Improving Your Call Answering For Your Law Practice
How a business call is answered can make or break your reputation or the first impression that prospects get. As such, it’s important to ensure that your services are being verbally promoted on the phone and that callers feel that they’re getting the best experience. Here are our top 10 tips on how to improve your practice’s call answering:
- Answer quickly
When the phone rings, it should be picked up within 1-3 rings. This shows your potential clients that you’re keen to speak with them and also gives them an idea of how the rest of the service you’ll provide them will be like. Also, be ready and avoid “ahh-ing” and “umming.” Be confident and competent.
- Consider the tone of your voice
Never put your prospects off with a hassled or rushed tone of voice. Remember that people can hear a smile. If you’re busy, stop what you’re doing and give the call your undivided attention. You will get more information and a better outcome.
- Never leave callers hanging on hold
Putting a caller on hold should be your last resort. It makes the caller more unresponsive because they feel unwanted. If you need to inquire about something for them, take their details and ask to call them back.
- Transfer calls adequately
Getting transferred might frustrate some clients because sometimes it looks like employees are just passing the responsibility to someone else. To ensure the process is done right, explain the reason behind the transfer and the person you’re passing on the client to. Then ask for the caller’s permission and ensure the person expected to pick the call is available. If the person your caller is seeking is not available, offer to take a message.
- It’s okay to not know something
Whether your customer representatives are beginners or not, they should not be afraid to say when an issue is out of their control. This does not mean giving a blank “I don’t know” or giving an inefficient response. It makes sense to say that you’ll find out more about something and call them back.
- Be patient
Don’t hurry up to give an answer immediately after the caller finishes the first sentence. Listen actively and only ask questions when the caller has fully described their issues. If you don’t have all the important details, you might not be as helpful to your caller.
- Ensure every caller feels important
Make your callers feel at ease and get into a conversation about their needs. Find out a little about their case and its urgency. This will help the client develop a feeling of trust which in turn increases the chance of them hiring your firm.
- Summarize the call
When the call is approaching a close, recap the main points you’ve discussed. If you’ve scheduled an appointment, just go over the details with them and confirm the agreed time. Let the caller know what will happen next.
- Have a follow-up procedure
Make sure that you place all the details captured on the call in your CRM to help with a follow-up. Also, ensure that you set up a next step task in your CRM. Then keep them in touch with the prospects as appropriate.
- Be Consistent
Make sure that those who handle calls in your firm do it in a similar manner after a certain number of rings. The name of your firm must come through clearly and succinctly. Your staff must always sound warm and friendly.
Looking Into a Legal Call Answering Service? What to Know...
When law firms are busy with work, many turn to call answering services to help them manage phone lines and improve client satisfaction efficiently and cost-effectively. But with the high volume of telephone answering services in the market, how do you pick the right one for your law firm? After all, the virtual receptionists of the answering service you choose will be the first impression that clients get when they call your practice. Making the wrong decision can damage your firm’s customer service reputation and your ability to sign in new clients. Furthermore, privileged communication and sensitive client data could be exposed, subjecting you to lawsuits.
Here’s how you can find the right legal call answering service for your practice.
Industry Experience
You want to partner with an agency that has worked with clients just like you and has a proven track record. At Best Call Center, we offer dedicated services for all legal specialties so were better able to handle a wide range of situations with callers. This also means that you don’t have to babysit our receptionists to bring them up to speed on basic information when handling your calls.
Simple Upfront Pricing
A good and legit call answering service is one that prices and charges their services upfront and comprehensively discusses it with you. There should be no additional charges, contracts, set up fees or anything more than the payment for their services. At The Best Call Center, for example, we have a straightforward and easy-to-understand pricing structure.
Respects Confidentiality
With the confidential and sensitive nature of many potential calls, you need to find out how your potential legal answering service handles such information. Whether you want the agents to strictly take messages, transfer calls, or collect more information from the clients, you need that confidentiality to be respected.
Back-up Technology
Generally, most call centers have good technology to handle any call. What you want to ensure is that they can continue taking your calls when the power goes out or disaster strikes. Inquire about their backup-power solution and their experience with it.
Round-the-Clock Coverage
When potential clients are calling a law firm, it’s common that they’re looking to speak to or hire an attorney relatively quickly. As such, you want an answering service that offers 24/7/365 coverage. You’ll never have to worry about missing a potential client. And if the matter is truly urgent, we’ll patch it to you straight away.
