15 Apr 21
Your criminal defense staff may be overwhelmed by answering all the incoming calls and, at the same time, attending to existing client’s legal matters. Additionally, you are scared of increasing the firm’s expenditures by hiring extra staff members to help your current staff. Moreover, you are finding it challenging to provide your clients with services after normal working hours.
However, the solution for your law firm’s problems is partnering with an answering service as soon as possible. With the service in place, you will avoid recording missed calls; you will provide your clients with services any time they need you the most, and keep your office growing and competitive. Partner an attorney answering service today and start enjoying the following benefits:
Focus On Practicing Law
In a law firm, there are several activities taking place at the same time. Answering clients’ calls, scheduling appointments, jotting down their details and their legal claims may be time-consuming, especially when you have other pressing matters to handle. Therefore you may be unable to concentrate on the existing client’s cases and end up making mistakes and wrong decisions. By doing so, you may end up losing clients. However, with a phone answering service that handles your incoming calls, you will have adequate time to prepare the scheduled consultations and solve the existing clients’ legal cases.
Answer All Calls
Are you worried about frequently missing incoming calls from defendants and plaintiffs? A call answering service is a solution to your problem. You should expect the clients to make their calls at any day or night time. Notably, a client may have a list of law firms on their palm; therefore, when they call your law firm, and the call is transferred to a voicemail, they may feel frustrated and move to the next attorney on their list. However, with an active phone answering service accessible around the clock, you will never record missed calls anymore and lose clients. Even when you are meeting with the existing clients, relaxing at home after business hours, or representing your clients at the court, the incoming calls will be answered by experts. They will talk like an employee of your law firm and record all their details.
Have a Better Organization of Your Law Firm
The organization of a law firm begins from how they receive their clients up to the final stage of the court. Will a client go for a disorganized or organized law firm? The answer is the client will go for the most organized and reliable law firm. An answering service will eliminate the need to keep track of every call and message. The call service will organize the information easily and text or email to the criminal defense law firm. Additionally, the service will provide a secure account where you may access, find, manage messages and emails, and then plan your client’s appointment accordingly.
The Service is A Good Alternative To An In-House Receptionist
A phone answering service is more flexible than hiring an in-house receptionist in several ways. For example, a receptionist will undergo training, will be unavailable after the regular working hours and over the weekend and holidays. However, an answering service will receive all the incoming calls at any time, either day or night. No days off and probably fewer costs since the charges are per the number of the received calls.
Reach Your Customers 24/7
Crimes happen at any time of the day. The client may be arrested any time and conduct your office at that particular time they need your help the most. For instance, your client may be arrested on Saturday and quickly need assistance from your law firm. The arrestee may require a consultation before they appear before the court on Monday. If the law firm is closed over the weekend, you may miss the client to another law firm. Alternatively, hiring additional staff may increase the firm’s expenditure. The team may find it challenging to handle the existing cases and, at the same time, pick the incoming calls.
As a professional lawyer, you will be caught in court and consultation. It will be impossible to answer every call. Even when you overwork your staff team, they still may not manage with the multi-task. Notably, a call answering service will manage large volumes of incoming calls either during the day or night. Therefore you will have the freedom to continue providing services to new clients while serving the existing clients.
Retain Your Clients
Receiving a client isn’t a guarantee they will work with your office. Alternatively, every day a law firm loses clients due to a communication gap. Most clients are frustrated when they make a call, and they fail to speak with a live person. They speak with automation services. Therefore once the potential client can’t reach you, they will move to another law firm. However, a call answering service will save your law firm. The service will ensure the clients are received professionally, and they receive the best services out of your office. Probably they will share the good news with their relatives and friends and refer them to your criminal defense law firm when they violate the law.
The Agents At The Call Answering Service are Well Trained
Since the clients share their personal and critical information with the lawyers, they need the privacy of their details. The call answering service has well-trained experts compliant with several protection laws like FACTA, COPPA, and HIPAA. The details of your clients are protected with the utmost care. Additionally, the service focuses on one activity, answering clients’ calls. The service doesn’t have any other duties, ensuring you receive what you pay for and the work is conducted efficiently.
Reduce Your Staff’s Interruption
Since law firms are often busy handling both the new and existing clients, the staff team will probably face interruption from either the clients or the incoming calls. Therefore they will need enough time to engage in legal cases at that particular time. Additionally, when the staff is busy, an incoming call becomes a distraction. The call may be a real problem, especially when the staff member is handling a critical issue and at the same time can’t afford to lose a client on the phone. Therefore the call would result in poor decision and poor service delivery.
