Law is no doubt one of the most crucial professions in the world. Clients often feel the need to get quick and accurate attention from you even when you have court, multiple client meetings, and looming deadlines.
And clients have more ways than ever before to contact you. One of the most common and convenient ways is over the phone. Questions, complaints, concerns, and requests for updates should be handled promptly. Yet with everything on your to-do list, how can you ensure that you don’t end up as one of the thousands of lawyers who have a bar complaint filed against them for lack of communication?
If you were to spend every moment of your work day answering calls, your billable time would decrease. You may not be able to meet deadlines set by the court. If you’re wondering whether there is a better solution, we’ve got good news for you: there is! A lawyer answering service is a convenient solution to help ensure your clients and potential clients are properly cared for over the phone while you spend your time engaging in the practice of law.
Here are five benefits lawyers commonly experience when they choose a lawyer answering service.
Protect Your Billable Time as a Lawyer
As the old saying goes, time is money. In fact, it is also said that time is life. As a lawyer, your time is even more valuable since you may bill by the hour, quarter hour, or tenth of an hour. You may have legal support staff that helps you with client work. Their time is precious, too. And you have to spend some of your time overseeing their work as non-lawyers. After all, supervision is everything when it comes to getting help. You do not really have the luxury to spend all your time answering and returning phone calls. By outsourcing calls to a professional lawyer answering service, you have more time to devote to billable tasks since they become the first point of contact for current and new clients.
Helps Your Build and Maintain the Attorney-Client Relationship
Phone calls and contact forms are the most commonly used first contact methods by potential clients. As you know, it is crucial to build and maintain a positive and professional attorney-client relationship. That can be hard to do if emails and phone calls go unanswered or overlooked. When you decide to answer all the calls coming into your law office on your own, you create the possibility that existing or potential clients won’t get your undivided attention. The general public has more choice than ever when it comes to locating a lawyer who is responsive to their needs. If someone gets bad service, even if it was just for an informational call, it doesn’t take long for that news to spread. With a lawyer answering service, calls are promptly and consistently answered. This helps establish and maintain a positive and professional attorney-client relationship.
Helps Determine Whether a Call Is Truly an Emergency
Clients and potential clients are in a hard spot. Many are unexperienced with the law. What is a routine legal matter for you may feel like the end of the world for them. You can have a lawyer answering service screen calls regarding certain matters or questions that you would deem necessary for an immediate call back. They can forward those messages directly to you so that you can take action as soon as possible. You can also, where appropriate, have those calls routed to your legal assistant (or have the service forward an immediate message) so that the caller can get an immediate response.
Calls Are Properly Documented
In the legal profession, documentation is another fact of life. Having an accurate call log can help you protect yourself and your office from allegations made to the bar about lack of communication. When calls are properly documented, you and your team are able to review who called, when they called, from what number they called, and why they called. A lawyer answering service is equipped with the latest technology that allows calls to be quickly and easily documented. By hiring one, you can rest assured that you’ve chosen someone to handle your calls who understands the important of proper documentation.
May Help Improve Your Profit!
Profit is definitely the soul of every business. As mentioned earlier, nothing turns away potential clients like feeling ignored. Even current clients may decide that they want to fire you and take their business elsewhere. Even though you might not have the intention of ignoring your callers, you simply cannot answer every call while keeping your focus on actually solving the legal problems of your clients.
When the potential clients and current clients feel ignored, you lose money! It’s very possible that some of these clients would have brought thousands of dollars into your law office if their calls hadn’t gone unanswered or ignored. When you choose a lawyer answering service to take the incoming calls, you could potentially bring in more money. Happy clients tell others. Prospective clients who are a good fit choose to hire you.
Ready to Hire a Lawyer Answering Service for Your Law Office?
While the five benefits above are great, they’re not the only ones associated with hiring a lawyer answering service. And, there’s no better time to hire than now. To learn more about how a professional answering service can benefit your law office, regardless of its size, schedule a free consultation with Clients ARM. There’s absolutely no obligation. Learn how we combine 30 years of professional legal experience, old fashioned customer service principles, and the latest technology to benefit lawyers.