Friendly and Professional Operators
Inquire about the agency’s training program. Find out what their priorities are for their agents - is it to be a friendly and professional extension of your firm or is it to get through calls as quickly as possible? At Best Call Center, we take great pride in our agents. We train them to be friendly, professional, and helpful.
Bilingual Service
With the U.S. being the second-largest Spanish-speaking country, having a bilingual answering service is an enormous asset for every law firm. Be sure to ask them directly and make sure they have enough bilingual agents. At The Best Call Center, all of our virtual receptionists are bilingual speakers, so you’ll never miss that client because of language barrier.
More than Just Call Routing
In addition to responding to your calls promptly, a great answering service should provide a host of other features, such as call screenings, collecting lead information, setting appointments, sending messages, and processing payments. It is a bonus if the answering service has a call recording system in place just in case you need a reference.
Is a 24/7 Legal Answering Service Worth the Investment?
No matter what type of law you practice, growing your law firm is critical. It’s key to surviving and thriving in this competitive field. Adding new clients is no walk in the park because you face intense competition from many firms, including those with more marketing power and resources.
Investing in a 24-hour call answering service can be the best decision you make in 2020. While you may have dismissed the idea of partnering with a call center, this is one investment that will pay for itself repeatedly. Answering service agents at Best Call Center help with tasks like call answering, appointment scheduling, and legal intake. And they offer these amazing benefits while actively saving you money in many different ways. Here’s how outsourcing to the Best Call Center will put money back into your pocket.
- You Get 24/7 Coverage
You never know when a potential client will reach out to your firm, but with our virtual receptionists, you’ll always know there’s someone ready to help capture new leads. You can request that all of the calls from new leads be transferred to your line immediately so you can get the opportunity to talk with the caller in real-time and address their questions and concerns. Even when you can’t answer the phone immediately, our receptionists will take them through a proper legal intake process to keep the odds of winning over a new client high.
- Reduce Training Costs
You don’t need to spend money on recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and paying additional receptionists to handle the bulk of incoming calls. In fact, your customer service department can be downsized as our virtual receptionists handle many basic customer needs, including addressing client emergencies, taking messages, providing help desk support, and booking appointments. And as your business grows, your customer service team will remain the same size while meeting your client’s needs effortlessly.
- No Overtime Pay
Every hour of every day, our answering service will be available to take your calls. This includes late hours, weekends, and holidays. Because we’re independently contracted, you’ll never have to worry about paying time and a half for holiday or overtime to keep someone in the office to answer calls. Best Call Center receptionists take care of that for you, so you only pay for the service itself.
- Bilingual Answering Service
Language barrier can make communication difficult, causing embarrassment, frustration, and money lost from your firm. Bilingual answering service is the way to target a wider market without the added cost of hiring additional staff. Our team of bilingual agents can help improve customer communication, deliver courteous assistance, and convert leads.
- Improve Productivity
Multitasking is good until it starts destroying workflow momentum. Calls are always important, but answering the phone to determine if it’s an important client is nothing more than a distraction when there are other pressing in-house tasks. A virtual receptionist can filter day-to-day calls and get the important ones directly to your office, freeing up employees, and boosting productivity.
- Usage-Based Options
Whatever your firm requires, you can choose from an array of service options that will meet your budget and needs. And since there’s no contract, you can choose to adjust or cancel service at any time. At the Best Call Center, we price our legal answering services by the minute to accommodate businesses of all sizes. So, you choose a plan that’s right for your business and only pay what you use.
How You Can Sign More Clients as a Lawyer
Ever had those moments when you feel like growing your practice is just an impossible mission? The problem may not be that you’re not putting in enough effort; you just might not be working smarter. For your firm to grow, you need to sign and effectively manage more clients. And a smarter way to run your business and bring on a high number of clients is by partnering with a 24/7 legal answering service. When you have live operators handling your calls 24 hours a day and providing exceptional customer service, you will see an increase in leads and clients and higher customer satisfaction.
Here are a few examples of how a quality answering service can help you sign more clients.
- Get All Calls Answered
It’s no secret that lawyers are very busy professionals. Working on cases and constantly being in and out of the office can lead to missed calls and opportunities. Each lost caller could have been your next client, increasing your firm’s profitability. Simply put, your firm’s success and growth can be significantly affected by the ease in which clients can reach you. When a prospective client calls your office but is not able to speak with a live person, it’s more than likely they will call the next name on their list.
With a live answering service, you don’t have to worry about missing calls or revenue. The virtual receptionists at the Best Call center will provide your firm with 24-hour support. Callers will be greeted by a live operator at any time, increasing your chances of securing new clients.
