Many law firms recognize the critical need to partner with a call center to help ease the burden on their legal team. An important consideration when choosing a law firm answering service or legal answering service to partner with, though, is pricing and whether it is fair.
There is no single answer as to what the right price for call center services is. However, knowing what factors impact pricing can help guide you in determining what is fair. Here are factors to consider when assessing the pricing of a call center that could potentially be your partner.
1. Call volume
It’s no surprise the volume of work required of a call center can affect what you pay. Many agencies charge per minute for their various call and intake services. If your law firm experiences a high volume of phone calls, you could pay exponentially more. On the flip side, if your firm typically receives a large number of incoming calls, chances are you could use help fielding them to free up your staff to focus on their cases with existing clients.
2. Range of Services
The variety and quality of services and technology provided by legal intake call centers also impact cost. For example, Alert Communications uses cutting-edge technology to support client intake and other services, and they commit to a less than 3% call abandon rate.
They also offer complete virtual receptionist services and each client has an account manager. Additionally, 45 percent of their intake specialists are bilingual. This quality of service, however, requires frequent and rigorous training of intake specialists in a variety of areas, including empathy, call control, and legal terminology.
3. Location
Another factor to consider when determining if you’re paying a fair price is whether the call center is located in the United State or overseas. Outsourced agencies may boast lower fees upfront, because they typically pay their employees less, but other indirect costs even the playing field in the long run. Additionally, there are numerous benefits you can look forward to when choosing legal answering services in the U.S., including better communication, relevant legal knowledge, professionalism, responsiveness, and security.
4. Customization
Being able to customize services based on your size, client base, and other needs is another important factor to consider. Not all call centers can customize accounts, which means their basic pricing may be lower, but you can’t guarantee you will get the support and help that would be most valuable to your law firm. They often use a “take it or leave it approach” and cookie-cutter formats and templates that may not fit with your firm’s culture, customs and objectives.
5. Vetting Process
Not every phone call, email, or online submission will translate into business for your law firm, but they can consume your time nonetheless. That’s another area where legal call centers can save you time and money. You should assess each center’s ability to properly vet incoming leads when assessing their prices. You can expect cheaper pricing from a company that is focused on passing as many new clients to your firm as possible, without vetting them properly to ensure they are a good fit.
The True Value of Alert Communications’ Pricing
As the popular adage goes, “you get what you pay for.” You can’t objectively evaluate the fairness of call center pricing based solely on the numbers – you have to consider the caliber of services you will get for that price. To properly assess the pricing of a call center, you should consider the quality and diversity of their services; whether they can customize your account to meet your firm’s specific needs; and the rigor and thoroughness of their vetting process. Alert Communications, a U.S.-based legal services call center, offers comprehensive services at affordable prices to support your law firm’s staff on a day-to-day basis and during large campaigns to bring you not only more business, but also more valuable business.
