How An Answering Service Can Help Perfect Your Law Firm’s Call Handling

If you think that all an answering service can do for you is simply pick up calls and offer to take a message, you’re looking at the wrong services. A quality answering service will do much more for your business, allowing you to take full control of how their receptionists handle your customer’s calls. The best services will work with you to develop a customized call handling strategy, and assemble a plan for when and how you want calls transferred to you.

When it comes to your law office, having a high level of control over the call handling process is imperative. The more input you can have in how an answering service receptionist handles your customer calls, the less likely you are to lose out on new and existing clients. There is a lot on the line when it comes to your legal phone calls, so you should really take the time to find the right answering service for your firm. Once you do, here is how you make the most out of your service.

Create a Personalize Plan

Your answering service needs to allow for a high level of customization, so that it can best meet the needs of your firm. The more a service allows you to personalize their receptionists’ phone answering script and intake protocol, the better off you are.

Before allowing an answering service to pick up a single phone call for your business, you need to go over a detailed plan for how you want any incoming calls answered.

This plan should cover things like:

• How receptionists will greet your customers
• What legal intake questions receptionists will ask your customers
• What FAQs receptionists can answer on your firm’s behalf
• How receptionists will relay messages to you
• Whether you want receptionists scheduling appointments for you

Going over these details is the best way to ensure that answering service receptionists come across as knowledgeable about your business, and make customers feel like they are speaking with someone directly from your office.

Take Full Control of Your Call Handling

When teaming up with an answering service, you need to create a strategy for how you want their receptionists to handle incoming calls. For example, there may be some types of calls you want patched directly to you, and other types of calls you prefer to just have a message taken for. Having this level of control allows you to give a higher level of attention to calls from new customers, in which a quick response time is key..

You will also want to provide your answering service with a time frame for how long it typically takes you to return calls. That way, when you are unavailable, a caller will be greeted by a live voice and given an idea of whether they will hear back from you ASAP, within the hour, within a day, or as soon as you get out of court. Having one of these time frames given out will prevent callers from feeling like they are being neglected and moving onto another attorney for legal help.

Improve The Way Your Calls Are Managed

One of the best things an answering service can provide your firm is a customized call forwarding plan. Every attorney has different priorities and availability, which is why having flexibility in the way your calls are handled is important.

Popular Call Forwarding Methods:

• Rollover: Have your answering service pick up your phone lines after a predetermined number of rings.
• Time of day: Have your answering service pick up calls for you during specific hours.
• Total screen & transfer: All of your calls will be initially taken by your answering service. They will take down client information, before giving your the option to have the call transferred to you.
• Full time: All of your calls will be handled by your answering service, and you will be delivered detailed messages from each caller.

The more control you are given over how an answering service handles your calls, the better equipped their service will be to help your business succeed. Giving you the option to customize your call handling experience is one of the biggest things that separates the very best answering services from the rest of the pack.

Reap The Rewards of Improved Call Handling

Investing in an answering service is a great call, because it guarantees you never miss out on an opportunity to obtain new business. When you’re unavailable, you can feel confident that all of your customers calls will be not just answered, but answered with the same level of quality and care your staff would normally provide. Maintaining the best call handling possible will lead to your firm capturing more clients, and as a result you making more money.

With better call handling there will be no more headaches from managing customer calls, and more time to focus on other pressing legal matters. Having a plan already in place with an answering service for managing every call handling scenario, means your firm will always be prepared to handle whatever phone issues come its way. Help make life easier for both you and your customers by hiring an answering service today.