- Bilingual Services for Greater Client Reach
A thorough bilingual answering service opens the door of opportunity to reach an increasingly diverse client base. Being unable to communicate with Spanish-speaking clients can limit business opportunities. Spanish continues to grow in the U.S., with the most recent research showing that there are more than 38 million Spanish-speakers in the country. Ignoring such an expansive population is a bad business strategy.
Using the Best Call Center’s bilingual answering service will provide your firm with the opportunity to meet the needs of clients in their own language, expand your reach, increase revenue, and grow your firm without growing expenses. Bonus: all of our virtual receptionists are bilingual.
- Callers Will Know You Care About Them
Most people calling into a law firm are going through some kind of distressing experience and need immediate assistance. For you to win such clients, you must be readily available when they make that call. Without a live virtual receptionist behind your firm, many of the callers will be redirected to voicemail. And if they can’t talk to a helpful person, callers will feel like their time is being wasted, and chances are, they will not call again or wait for you to call back.
With a legal answering service, you can be sure that your callers receive an instant live response. And even if you won’t be available to talk to the caller, they will not feel that you care and won't even wait to receive a return call from you.
- You Can Outperform Competitors in Your Sleep
Law firms are always on the lookout for any possible edge they can get on the competition. Anything that will make you stand out from the crowd can potentially give your firm a distinct advantage in signing more clients. With a 24/7 answering service, you can realize the ultimate edge you’ve been seeking- you get 16 extra hours of service every day.
If your practice has a live receptionist answering the phone from the hours of 5 p.m. to 9 a.m., and your competitors don’t, there’s a greater chance that your firm will win over new clients during that time. A virtual receptionist from the Best Call Center will be able to answer all calls, take down their personal and case information, and send the caller’s message to you.
Why Is It Important to Answer Your Law Office’s Business Calls 24/7?
When people call a law office, they need help and they need it right away. They don’t check their watches to see if it’s a good time to need your attention. They want help when they want it. And this means that your firm must be ready to answer those incredibly valuable calls around the clock. The last thing callers want to hear is an irritating computer-generated voice reciting a long list of options to choose from. They need to speak to a live person who can quickly address their concerns efficiently and professionally. Competition is fierce when it comes to finding new clients so making sure your phones can be answered 24/7 is key.
Here’s why you need 24-hour lawyer answering service to cover your calls around the clock:
- Avoid Missing Out On Significant Clients
If your law firm handles urgent matters like injuries and arrests, being available 24/7 is not optional. You never know when a phone call will come through. Often, people who find themselves in trouble during overnights and weekends end up hiring the first law firm that provides a live person to speak with them when they call.
A gap in communication can cause you to lose business because callers get frustrated easily if they have to leave a voicemail. However, by using the Best Call Center, you will never have to stress over missing a significant client opportunity. Our team is always available to provide live human voice answering during all hours of the day and night.
- Capture New Leads
Your firm probably doesn’t have enough manpower to sit around 24/7 performing new client intakes on first-time callers to your practice. Fortunately, our virtual receptionists are always on standby to execute the legal intake process on your behalf. All of our virtual receptionists are well versed in performing legal intake because they are extensively trained for it. Once the lead’s personal and case information is recorded, we’ll send it directly to you via email and/or text.
- Increases Customer Satisfaction
Being available for your current and prospective clients at any time of the day or night when they need you most proves to them that you care about them. According to the 2019 Clio Legal Trends Report, firms that focus on client experience are more likely to create a great first impression and deter the prospect from looking any further. The virtual receptionists at Best Call Center can be counted on to provide a positive experience for clients and new leads. Our receptionists are trained to perform new client intakes and turn them into loyal ones.
How to Save 70% on Your Receptionist Payroll
Business owners are generally faced with having to make important financial decisions in order to stay afloat in current economic times. All resources must be allocated logically to remain competitive. You may have taken a few steps to reduce overhead without sacrificing the level of customer services your business provides. But do you know you can save up to 70% on your receptionist’s payroll by hiring a virtual receptionist instead? The Best Call Center offers exceptional virtual receptionists who can provide the same services like your in-house receptionist for a small fraction of the cost.
Here’s how this important business decision can help you curb costs:
Eliminate the Cost of Employee Training
While the idea of hiring an in-house employee to help with client services appears to be advantageous, it may not be the best decision. Training new staff members require considerable time and attention, not forgetting the cost associated with the task. What’s more, training is an ongoing process, especially if you implement the use of new technology or need your receptionist to handle new tasks.
