8-15% of a business’s customers are lost every year due to indifferent or negative treatment when calling an office.

This includes law firms.

If a potential client is on the phone, this could mean they turn to the competition for legal services.

Most business owners – including attorneys – don’t want this to happen. This is where the services of an attorney answering service can be invaluable.

If you are ready to increase productivity, client satisfaction and profits at your law firm, continue reading.

What is an Attorney Answering Service?

Before getting into the benefits an attorney answering service offers, it is a good idea to learn what exactly it is.

An answering service is different than a traditional answering machine or voicemail. It is a professional business staffed with real people who answer phone calls for clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The virtual answering service serves as a middleman between the caller and the attorney’s office. In most cases, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between an in-house and outsourced service.

Here you can find six reasons why using the services of an attorney answering service just makes sense.

1. Avoid Missing Calls

While this may seem obvious, it is a pretty big benefit of these services.

The growth (or lack of growth) of your firm can be directly attributed to how easily you can be reached. If a potential client calls and there is no real person on the other end of the phone, they are likely going to move on to the next attorney on their list.

By having an answering service, there is always someone there to take the call.

This is also beneficial for current clients who want to feel like they are a priority and want consistent communication.

2. Have Someone to Answer Basic Questions

An answering service will also be able to answer basic questions potential clients have. This helps to prevent interruption to the attorney who may be handling more sensitive things.

Some of the things that an attorney answering service can handle include:

• Directions to the office
• Appointment Confirmations
• Scheduling
• Other FAQs

This will help free up an attorney’s time, while still allowing potential clients to speak to a real person. It is a win-win situation.

3. Reduce Interruptions

As your law firm grows, more and more calls are going to come in. While this is good, it can also be a huge distraction.

With constant interruptions comes a reduction in productivity. Also, a ringing phone in the middle of a meeting can seem quite unprofessional.

With an answering service, you can take the fear out of losing future business. Someone will be there to answer the phone.

Also, you won’t have to take your attention away from someone you are meeting with. Thanks to answering services there are fewer distractions.

4. Improves Organization

One of the most challenging issues related to taking phone calls is being able to stay organized.

When you use an answering service, all this is taken care of for you. The call is answered; time, caller information and a message are then recorded.

Most answering services will even ask certain specified questions to ensure they have everything needed from the caller.

Once the message is recorded, the answering service will deliver the information to you electronically. This means you can receive call info as soon as the phone is hung up.

This offers another benefit. You will be able to respond to calls as they come in, rather than having to handle a large number of messages at once.

Also, the records will be stored. This means you can search through them and use the information at a later date with ease.

5. More Affordable

Having an in-house receptionist can be expensive. Also, most of these workers are only going to work normal business hours, limiting when you can answer your client’s calls.

With an answering service, you have real, virtual receptionists, answering your calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

There are several ways you may be charged for these services, too. You can pay based on the total number of calls you expect to receive. Or you can pay a set amount for a certain number of minutes. There are also monthly plans offered by some answering services.

Another reason having answering service is better is because you don’t have to worry about your receptionist being sick or going on vacation. There is always someone there to pick up the phone.

6. Agents are Trained and Compliant with Data Protection Laws

You may be concerned about issues related to data protection and privacy.

To alleviate this worry, simply choose an attorney answering service who has agents that are trained to be compliant with all sorts of data protection laws.

Some to look for include the Data Protection Directive, COPPA, FACTA, and HIPAA. Ensure that all of your calls are private and fully protected.

Is an Answering Service Right for Your Law Office?

As you can see, there are several reasons why you should consider using an attorney answering service.

You will have a team of dedicated professionals who have only one job – to answer calls coming into your office.

As a result, you can feel confident you are getting what you pay for and that the job is being done properly and efficiently.

If you would like to get started with quality answering services for your law firm, contact us today!