in, the receptionist will take their information over the phone and then input into the form on the website and at the start of the “Please outline how we may help you box type in [Call In:] so we know that this lead was via someone calling into the office.
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Once the Consultation Form is completed the lead will automatically go by email to the Practice Manager Shirin who will forward the lead to the appropriate Intake Specialist by email. The Practice Manager will also forward the lead to the administrative department to open up an IPC file so you can enter your activity there.
How We Grade Each Lead
We get leads literally from all over the world. We get leads from Millionaires to very poor people and everyone in between. Sometimes it’s not clear when we first get the lead where the lead fits on the spectrum. So we have to grade the lead into three categories: –
Grade A Lead – These are leads where in the outline section they have clearly indicated what visa they want often by visa type.
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Ok – so lets take a look at the above lead. In this lead the prospect tells us about his family, says he currently has his own business and would like to set up the business in Texas. So we know this is definitely an E2 Treaty Investor visa providing all of the other qualifying requirements can be met. So we would call this lead a Grade A lead. As an E2 Intake Specialist the Practice Manager will be keen to make sure that the only leads you get forwarded are Grade A leads.
Please note that just you get a Grade A lead it does not mean that its a strong lead in that this person will definitely hire us to do secure his visa neither it does not mean that the person is ready to retain us right now. a Grade A lead simple means that just from the lead itself we can identify what type of visa they will most likely go for.
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The above is another Grade A E2 lead. In this case I’ve revealed pretty much the whole lead so you can see what it will look like when you get it. So in this case we now know Iqbal Khan is from Pakistan and he wants to move asap. In this case Mr. Khan has clearly indicated that his wanted an E2 visa to open a Beaty Parlor. Mr Khan has not said precisely where in the US he’d like to open his business but it’s great that he knows what type of business he is looking for.
Mr. Khan has also said that he is keen for Mrs. Khan to get her (EA) Employment Authorization card or Work Permit. As you can see this is an excellent lead.
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Grade B Lead – These are the ambiguous leads. One thing to bear in mind is that for many of our prospects English is not their first language and whilst they may be highly educated or wealthy due to their poor command of English they may not complete this form well and the English may be all over the place. Imagine if you had to complete a form in a foreign language. So here is what a Grade B lead looks like although Practice Manager will do her best to only give your Grade A leads.
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Ok with the above lead we have Mr. Watts’ name, email and phone number and an indication that he wants to relocate by the end of the year, which may mean we need to begin putting something in place so that we’re able to get Mr. Watts here for Christmas. However, we do not know what visa at all he might be suited to. This having been said a quick phone call could resolve that mystery either way. Remember, Mr. Watt’s could have any number of potentially viable options open to him, so it’s still a good lead – potentially, thus a Grade B.
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Grade C Lead – A Grade C lead would be any lead where its very clear from the information given that we cannot help them. For example, we do not do Asylum or refugee cases. We do not handle cases where the person has previously been deported within the last 10 years, we do not handle cases where it is patently obviously that the person is very poor e.g., “Please Sir, I’m a maid in India and would like to work in someone’s home in the US.” The Practice Manager will seek to steer the leads away from you as with Grade B leads, but if you happen to get one then refer it back to the Practice Manager for reassignment. We do not want to ignore any lead but we do need to tell them we cannot help them as their case may be or refer them to another lawyer
So the above example is a great example of a Grade C lead. The key here is that he recently got deported – two months ago. Any case of recent deportation is case we would refer to another lawyer.
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In this case above Ms. Murahwa has fallen out of status because she did not get her OPT. OPT stands for Optional Practical Training and is a one year work permit given to graduates so they can spend a year working in the US to gain some experience in the US having graduated from a US college. In this case she did not get her OPT and thus fell out of status. Once out of status the only way to cure it is by marriage to a US Citizen or to leave the country asap before six months of overstay has elapsed. This would be a Grade C lead because until she can marry a US citizen and there is no indication that she has a US fiancé in mind there are no visas she can select.
Conclusion
In the vast majority of cases you will only be given Grade A leads. The Grade B and C leads will be passed to other Intake Specialists to make sense of.
In the next tutorial we’ll get further into working leads.
Welcome Aboard – Basic Training –
Part 1 Working Leads – Part 2 Reviewing Active Leads –
Post Consult Reports –
Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ
Admitted in New York