Lawyer Parents: Make Back To School Easy With A Law Firm Virtual Receptionist

Here at the Answering Legal blog, we often say that a law firm owner has two full-time jobs: CEO and attorney. Those of you that have children, however, have three! Parenting is a full-time commitment, especially during the summer. It can be tough to juggle kids, management, and legal work.

While the beginning of the school year promises some respite, it does take some work to get there. The lull between the end of summer camp and the beginning of the school year is hectic, full of final summer social engagements, preparations for the fall, and the kids at home while you’re trying to work!

But what if we told you that you didn’t have to manage that transition alone? Besides any other child caregivers that might be involved, there are tools at your disposal as a law firm owner that can make your life easy during this turbulent period of the year. A law firm virtual receptionist will make back-to-school easy for you and your firm.

Capture Leads While You Work

First and foremost, to understand what a law firm virtual receptionist can do for you, you have to answer this question: do you want to be constantly juggling your phone?

Clio’s 2021 Legal Trends Report showed 70 percent of clients prefer to conduct their first conversation with an attorney over the phone.

Moving from existing client concern to new client call and back and forth can make getting work done more difficult than it needs to be. You want to be able to focus on what’s most important to you in that moment, whether it’s using a rare moment of quiet to get some work done or spending an evening with your family. But at the same time, you can’t just let your calls go to voicemail.

Only one in three phone calls to law firms are answered live.

The other two-thirds? They’re not just missed calls; they’re missed business. Most people don’t leave voicemails, and many potential clients are just going to call the next law firm on their list and go with the first firm that picks up.

A law firm virtual receptionist can change that. Rather than letting a call go to voicemail, a law firm virtual receptionist will handle it.

Often, it doesn’t matter that you yourself are not handling the call. Having a friendly, professional, live voice on the other end of the phone listen to a new lead’s problem and assure them you’ll get to them as soon as possible is often enough. That’s why a law firm virtual receptionist will ensure every new client will undergo a legal intake.

Existing clients won’t get left out either! They’ll get stellar treatment, and appreciate speaking to a live person when they call instead of just leaving a message. You’ll get a message immediately after every call, too, so you’ll always be on top of incoming business and existing client concerns.

Keep Your Busy Schedule Organized

Of course, just because you don’t have a lot of time on your hands doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to manage what little of it you have left! In fact, your lack of availability just makes those brief windows where you can talk to a prospective client all the more valuable, both for you and for your new leads.

You’ll want to make sure that whatever time you can spare to speak to new leads isn’t being wasted. A law firm virtual receptionist will help keep your schedule organized without ever overbooking you.

Of course, this will require a little bit of calendar work on your end! You first have to determine your availability. Find a free part of your calendar when you can carve out some time to meet with clients. It doesn’t necessarily have to be daily! The amount of time you can spare will depend

From there, new clients will have the ability to schedule appointments within that availability window! A law firm virtual receptionist will know your firm well enough to be able to tell which kinds of clients work for your firm. For example, they won’t schedule a personal injury case if you only do family law. In addition, you’ll always get a message stating a meeting has been scheduled, so you always have final approval over your schedule!

Certain law firm experts say it’s wisest never to take unscheduled phone calls, but some attorneys can’t afford that luxury. A good middle ground would be to open some time in your schedule during which you’re free to immediately speak with new client callers. A law firm virtual receptionist can make sure to transfer those calls directly to you in that time frame. You won’t have to deal with pesky spam callers while you try to work, but can still be open to new business.

Give Yourself The Gift Of Time

The most valuable thing a law firm virtual receptionist can give to a lawyer parent is time. It can be difficult to prioritize the things that really matter in the moment, but in retrospect, your priorities become clear. Prioritizing time spent with the family will pay off in the long run, as these moments are literally priceless. But it does require a careful balancing act, one that a law firm virtual receptionist can help make easier.

For example, the average American receives 3 to 4 spam calls a day, and studies have shown that attorneys spend an average of 1.1 hours a day talking to clients on the phone.

An hour a day doesn’t sound like much, but in just two weeks it’s over an entire workday’s amount of phone calls you haven’t had to handle! Think about how you can use that time, whether it’s to spend more time with the family or to focus on work so that you can better focus on the family afterwards! You can see just how valuable this can be to a law firm owner and a parent.

But the other thing a law firm virtual receptionist can give you that can’t truly be quantified is peace of mind. You want to make sure that you are 100 percent present when spending time with your family.

Are you really present and in the moment if you’re waiting for your phone to ring? With a law firm virtual receptionist, you don’t have to worry about it. Your phones will be answered, your clients’ concerns will be addressed, and all of it will be waiting for you in your messages when you have a few minutes to deal with them.

Make Answering Legal Your Phone Handling Partner This Year

Of course, this peace of mind is only possible if you can trust your law firm virtual receptionist to handle your firm while you’re busy doing other things. While it may not be true of every answering service, you can trust Answering Legal.

Our virtual receptionists train for months before ever picking up the phone for our attorney customers. By the end of that training, they’re familiar with the ins and outs of answering for law firms, including legal intake expertise. And they’re backed up by a 24/7 support staff that is always available to assist with any issues that might arise.

We’re incredibly proud of our staff, but we’re also proud of our service. We’re constantly improving our call center software, adding more integrations with law firm software all the time. Click here to learn more about them. Our service also extends into a mobile app that makes it easy to run your firm from anywhere, even with the kids at home. You can read more about the mobile app here.

Start the school year off strong. 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 for our service their first 400 minutes free.