Legal Practice Management: 5 Ways A 24/7 Answering Service Can Help Attorneys Achieve More

Ever feel like no matter how hard you work, growing your practice seems impossible? Well, the problem may not be that you aren’t working hard enough, you just might not be working smart enough.

In order to see your firm really grow, you need to be able to bring on a high number of clients, and effectively manage a high number of clients. And the best tool to help you do this is a 24/7 answering service.

Related: Learn more about the value of live phone answering here.

We know what you’re thinking. How much of a difference can a phone answering service really make towards my company’s growth? Well if you choose the right answering service — one that not only caters to the needs of attorneys, but provides exceptional 24/7 service — we guarantee you’ll see a noticeable impact on your firm. Here are five examples of how a quality 24/7 answering service can help elevate your legal practice management abilities and assist you in accomplishing more.

You Can Literally Outwork Competitors In Your Sleep

Just like all other types of businesses, law offices are always looking for any possible edge they can get on their competitors. Anything you can provide that other firms in your area can’t, can potentially give your practice a distinct advantage in winning over new clients.

A 24/7 answering service can give you the ultimate edge over many competing firms — an extra 16 hours of service each day! If from the hours of 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. your firm has a live receptionist answering it’s phone lines, and your competitors don’t, your firm will have a greater chance of winning over new clients during that 16 hour period each day. Same goes for weekends and holidays!

Why is having a live voice answering your phones outside of office hours so important? Because, if you trust an automated machine to handle your after hours phone answering, you’re going to see large number of client connection opportunities pass you by. If you don’t get someone to pick up that first call from a new customer, you’re not likely to hear from them again. They’ll move on to another firm very quickly.

You’re more likely to win over after hours and weekend callers, if you give them a live voice to speak to. A receptionist from a quality answering service will be able to answer all calls from potential clients, take down their personal and case information, and obtain a message from the caller to pass along to you the next day. Your callers will feel like their legal needs are being attended to, and you can come into the office the following day feeling refreshed and fully ready to build their case.

Your Customers Will Know You Actually Care

It’s a rarity that a person calling a law office is having a good day. They are usually calling into a firm, because there is some kind of distressing matter going on in their life, and they need immediate assistance. In order to win over the business of a troubled legal consumer, you’ll need to do two things.

Let customers know you appreciate their busy schedule:

According to Forrester Research, 77% of people say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good service.

Keep customers from having to do extra work:

In the a study done by the Harvard Business Review, the top factor that plays into customer loyalty, is a reduction of customer effort.

Without a quality answering service behind your firm, many of your office’s callers will be redirected to an automated machine. When this happens, potential clients are likely to feel like there time is being wasted, and will not being willing to wait around for your call back or call again at a later time. Instead they will shift their focus towards a firm that provides them with an immediate live response.

With a 24/7 answering service, you can always be that firm that provides first-time callers with an immediate live response. Even if you can’t get to the phone yourself, a live receptionist will be able to give your customers a sense that their time isn’t being wasted, and let them know when exactly they will be receiving a return call from you. With the amount of legal options law consumers have these days, you must show your callers right from the start that you care, if you want to see your firm consistently win over new clients.

You’ll Always Know Who Is Reaching Out To Your Firm

When attempting to run a law office, manage cases, and maintain personal life all at the same time, keeping track of all the people calling into your office usually isn’t the priority. On days where your plate is full, you’re likely to have callers slip through the cracks, and never be spoken to by your firm. This may not seem like such a big deal, but it is important to remember that a good portion of those missed callers are likely potential clients.

While it’s true the main reason you’ll invest in an around the clock answering service will be for the after hours answering, the additional phone answering coverage you get during working hours could prove to be just as valuable. Remember, just because it’s 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re available to answer your phones. You might be in a meeting with a current client, or off presenting a case in court. A top notch answering service can keep your days from becoming an unorganized mess, by providing live receptionists will to make sure all of your callers are accounted for, and keep you in the loop on new client opportunities via phone calls and messages.

In order to effectively manage your law office, you need to be in the know on everything, even if you can’t address everything right away. The right answering service will make legal practice management much simpler, by making sure you’re always in the loop and allowing you to effectively prioritize your day.

You’ll Never Miss Out On A Significant Case

All clients are important, but I think most attorneys out there would agree that some clients are more important than others. Attorneys are always out on the hunt for clients that will bring big pay days to their firm, or a high profile case that could put their practice on the map. You should never miss out on an opportunity to connect with a major client just because there initial call came into to the office after hours.

If a client is significant enough to potentially change your firm’s year, you likely won’t be the only firm that wants to take it on. You don’t want a potential big client calling your firm one night, getting a voicemail, and moving onto a competing firm that has a live voice ready to speak with them. You need your law office to always be ready to answer the phone!

A quality 24/7 answering service will be able to contact an attorney right away if a significant caller comes in after hours. You’ll never have to stress about missing out on something important, and can jump into action immediately when that game-changing client is found.

You’ll Always Have Peace Of Mind

It’s easy to admire the attorney that works late into the night on a case or comes in on a weekend to get additional work done. That kind of work ethic will often be what separates the attorneys who just scrape by from the attorneys who really end up being successful. But, attorneys also need the occasional break in order to be successful. You want to be able to give your co-workers and the people you represent your very best each day, and trying to do that while over stressed or fatigued isn’t likely to end well.

Teaming up with a 24/7 answering service will not only improve your legal practice management ways, but can improve your mental health as well. With the peace of mind that all of your calls will be taken care of in a professional and efficient manner after you clock out for the day, you can experience less stress during your work day, and actually enjoy your time away from the office. And if an emergency situation ever pops up while you’re out of office, having the luxury of a 24/7 answering service will allow you to deal properly deal with the situation without having to stress about missing business.

So Which 24/7 Answering Service Do I Choose?

In order to truly help your practice grow and achieve more, you’ll need an after hours answering service that offers law office specific services, provides highly trained receptionists to offer your firm, and works with you to make your phone answering the best it can possibly be.

The only answering service that provides all of this is Answering Legal.