The number of calls a typical attorney gets every day can be staggering. It doesn’t matter what industry you service either. Everyone needs a lawyer at some point. In most situations, when a person finds themselves in need, they usually need to speak to someone yesterday, right?
Then, once you’ve signed on to help a client, the calls you have to answer just to deal with that single client’s issues can easily triple. There is the other party’s lawyers to deal with, witnesses to talk to, court administration, and judge’s office that need your attention.
There’s no denying that any law firm worth the fees they charge needs someone to answer their phones in a professional and courteous manner, solve the caller’s issue, and do so at all hours of the day and night if possible.
Here’s 5 undeniable reasons you need to hire a phone answering service to field your law firm’s most important calls:
1. Every call that gets ignored is most likely lost revenue
Consider these scenarios:
- A potential client finds themselves stuck in jail at 1am in the morning and they find your number in the phone book. They want out of jail ASAP, but you won’t answer your phone until you get up a few hours from now.
- What if you’re working pro bono on an accident case and a witness, the lynchpin to winning the lawsuit, calls one time while you’re in court and because you missed the call, you never hear from them again?
If you have a phone answering service that takes calls, you can arrange to have call, text, or email alerts sent out to you for just such emergencies.
2. Clients need answers now, not tomorrow
Offering a live person on the other end of the line 24/7 is an invaluable advertisement for any law firm. Just being able to call and set up an appointment to speak with you or your attorneys while you’re off-the-clock can help calm an over-excited client down.
Knowing they can call and get answers any time they need is how to gain loyal customers in the legal business. That is, provided you and your partners provide the best service a client’s money can buy!
3. Language shouldn’t be a barrier to helping your clients
Seasoned law firms understand that there are many clients living in their cities and towns who don’t speak the country’s official language. Interpreters are easy to find for many languages; but if a Spanish-speaking client calls your English speaking secretary, it’s not very likely they’re going to have an interpreter communicating for them.
By hiring a multilingual phone answering service that can at least speak the most common languages found in your locale, your firm will be able to scoop up a lot of low hanging fruit it wouldn’t otherwise be equipped to reach out to. In many areas, especially big cities throughout North America, Europe and the UK, this equals potentially massive revenue increases for your firm.
4. Saving time is critical to the firm’s attorneys
Time spent answering calls – time spent dealing with clients who don’t have pressing issues that need to be dealt with right away – time spent on anything is a real pain in any attorney’s backside! By having your calls answered by a professional service, who understands the law in general and industry you service, you’ll be spending more time on the things that matter most to each billable hour of your day.
Let someone else take your call and alert you when something comes up that needs your immediate and undivided attention.
5. A phone answering service eliminates unnecessary salaries
Last, you’ll save money by not having to hire staff to answer your phone off-hours, or perhaps eliminate the need to have a physical staffer on the payroll at all.
If you can find a service provider that’s able to accommodate your hours of operation and also answer calls during off-hours, many firms and independents find they don’t need to hire an office employee at all to deal with their calls.
Conclusion
As you likely already know, there’s nothing typical about any day spent servicing clients and dealing with the courts. Having the right legal phone answering service standing by your side is the key to managing all the unknowns that come up, and maximizing your overall value to clients.
