Legal call centers are not all the same. When you partner with a call center, it’s important to understand your options, know what you are paying for, and be aware of the value of those services.
Here is a guide to some of the main services available through a legal call center and how you can effectively assess legal call center pricing to ensure you’re getting the best value for your dollar. By understanding the points covered here, you can simplify the pricing of legal call center services.
1. Phone Coverage 24/7/365, Live Transfer & Call Routing
People search for legal help as the need arises. Since this is often urgent, they don’t always search during 9-5 business hours. Having a call center that’s not working for you on holidays, weekends, or in the middle of the night could be why you are losing clients. In addition, a call center that doesn’t allow you to route calls when the office is closed is not offering a full-service experience. When you do not answer the phone for people in need, they will move on to someone who will.
Remember, 11 percent of law firm calls last less than 10 seconds because people give up when they cannot reach a person. Responsiveness is the key to landing clients.
2. Amount of Services They Offer
The pricing of legal call center services varies significantly, often based on the services offered. Unfortunately, this makes it hard for legal call centers to simplify pricing. Some services you may find include:
- Virtual receptionist
- Full customization
- Fully-vetted intake process
- Web, text, and chat responses
These are just some examples. Make sure you choose a call center that offers everything you need.
3. Bilingual Legal Call Center
In the United States, an estimated 52.6 million people speak Spanish. Many of those do not speak English. Can your call center cater to their language needs? If they cannot communicate, you will lose potential clients simply due to a language barrier.
4. Location – U.S. or Not?
The pricing of legal call center services also depends largely on location. You can choose a call center located outside of the United States, and you will most likely pay less for services. However, you may sacrifice the quality of the phone calls as a result. This could cost you potential clients. An offshore legal call center may provide less security, poor communication with your firm, and their employees could have limited knowledge about the legal services you offer.
5. True Customization to Fit Your Needs
Many legal call centers offer one-size-fits-all products in order to simplify pricing. They are not able to customize their services to meet your exact needs. This is due to the lower prices they offer. Each law firm has a unique set of needs and you need a legal call center that clearly understands and embraces this fact. If the price seems lower than average you should dig deeper to see if customization is offered.
The quality of the legal call center is reflected in the pricing. While this guide may help simplify pricing, you need to do your own research to ensure you’re getting what you need. Now that you know what it is you are paying for, you can get the most value for your money. Be sure to check out our answering services for law offices! We provide a wide range of legal call center service to support all types of attorneys.