However, an answering service is the best solution for your law firm’s problem. The agents will receive incoming calls when you are busy with other legal matters. After recording the caller’s details, the information will be available for you once you are back.
The Call Answering Service Answers Routine/Basic Questions
The service will do work as per your law firm’s regulations. Therefore the gents have knowledge and experience in handling relevant issues for your office. They will answer the basic questions to the clients on behalf of your law firm. By doing so, they will prevent your staff team from facing interruptions while conducting critical matters. Notably, they will answer questions relating to your firm’s direction, appointment scheduling, and confirmation, among other routine questions.
An Answering Service Will Do More Than Just Answering The Incoming Calls
A call answering center’s primary task is answering the incoming calls and redirecting them to the respective departments. However, the service may offer your practice with additional services at a very cheap cost. The agents are highly trained, thus qualified to offer other services from customer support to other more complex tasks. They perform the tasks securely following your firm’s internal regulations. By doing so, the service frees up much time for your administrative team to handle other critical duties. The other services provided by an answering service agents are:
- Collecting Clients Contact Details and Their Legal Issues
The collection of clients’ details is essential but time-consuming. You can avoid the problem by hiring an answering service rather than an in-house receptionist to perform the task. The agents are professionally trained and meet government requirements as well as HIPAA compliance. Therefore they will gather the client details securely.
- Call Filtering and Transfer
The call service may filter the wrong numbers and determine the most urgent calls from how the callers provide their information. Additionally, you may instruct the agents to forward the calls to your administrative staff team when necessary. By doing so, your administrative team may engage in other tasks.
- Scheduling of Appointments
A client calling your law firm on behalf of a person in jail may be unable to schedule an appointment with your firm during the regular working hours. Therefore a call service may promote your firm by connecting and scheduling appointments with busy clients. Additionally, the service will provide appointment reminders to avoid no shows. By reminding the clients, they will feel recognized and respected by your law firm. Notably, if the client decides to skip the appointment day due to his/her issues, the service will help reschedule the appointments.
- Taking Messages and Redirecting The Clients To The Respective Departments
Most clients hate automated services, especially voicemail messages, because the clients sometimes require a lawyer urgently. However, once the clients make a call and a live person answers them, they will probably feel well and leave their message. For instance, when a client calls your office after the normal working hours and has an option to leave their message with someone they know will follow up their issues, they will most likely leave their message. Even when your staff team is very hardworking, they won’t work full time. However, partnering with a call answering service, they will professionally be available 24/7 and keep your firm in touch with your clients.
- Giving New Clients Direction of Your Criminal Defense Law Firm
A client may be late or miss an appointment just because they don’t know the position of your law firm. However, answering agents will provide the clients with the exact direction of the law firm and answer their questions if they are in doubt. Additionally, the agents will provide help once the clients are stuck on the way.
The Call Service Will Do Things Your Way
Do you want to run your law firm uniquely? Ok, the answering service will do that or your law firm. The agents at the answering service perform their duties under your firm’s orders. For instance, if you want the agents to incorporate specific terms about your criminal defense firm, they will do so. Additionally, if you want the agents to skip particular phrases, they will skip. Notably, the call service is flexible and will follow your guidelines. Therefore the professional answering service won’t stick to their way of doing things. They will quickly adapt to your methods. Your law firm’s greeting method will be incorporated accordingly.
Keep Your Law Firm Competitive
As a law firm owner, you should expect competition from both new and established law firms. Sometimes you will have limited time to link up with the clients looking for your services urgently. Most clients will link up with criminal defense law firms with professionals, organized, reliable, and focused on handling their issues. Does your law firm meet those features? One of the tips to make your law firm responsive, reliable, and stay competitive is partnering with an legal answering service. The service will be beneficial in achieving the goals of your law firm. The calling clients will receive immediate attention and be served to satisfaction.
Final Thought
Hiring a professional call answering service for your criminal defense firm will link your firm with the clients even after normal working hours. The clients will enjoy quality services anytime, anywhere. You will record positive feedback from the clients and maintain them. With client satisfaction, your facility will be marketed with client satisfaction and make it sound established even when it is a new law firm. If you are managing a criminal defense firm and experiencing problems managing the client’s call, make a quick step of partnering with a call answering service and saving your law firm from drowning.
