Why Voicemail Has Become Irrelevant And You Need An Answering Service For Attorneys

Voicemail technology was embraced with open arms by the world back in the 1980s. Even in the early 2000s voicemail remained a viable lead capturing tool for businesses. But, as we begin the 2020s, we can confidently say that consumers are no longer interested in leaving voicemails.

The major reason for voicemail’s demise is that consumers have simply outgrown it. Today, people have grown accustomed to an on-demand lifestyle. If they want to buy something, they can go online and do so right away. If they want to send a message to someone, they can take out their smartphone and send one within seconds. Voicemail fails to deliver on modern consumer’s on-demand expectations, as instead of getting the immediate satisfaction they desire, they have to leave a message, patiently wait for a call back, and do so having no idea when that call back will come.

It really isn’t an exaggeration to say that voicemail has become completely irrelevant in today’s business world. That’s why if you are a lawyer still relying on voicemail to help capture your firm new leads, you’ll likely see your firm become completely irrelevant in this new decade as well.

Sorry Lawyers, You No Longer Hold All The Power

Long-time legal professionals may be skeptical about everything we said above and how it will actually affect their law firm. Sure consumers may be losing patience with their clothing stores and restaurants, but are they really going to be impatient when it comes to finding an attorney? Well according to Clio’s 2019 Legal Trends Report, 42% of consumers surveyed say that if they like the first lawyer they speak with, they won’t need to speak with any others. This information tells us that a large portion of today’s legal consumers will happily move forward with the first competent lawyer they get to speak with live over the phone.

Remember your potential clients have a lot of places to get legal help these days. So when an urgent legal issue pops up in their life, and your firm doesn’t provide them with an immediate live answer, there’s a good chance they will just move on to calling other firms. Even if a prospect does leave you a voicemail, there’s a good chance they’ll have already committed to using one of your competitors by the time you call them back.

While in past decades lawyers may have been able to get away with taking hours or even days to call their new leads back, those days seem to be long gone. Today’s legal consumer has become simply too empowered, and attorneys can choose to stay in denial about this and see their practice miss out on numerous clients, or start taking action to win more new business.

Why An Answering Service For Attorneys Is The Solution

If you want to win over today’s legal consumer, you need to make them feel heard and cared for. The best way to accomplish this is to start using Answering Legal. Our answering service for attorneys provides live receptionist support, and is available to field calls on behalf of law firms 24 hours a day. Literally anytime you or your staff can’t get to the phone (or simply don’t feel like it), one of our highly trained virtual receptionists will be there to pick up the call on your firm’s behalf, and start making your prospective clients feel at home.

So how exactly does using Answering Legal compare to relying on voicemail:

• Using voicemail will leave potential clients feeling frustrated and unappreciated. The live receptionists at Answering Legal are always kind and courteous, and will take as much time as needed to listen to your prospect’s legal problems and make them feel valued.
• After leaving a voicemail, potential clients will have no idea when your firm will start addressing their case, or if they will want to take it on at all. Answering Legal receptionists are extensively trained on performing new client intakes, and can begin taking new prospects through the process right away. By starting to gather a caller’s information immediately, you will not only be meeting their on-demand expectations, but making them feel like the handling of their case has already begun.
• It may take hours for busy attorneys to check their voicemail and get around to recording notes from a voicemail message. Lawyers using Answering Legal will receive text and/or email messages right after every call they miss from a new prospect, accurately detailing all of the client’s case and personal information. This way attorneys will always know right away when potential new clients are reaching out to their firm, and can take measures to prioritize the new prospect’s needs.

Using Answering Legal can go a long way towards helping law firms make a positive first impression on potential new clients. And with our answering service for attorneys remaining active during overnights, weekends and holidays, there will be no limit to the amount of new leads we can help you capture.

It’s Time To Send Your Voicemail Into Retirement

Voicemail has been holding your firm back for too long! It’s time to get started with Answering Legal, and find out just how much money your firm has been missing out on by not addressing all of your new leads with a live voice. Get started with a free 7-day trial today by filling out this form or calling us at (631)686-9700.