Most criminal law firms receive an endless number of calls from both new and existing clients. Since the incoming calls are many, you are more likely to miss several calls. If you own a law firm, the last thing you want to do is to lose a client due to unanswered calls. In the US, most criminal arrests occur during nighttime. So you will more likely receive more calls during the late-night hours. If the calls go unanswered, you risk losing clients to another law firm. Partnering with a legal call center will ensure no call goes unanswered and thus no more losing clients. Following are the top reasons why your law firm should partner with a legal answering service.
Don’t Miss Client’s Calls Anymore
Every law firm is in the market selling its legal services. Losing a client’s calls in your law firm may be dangerous to your law firm's survival. You may spend much time marketing your defense law firm, but it will only be a waste if you miss the incoming calls. Remember, most clients prefer reaching a law firm through phone calls.
Several news clients will prefer to visit a law firm before deciding to work with it. After the law enforcement officers arrest a suspect, the arrestee will look for a criminal defense law firm ready to assist them or even find one online. Most criminal defense law firms put their contact information online, and several clients call them to explain their issues. The way the calls are responded to and how the client’s questions are answered matter a lot to most clients. Again, if a client call is unanswered, they may search for another criminal defense attorney. Thus you may lose a client due to the call.
Book Appointments and Manage Your Law Firm’s Calendar
Most lawyers are always busy. Then your office requires efficient services to manage your calendar and book appointments in line with handling new cases, conducting research, disposition, and making court appearances. Most answering services provide these services. The answering services also work as switchboards for your criminal defense law firm by transferring the incoming calls to the appropriate persons. In addition, the agents in the answering service may cancel and rearrange the appointments when necessary.
Eliminate the Stress of Training, Hiring, Absenteeism, and Performance Monitoring
When hiring new staff, you want to take into consideration other costs alongside hiring them. The exercise of finding a new staff will require money, and even time for monitoring the staff’s performance. However, the resources you spend in hiring new clients may be used for other income-generating and productive activities. For example, if you work with a legal answering service, you will eliminate the trouble of finding an experienced receptionist.
Record the Incoming Phone Calls for Future Reference
Every law firm wants to keep the client’s records for future reference. Keeping the records will ensure the forgotten calls are retrieved. If you record the call in-house, the exercise may be expensive. But, a legal answering service will help keep the client’s information for future reference.
Reduce your Overhead as You Increase Profit
Employing an in-house receptionist is expensive, especially when your firm is new and receives a few calls. Again, directing your staff team to answer the incoming phone calls will interrupt them from engaging in their core duties. Hiring a legal answering service will ensure you save much money when compared to hiring an in-house receptionist. As the owner of the firm, you won’t pay the receptionist.
Provide 24/7 Legal Services to Your Clients
Another advantage of a legal answering service is they provide services to your clients 24/7. Arrests occur anytime, and you can’t predict when the clients require your services the most. Therefore, expect clients to call your office even after normal business hours. If your law firm has a receptionist, they can only provide services during normal working hours. The call center will ensure your clients receive a warm reception during off-hours. The agents are available anytime, either during daytime, nighttime, weekends or even during the holidays.
It's upon you to choose how the legal answering service will provide their services. You may opt they provide services full time. Also, you may hire them to provide services after the normal working hours when your receptionist isn’t available. Sometimes you may even hire them during the weekend or holidays, decide!
Boost Your Law Firm’s Reputation
An attorney answering service will help your firm move to another level. But, you may not believe it when you think they don’t understand legal matters. However, the truth is a legal answering service will help you treat your customers with the care and respect you want.
The best attorney answering service will have confidentiality, high sensitivity levels, and empathy, thus fostering good bonds and relationships with your clients. In addition, the happy clients who have enjoyed your firm’s legal services will strengthen your law firm's reputation through online reviews, referrals, and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Handle Emergency Calls
With a legal answering service, your law firm will remain active even after normal working hours. Handling your client’s emergency calls is good for your clients, enhancing overall customer satisfaction. The clients will call your office and speak with the agents at the call center without waiting for the working hours with the legal answering services.
If the clients call your law firm, the agents at the call centers will redirect the calls to the relevant people anytime. The agents at the answering service know the priority calls from the arrestee and the low-priority phone calls from clients seeking general legal services.
The agents at the call centers are experts and will distinguish between the calls to transfer. So, the answering service will help you manage the emergency calls and handle the other legal duties. As a result, you will avoid receiving endless calls after business hours. Also, you will have enough time to relax after a busy day of representing your clients at the court.
