Why You Should Get Ahead Of The Curve On Hiring A Legal Virtual Receptionist Service

We’re sad to report that losing clients to voicemail remains one of the biggest weaknesses of the attorney community. It’s astounding to see just how many of today’s lawyers still swear by their voicemail and claim they capture new leads from their missed calls. The truth is that the sooner lawyers accept that their firm shouldn’t be relying on technology created in the 1980s to capture new business in the 2020s, the sooner they can start taking advantage of the incredible opportunity that is in front of them.

The most successful attorneys are able to leverage themselves above their competition that still believes in the “voicemail method”, and create a better, more accessible channel to connect with their new clients. In this post we’ll tell you how to go about humanizing your firm’s lead capturing experience and make potential clients feel truly cared for.

Law Firm Callers Expect Instant Answers

If you’re a lawyer that still thinks clients work on your schedule, you’re going to have a tough time operating in the digital age.

According to the 2019 Clio Legal Trends Report, 82% of clients agreed that timeliness was important to them when reaching out to a law firm. The report also detailed that 70% of clients desire a clear understanding of the legal process and what to expect.

When consumers call your firm for the first time, they want information and they want it fast. Even if a new prospect found your firm’s advertising to be impressive, not answering the phone can instantly destroy any initial impression you made on them. Almost no one in need of pressing legal attention will be willing to leave you a voicemail, then sit around for hours waiting for your call back. If you aren’t prepared to give clients the information they seek, they will move on right away to finding someone else that can. And that someone usually is a top competitor.

An ABA study found that new prospective clients only reached an attorney 9% of the time on their initial phone call to a law office.

This data proves that the majority of the legal industry is clearly struggling with their lead capturing, which means there is tremendous opportunity for those firms that are always picking up the phone. But, how can law firms with limited phone answering staff get ahead of the curve?

It’s Time To Invest In A Legal Virtual Receptionist Service

Legal consumers demand live attention, and the only way to ensure your firm is able to give them that on a 24/7 basis is by signing up with Answering Legal. Our legal virtual receptionist service is a law firm’s ultimate safety net. Any calls a lawyer and their staff can’t get to, or simply don’t want to get to (take back your evenings and weekends), our virtual receptionists will be there to answer.

Answering Legal receptionists can be counted on to pick up the phone right away and greet your new leads and existing clients in a highly professional manner. You can also trust our team to handle important receptionist duties such as performing new client intakes, recording messages (which get sent to you via text and email after the call), scheduling appointments, and live transferring calls over to you when urgent new client opportunities arise. Oh, and did we mention our receptionist team is bilingual!

So just to recap:

• Legal consumers expect a quick response when reaching out for legal help. Your voicemail will force them to wait, and make it unclear when they will hear back from one of your attorneys. Our legal virtual receptionist service will give them a live representative of your law firm to speak with right away and a time frame for when they can expect to hear from a lawyer.
• Answering Legal’s staff will start collecting your caller’s personal and case information right away, letting new prospects know that help is just around the corner. Your voicemail will frustrate new leads, and push them towards shopping around with your competition.
• By letting calls go to voicemail, you could be wasting hundreds or even thousands of marketing dollars each month. By investing in Answering Legal’s highly affordable virtual receptionist staff, your new lead conversion rates are likely to skyrocket, and you’ll be able to make the most of every advertising campaign you run.

Ready to give your practice a leg up on the competition? Get started with a free trial of Answering Legal today. Fill out this form or call us at (631)686-9700 to get started.