Five Problems That Can Be Solved By Using A Virtual Legal Secretary

In order to effectively run a law practice, you must become a master-problem solver. Most days, there will be a lot to overcome, not just with handling cases, but with managing your office. We at Answering Legal, certainly won’t be able to keep your days completely problem-free, but we can alleviate some of the major issues you face in one particular area of the job.

Our company’s founders, Brooke and Rob Shatles, recognized that lawyers were more in need of expert phone answering assistance than just about any other profession. This is why they created Answering Legal, a specialized phone answering service, that only works on behalf of attorneys. A virtual legal secretary from Answering Legal will be able to help solve some of your biggest daily phone answering obstacles, and in this piece, we’ll provide you with five prime examples.

Problem #1 - Stressing Over Missed Calls

In the social media age, it’s common for people to suffer from FOMO, or “fear of missing out”. But, lawyers are more likely to be suffering from FOMOOC, or “fear of missing out on clients”.

No attorney has the time to answer every call that comes into their office. You have other things to do like make court appearances, attend meetings, and even occasionally rest. But, unfortunately for lawyers, it is impossible to know when a person might be calling in with a potential new case. It could literally be at any time of day or night. Sure you can hire people to help you answer the phones during normal office hours, but what about after hours and weekends?

Not being available to answer calls can add unnecessary stress to your day. Instead of being able to give your full attention to advising current clients on important legal matters, your mind will likely be elsewhere, worrying over what potential clients might be passing you by. And good luck trying to trying to sleep at night, with the knowledge that a game-changing client for your firm could be trying to reach you.

Modern consumers have little patience for voicemail systems, so the need for live phone answering at all hours of the day and night is clear. Using a 24/7/365 virtual legal secretary service like Answering Legal ensures that every single one of your callers gets greeted by a live receptionist. When you’re away from the office, you’ll receive text and/or email messages with details of every call your office receives. This allows you to always know when new client situations arise, and when you need to jump on the phone right away. Answering Legal truly is the best remedy for FOMOOC.

Problem #2 - Making A Poor First Impression On New Callers

People looking for legal help are usually scared, and want to be immediately comforted by the law offices they call. Of course, providing comfort can be a rather difficult task for lawyers, when they themselves are unable to get to the phone.

Consumers have countless legal options to choose from these days, and making a great first impression on new customers has never been more important. Sending first-time callers to your voicemail system can send the message that your firm is uncaring or too busy to help. Having an untrained receptionist address first time callers can be just as damaging, and result in your firm coming off as incompetent.

Believe it or not, using a virtual legal secretary service will give you the best chance at having all your phone interactions with new callers go well. Not only does using Answering Legal guarantee that your customers always get to speak with a live person, it ensures that they always get the assistance of a trained legal receptionist. All members of our phone answering staff go through a 90-day training process, which prepares them to answer any legal phone call they might field. Our receptionists only answer phones on behalf of lawyers, and the specialized training they receive will mean a lot in terms of helping them make the right first impression on your callers.

Problem #3 - Fielding Too Many Irrelevant Calls

If there’s one thing that unites the entire human race, it’s a hatred for being bothered by telemarketers. No matter how good your day is going, having your work interrupted by a pesky sales person is likely to get your blood boiling.

Using a phone answering service can be a great way to keep telemarketing and other non-work related calls away from your desk. Just have your answering service receptionists take their calls for you. However, if you try doing this with some answering services out there, it can end up being quite costly. Many of Answering Legal’s competitors will have calls from telemarketers count towards their monthly minute totals. The end result of this can be an unexpected spike in your monthly bill.

Part of what makes Answering Legal a company that you can trust, is that we never charge clients for non-business related calls. We’ll keep the telemarketers away from your desk, and not charge you a penny extra. We also won’t charge your office for any personal calls, so you won’t have to stress if family and friends call into your office. By doing this, Answering Legal saves you both aggravation and cash.

Problem #4 - Getting New Client Intake Information Wrong

Have you ever had a staff member perform a legal intake on a first time caller, then when you went to call them back, realized the information they gathered was full of mistakes. If you have, you know how truly embarrassing it can be to call a potential client by the wrong last name or reference incorrect information about their case.

You never want to give customers any reason to have second thoughts about using your practice. A promising first phone call with your firm means a lot, but it by no means seals the deal. If your staff does a poor job of preparing you for follow-up calls, customers aren’t likely to show much sympathy. In fact customers will usually become quite frustrated when they have to repeat certain details about their case and correct your mistakes. Even if it’s not actually your fault, clients will think less of you because of it.

When signing up with Answering Legal, you get a team of legal intake experts at your disposal. Every member of our virtual legal secretary team has been extensively trained in performing new client intakes. They’ll know exactly the right questions to ask your customers, and can be trusted to record all information from the caller correctly. That information is then sent directly to you via your smartphone. Using our professional receptionist team is your best bet in ensuring that you never end up coming across as unprofessional.

Problem #5 - Taking Time Off Is Impossible

Sorry to all the workaholic attorneys out there, but we’re about to take away one of your prime excuses for why you can’t take a vacation.

Often lawyers will hold off on taking a week-long getaway, saying that they just can’t afford to miss out on new clients. And without a service like Answering Legal behind them, they’d be right. Without proper phone answering assistance, attorneys would either have to check their mobile phones constantly during their trip (not really much of a vacation), or just accept missing out on potentially significant clients.

As we’ve covered before in this blog, it’s important for your mental and physical health to take breaks. Answering Legal is ready to make sure you get a proper vacation. Not only will our receptionists be able to answer all the calls you miss, we’ll keep you updated on the details of your call via texts and emails. You can check your messages at your own pace, and have the peace of mind of knowing exactly what is going on with your business while you’re away. Sorry workaholics, but it’s time to hit the beach.

Don’t believe that Answering Legal can solve all five of the problems presented above? Try a 10-day free trial of our service and let us prove it to you. Fill out this form or call 631-686-9700.