Instead of spending so much valuable time, energy, and investment on one person, spend your time accomplishing important company goals with a team of virtual receptionists at the Best Call Center. Our highly-skilled virtual receptionists have a wide range of professional experiences that acclimate to a wide range of industries. The cost of training falls on our call center.
Save on Employee Compensation and Liability Expenses
Typically, when you employ a full-time, in-house receptionist, you have to pay a competitive salary as well as bonuses if you intend to draw in top talent. Additionally, you may have to provide a salary increment at least twice a year. What may have felt like an affordable expense could become unmanageable over time. This can result in unexpected expenses and overhead. But with a cost-effective virtual receptionist service, you only pay for the work done.
Save On Paid Leave or Vacation
In a typical office environment, full-time employees are provided at least two weeks of paid time off. Also, they may be paid at least five days of sick time. This means that you will be paying an in-house receptionist for non-productive hours. With a virtual receptionist, however, you’ll only pay for the actual services that are provided. Plus there will always be someone to answer your calls.
Save On Health Benefits
In-house employees are attracted to firms that offer excellent health insurance benefits package. This can lure talented professionals to work for your firm. However, an excellent health insurance plan can run your business thousands of dollars per year. At The Best Call Center, we provide health insurance benefits for our virtual receptionists so you can boost your income while cutting costs.
Avoid the Cost of Downtime
Generally, traditional receptionists can’t work non-stop throughout a workday. And you have a legal obligation to allow 15-minute breaks, lunch breaks, sick days, holidays off, vacations, etc. During such times, important calls may go unanswered and crucial tasks may be deferred. In some instances, this downtime could result in lost business for your firm. When you opt to use virtual receptionist services, all your calls and task are handled during all scheduled hours. You get round the clock coverage without having to pay extra. There are no missed opportunities when you work with the Best Call Center.
The Impact of a Great Virtual Legal Receptionist
At a time when cloud-based tools and remote work are on the rise, the definition of traditional business continues to evolve rapidly. For this reason, businesses need to adapt to modern-day practices to remain competitive. Whether you’re looking at increasing flexibility, cutting costs, or maximizing profits, you may be wondering if having a virtual receptionist is better than having an in-house receptionist. Making such a decision can be tough, but more and more law firms are finding that virtual receptionists, like those you find at the Best Call Center, have many advantages.
- Virtual Support is Cost-Effective
The cost incurred when providing a traditional receptionist with a competitive salary, lunch breaks, paid vacation days, and medical benefits are hefty and negatively impacts your firms’ productivity when they aren’t available to answer the phone. And as your firm grows, you’ll need to hire more staff to keep up with the increasing call volumes.
Virtual receptionists are a much better value than in-house receptionists because they are available around the clock and you only pay for the time they spend on the phone with your callers. Other than eliminating salary associated expenses, you won’t have to pay for training or provide office space and equipment. What’s more, you get an entire team of receptionists that can handle the growing call volumes.
- Virtual Receptionists Are Available 24/7/365
Imagine hiring an employee who can work 24/7 and is available nights, holidays, and weekends. With an in-house receptionist, that remains to be that – an imagination, unless you hire an entire team, which can be extremely costly. Also, a traditional receptionist can only handle one call at a time, which means that overflow calls are sent to voicemail or put on hold for long periods, giving callers a good reason to give one of your competitors a call instead. This also applies to nights, weekends, and holidays when your receptionists aren’t present.
Conversely, a team of virtual receptionists can work around the clock. Day or night, during holidays and weekends, during business hours or after, Best Call Center’s virtual receptionists are available to capture every single call. The secret weapon for our constant availability is distributed workflow. So, when it comes to availability, your receptionists can’t hold a candle to our virtual receptionists.
- You Get Instant Access to Client Service Skills
Training an in-house assistant can be time-consuming and costly. It can also feel like a complete waste if the receptionist does not stick around for long. You don’t have to worry with virtual receptionists because they have already gone through months of specialized phone answering training and have adequate knowledge, skills, and experience to do an excellent job.
Choosing a virtual receptionist over an in-house one doesn’t mean that you’ll be sacrificing quality customer support. A virtual receptionist can also be knowledgeable about your firm and practice areas. They can read from a script you provide and are also trained to be resourceful and think on their toes. What’s more, a virtual receptionist can transfer calls, schedule appointments, take messages, and give callers a professional brand experience.