Enhance Professionalism in Your Law Firm
Court matters are essential, and every client is always careful before they choose a defense lawyer. Most clients know the outcomes of their cases will be greatly determined by the criminal defense attorney they choose. This means a client will be most interested in working with an aggressive attorney who will raise the chances of winning their cases. So, your criminal defense law firm should have a good image of your clients.
How you handle your client’s calls will mean a lot to your criminal defense law firm:
- Most clients will make their calls to determine the responsiveness and reliability of the firm. For example, if a client calls your law firm and receives automated messages, they may feel scared that your law firm won't fulfill their essentials.
- While you handle your client’s cases, most clients will want to know the progress and update their cases.
- The clients like working with a responsive criminal defense attorney available anytime they want their services.
Provide Bilingual Services to Your Clients
As a criminal defense attorney, you may meet non-English clients seeking your services. Most legal answering services provide bilingual services. For example, in recent years in the US, the Spanish community is rapidly growing. Ensure your non-English clients work with someone with knowledge of their language. Most non-English clients may find it challenging to express themselves even when they know English. A bilingual answering service will ensure you solve the problem of the language barrier.
Respond to Incoming Calls While Representing Your Clients at the Court
Since attorneys are always busy, they will spend much time in criminal court representing clients. But, clients will keep calling your law firm when you are at the court. You can’t request the presiding judge to pause the proceeding and allow you to answer your clients.
Sometimes you may have the in-house receptionist in your office to respond to the client calls. But, what will happen when the receptionist goes out for lunch? Your receptionist will find it challenging to handle the calls and at the same time attend to your visitors. Remember, if a client calls your office and the call goes unanswered, they will move to the next attorney. In addition, several clients may be unwilling to wait for you or your staff team until you arrive from the court.
A legal answering service will let you link with a large number of customers. With the answering service, your client won’t even know they are speaking with the call agents. Moreover, the answering service will ensure you manage all the incoming calls. As a result, the clients will never feel disappointed by your law firm.
The Legal Answering Service Will Provide More Services Than Receiving the Phone Calls
When hiring a legal answering service, you will expect the agents to concentrate more on the incoming calls. But, they do more than answering the calls. The legal answering service has trained agents and operators who provide more services than answering the calls. For example, they provide essential support to criminal offenders and even process the payment on behalf of your law firm. Moreover, they do so safely, confidentiality, and observe your law firm’s protocols.
Boost Your Staff Productivity
Using a phone or landline may greatly distract your attorneys or support staff. Although the phones are essential in connecting your law firm with the existing clients, sometimes they may lure your firm’s productivity. For example, if your law firm receives many calls, it might cause interruptions in the workflow.
Hiring a legal answering service will save your staff from interruptions and distractions, which may majorly break your work momentum when handling complex issues. Therefore, let the team of your competent and trained staff focus on the pressing issues and boost the profitability as the agents at the call center focus on calls, emails, and chats.
Your Law Firm Increases Its Consistency and Reliability
Most law firms obtain their business more through referrals. One of the best ways to maintain customer reputation is by assuring them your firm is reliable when you require them the most. A legal answering service is in the front line to ensure your law firm delivers epic client service. The professionals follow procedures to ensure clients receive service consistency and reliability.
Provide Your Clients with Personal Touch
After the police arrest a suspect, the suspect may ask for legal services right away. If your criminal defense law firm works under automated machines, the clients feel detached from your staff, and the machines reflect a poor image for your law firm.
When clients call your criminal defense law firm and have a conversation with a live person, they feel valued and important. Personal touch indicates you care for your clients and are ready to help them when they need you.
Enhance the Image of Your Criminal Defense Law Firm
Several clients believe a big law firm is the best to offer them the best legal services. But this isn’t the case, don’t lose new clients as they think your office is a small law firm which won’t help them. Partnering with a legal answering service, the agents will greet the clients, and they will likely assume it’s a big law firm. So, it will boost your client’s confidence.
Receive Personalized Legal Services
Several people think the answers they will receive from a call center are similar for general businesses. But this is untrue. Based on your needs, you may have the answering service customize your law firm’s requirements. A legal answering service will only take your messages and skip unwanted calls. As the law firm owner, you may provide the answering service agents with a brief and script of what you want your clients to communicate. This means, once the clients call your firm, they meet a friendly, polite, and informed person.
Select an Answering Service Near Me
Customer service is essential for the growth and success of every criminal defense law firm. For your law firm to succeed, you need to attract more people facing criminal charges and then defend them at the criminal court. Your law firm's first impression will count a lot for its success. Luckily, there is a key to the success of your defense law firm, hiring a call answering service. If you are a law firm owner, make an effort and partner with it today.
