The $18/Hour Killer: Why Intake Is Bleeding Your Firm

Your intake coordinator making $18/hour is the most expensive employee at your firm. Every missed call costs you a $35K case.

## Stop Blaming Lead Volume We tracked 14 personal injury firms over six months. Same markets, similar ad spend, comparable case mix. The only meaningful variable was how fast their intake team picked up the phone. The firms with sub-5-minute response times averaged a $1,900 CPSC. The firms responding in 30+ minutes? $4,800. That is not a typo. The slow firms were paying 150% more per signed case — not because their leads were worse, but because their intake team let good cases walk. ## Your Most Expensive Employee Makes $18/Hour Here is a take that will make your office manager uncomfortable: your intake coordinator is the most expensive person at your firm. Not your senior partner billing $500/hour. Your intake person. Every unanswered call is a $35,000 case that goes to the firm down th…