Five Ways Using An Attorney Answering Service Can Improve Your Quality Of Life

Over the past decade, there has been a lot of self-examination taking place in just about every industry, and the legal industry is no exception. We’re happy to report that one positive trend that has started to take place in the field of law is that more attention is being paid to lawyer wellness issues.

“It is no secret that law is among the occupations associated with high rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse,” award-winning law professor Christine Coughlin recently explained to us. “In 2016, the American Bar Association funded a large-scale study that showed 28% of lawyers reported symptoms of either moderate or more serious depression, while 21% struggled with problem drinking. As a result of increased awareness, meaningful efforts are being made across the profession to provide education and assistance, and to remedy some of the root causes of the problems, such as work-life balance.”

It can be easy for attorneys to become overwhelmed by their line of work, especially during the early years of growing a firm up from the ground. We at Answering Legal are proud to provide lawyers with affordable phone answering assistance, that will not only improve the level of customer service they are able to provide, but better the quality of their lives as well. Here are some ways using our attorney answering service will impact your day-to-day life.

1- You Won’t Have To Stress Over Missing Calls

We’ve spent a good portion of the last decade trying to enlighten lawyers on the fact that missed calls will result in missed clients. Automated machines are no longer an effective lead capturing tool (who knows if they ever really were to begin with). If you fail to provide a live answer for a prospect calling your firm for the first time, the odds of you winning that person’s business will go significantly down. Your prospect will immediately begin considering other options the second after they hear the beep of your voicemail.

For solo and small firm lawyers, the task of having to answer every single call you receive throughout the work day can take a significant emotional toll. In cases where you miss a call, you’ll often be left wondering how much money you just let walk out the door. During times in which you can’t check your phone, there is always the stress of who you might be neglecting and turning off from wanting to be associated with your business.

Needless to say, no human should be forced to operate under these impossible phone answering expectations. Thanks to Answering Legal, you won’t have to. Our live receptionist team is always on the clock and able to answer any call a lawyer cannot get to. This means that anytime a new prospect contacts your firm, and you can’t get to the phone, they’ll still get to speak with a highly trained legal receptionist. Our receptionists will let your potential clients know that they have reached a firm that is ready to assist right away, then work to get you on the line with the new prospect as quickly as possible. With our team behind you, you won’t ever have to stress over a missed call again, because you’ll know your callers will always be in excellent hands.

2- You Can Limit Your Phone Answering Availability Without Losing New Business

Those that manage small firms know that it can be all too easy for your personal life and time to disappear in a hurry. We’re guessing you’ve had more than a few nights out with friends or relaxing evenings at home disrupted by a work related call. It would be great to set boundaries and claim evening and weekends as a work-free time period, but letting any call go to voicemail seems all too risky, since you never know what kind of opportunity that call will present.

It takes a lot of sacrifice to become a successful attorney, but you shouldn’t have to completely sacrifice quality time with loved ones or a full night’s rest. One thing that seperates Answering Legal from a lot of other phone answering services is that we operate on a 24/7/365 basis. Lawyers using our service will get to decide when they want the chance to answer incoming calls themselves, and when incoming calls should be forwarded directly to our service. Just imagine how good it will feel to leave the office at five, and not have to answer another work related call until nine the next morning.

We of course know that urgent matters will often pop up for attorneys outside of normal office hours. Even with this being the case, you can still feel confident handing over your calls to our attorney answering service for several hours at a time. Anytime a new prospect contacts your firm when you are unavailable, one of our receptionists will perform a full legal intake on the client, and send the intake information to you via text and email. When current clients leave you messages overnight or during the weekend, our receptionist team will relay that message to you through text and/or email right away. Our message taking protocols will ensure that you’re always able to monitor important law firm matters, while still being able to take a much needed breather after the work day ends.

3- You’ll Have More Time To Focus On The Work That Actually Interests You

One of the most frustrating parts about managing a growing firm, is that you can end up doing so much administrative work, and not nearly enough of the legal work that drove you to the profession in the first place. Chances are you’d be a lot happier at your job if instead of having to dedicate hours to being your own receptionist, you could give your complete focus to real case related tasks.

Don’t waste another minute fending off unwanted sales pitches from telemarketers. Let someone else do the new client intake, appointment scheduling and message taking work you simply don’t have time for. When teaming up with Answering Legal, you can use our receptionists to take care of all the bothersome phone answering tasks you don’t want to do or don’t have time for.

Some Things You Should Know About Our Service:

• As an Answering Legal customer, you’ll have the option to forward all of your incoming calls straight to our service first. This could be quite valuable if you’re looking for someone to screen your calls and keep people unrelated to your business from reaching your line. We should also note that our service never charges for sales calls or robocalls.
• The legal intake services we perform on your new prospects can be completely customized to your liking. Learn more about our client intake process here.
• Many of the lawyers who use our service choose to have our receptionist team schedule new appointments on their behalf. If you’re interested in learning how our legal virtual receptionists can save your firm from scheduling disasters, check out this post.

Our staff will truly act as the ultimate buffer between you and your callers, allowing you to dedicate more time throughout the day to actually being a lawyer. Even the most sociable of lawyers would have to admit that sounds nice.

4- Your Office Can Continue To Function When You Take Time Off

When was the last time you took a vacation? And no, we don’t just mean a few days off, we mean a real vacation. If you’re struggling to remember, it’s probably been far too long. Vacations are a must for those in the legal profession, as the daily grind of working in the legal world can take a lot out of you over time. Taking a great trip, or even just lounging around for a week can do wonders for your state of mind, and prevent you from becoming burnt out.

One of the biggest reasons lawyers at growing firms avoid vacationing is because they feel like they can’t afford to leave their office alone for too long. They feel like they have to choose between sacrificing invaluable vacation time or potentially missing out on new clients. Answering Legal has been helping attorneys successfully take time off for years, as we’re able to ensure that new opportunities don’t pass lawyers by while they are off soaking in some sun or making memories with their family and friends.

When an Answering Legal customer decides to take a vacation, all they need to do is let us know which days they’ll be away. During the period in which you’re out of office, we’ll continue answering your calls like normal, with the only difference being that we won’t try to patch calls over to you. Our receptionists can answer any basic questions callers might have about your firm and let them know what date you’ll be returning. Having our service in place will ensure that your ability to capture new leads does not dramatically decrease while you’re enjoying a break.

Learn More: How Are My Calls Handled While I’m On Vacation?

5- Your Financial Opportunity Will Increase

While there are a lot of things that can impact attorney wellness, the stress that comes from the financial side of running a growing business is inevitably one of the biggest factors. We know many attorneys are operating under tight budgets, and that investing in an attorney answer service like Answering Legal may seem unwise. But, the truth is, lawyers at growing firms really can’t afford not to be using our service. Don’t believe us. Listen to what Attorney Ken Eulo recently had to say about using our service.

“When you run a law firm, addressing new potential clients immediately is the top priority,” Eulo said. “A single missed phone call can cost your law firm thousands of dollars. The difference in quality between (Answering Legal) and other answering services we have used is staggering.”

Having a live answering service behind you that never misses a call, and always provides your new prospects with highly trained legal receptionists to speak with, will make a big difference on your firm’s ability to capture new leads. Once you begin capturing a higher number of your new leads, your firm’s level of financial opportunity will skyrocket. While money isn’t everything in life, having a little more of it is never a bad thing, and can take the pressure off your shoulders in a major way.

We challenge you to try a free 7-day trial of our service and not see a positive impact on your bottom line. To get started fill out this form or call us at 631-686-9700.