Four Problems A Virtual Receptionist For Lawyers Will Help You Solve

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, around five million businesses are started each year. Statistically speaking, one-fifth of those businesses won’t make it past their first year, and half of them will shut down before they reach the five-year mark.

We’re not trying to be negative! We’re just trying to say that while being a lawyer is a unique profession, running a law firm is a lot like running any other business. It’s a difficult and risky proposition, and requires a lot of hard work and dedication to succeed.

In order to make sure your business thrives, you need to be able to move quickly to address any roadblocks that might arise on your way to success. From a better lead capture rate to buying you more time to do your legal work, below we’ve got four problems a virtual receptionist for lawyers can help law firms solve.

1- Your Firm Needs More Five Star Reviews

The advent of the internet has completely changed the way almost every industry conducts business. The legal world is no different. Your clients may make recommendations to their friends and family, but people who encounter your firm in other ways will only use one method to evaluate your firm: online reviews.

According to Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report, reviews are the number one metric by which clients decide if a firm is right for them.

Your review average has a great impact on your firm’s success. For that reason, we previously published a detailed blog about getting more five-star reviews for your firm here. In that blog, we covered how to get clients to review your firm. Below, we’ll discuss how to give your clients a review-worthy experience.

A virtual receptionist for lawyers will ensure you’re always getting great reviews while avoiding the bad. Negative online reviews often stem from a lack of responsiveness. Having a virtual receptionist available 24/7 to answer every call will ensure nobody ever feels like they’re being ignored. That will lead to fewer one-star reviews claiming you never answer your phone!

As for positive reviews, that same coverage will make sure your clients never feel out of the loop on their case. Your legal work will go a long way to making your clients happy, obviously, but their experience with your firm has a huge impact on whether they like your firm enough to give you a review. Below, we’ll go into more detail about the client experience.

2- Your Clients Feel Out Of The Loop

As we just mentioned, making sure every call goes answered by a live receptionist will do wonders for your clients’ feelings throughout their cases. Think about it from their point of view; imagine how frustrating it would be to be embroiled in a stressful legal issue and not know what’s going on with your case.

It’s obviously important to clients: according to the ABA, neglect and lack of communication are the top reasons for official complaints leveled against attorneys.

That means it should be your top priority. Even though existing client needs are less urgent than new business, it’s still important to make existing clients feel like their requests are just as urgent, preferably without sacrificing your valuable time.

The best virtual receptionists for lawyers will make sure clients always feel like they’re your number one priority. Speaking to a live receptionist every time they call your firm will go a long way all by itself—people hate leaving voicemails, and speaking to a live person will make them feel heard.

At the end of the day, that’s the most important part of focusing on the client experience: making sure your clients are in the loop, and that their concerns are heard. We have a more in-depth blog about how to improve your client experience here, if you want to read more.

3- Your Lead Capture Rate Could Use a Boost

Running a law firm, like any other business, comes down to a steady influx of new clients. Regularly securing new clients will make sure you always have time to bill; compared to that, the other parts of running a business seem much less daunting.

Therefore, getting new clients to call your firm is something law firm owners work at constantly, spending a lot of time and money on marketing campaigns. But marketing efforts can only take you so far. Making sure new clients actually hire your firm after calling is just as important.

The first step, of course, is not to miss their call. A virtual receptionist for lawyers will be able to make sure every call goes answered, even outside regular business hours.

According to Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report, 68 percent of clients want to be able to communicate outside of regular business hours and on weekends.

At any time of day, a virtual receptionist will be available to perform legal intakes for new client callers, making them more likely to stick with your firm. If you’d like to learn more about how a virtual receptionist for lawyers will boost your lead capture rate, click here to read a blog about just that.

4- There’s Not Enough Time In The Day

Under normal circumstances, giving your full attention to every call that comes into your firm is a surefire way to not get enough work done. If a caller doesn’t have a case for you but thinks that they do, they might leave a bad review if they don’t get the attention they think they need.

The problem, of course, is that making sure your clients are always in the loop and feeling satisfied with their decision to hire you is a lot of work. Being available at all hours for new clients will eat into a lot of your time.

As it is, studies have shown that attorneys spend an average of 1.1 hours a day talking to clients on the phone; adding more time on the phone won’t help you get more done.

But with the right virtual receptionist for lawyers, you can focus on your work, confident that your phones are being handled professionally. Your phone will only ring when it’s necessary, freeing you to work while your clients get the attention they need.

A virtual receptionist can even schedule appointments for you, so that you only have to speak to clients when they really need you. With all the extra time on your hands, you’ll be able to get more work done, more efficiently handling the clients you have and gaining time to do work for the new clients you’ll be bringing in.

Answering Legal Is The Right Choice

Throughout this blog we’ve talked about hiring the right virtual receptionist for lawyers. That’s because here at Answering Legal, we know there are a lot of bad apples out there.

Everyone has a call center horror story, and it’s our mission to change that. That’s why our virtual receptionists are experts. They spend months training before ever picking up the phone, and only ever answer for lawyers.

Our training regimen, as well as our features, are what set us apart from other law firm call centers. If you’d like to learn more about what our virtual receptionists can do for you, click here. There’s no one more qualified to answer your phone calls, perform custom legal intakes, and schedule appointments for your firm.

Give your firm the tools you need to excel. Click here or call 631-686-9700 to sign up for our free trial. For a limited time, we’re offering firms that sign up their first 400 minutes free.