When it comes to the professional services, there are few with higher standards than legal firms. Working so closely with the law and the delicate matters of their clients, lawyers hold themselves and their service providers to the highest standards of quality and integrity. They must provide a great service to their clients at all times – which includes answering phone calls and responding to web chats quickly and efficiently. But if the phone lines are ringing for too long, or the web chats go unanswered, how will that reflect on the professional standing of the company?
Saving Time With Call Answering
When you’re working in a legal firm, time is of the essence. A lawyer’s time is often stretched, with paperwork, meetings, phone calls and court dates all battling for attention. But what if an enquiry can be dealt with, without needing to be put through to the solicitor themselves? This is a much more efficient use of everyone’s time. A telephone answering service is the perfect way to ensure all calls to the firm are answered, filtering out the important ones that really need to be put through to the right person within the firm. This ensures each solicitor’s time is well protected, without sacrificing client happiness. It also makes it much easier to deal with holidays and time off. Paul Donnachie from Donnachie Law Court solicitors agreed, saying:
“I am enjoying the thought of having enquiries passed over to me by the call-answering team if I’m away from my desk or take time off – without having to worry about missing out on new business.”
Connecting with Clients Through Web Chat
But what about potential clients who would rather send a message than call up? Perhaps a new territory for legal firms, web chat is fast becoming a necessity. It can help qualify new enquiries, giving prospective clients the information they need quickly and easily, be it finding out about the legal services you offer, an idea of fees, or booking an appointment. This could certainly offer a competitive advantage. It’s also a great way to engage with existing clients. More and more people are doing business at all times of the day, when it suits them – which could be when your practice is closed. But using web chat, each enquirer has an immediate human interaction and their query attended to immediately, all of which leads to better customer service and a stronger client experience.
Cost Saving in the Process
The big advantage for solicitors using a call-answering or a web-chat service is the cost savings. Running a law firm isn’t cheap and hiring a full-time receptionist is expensive – especially when you consider recruitment, training and general employment processes. A call-answering service can provide you with the same results (better usually) but at a fraction of the cost. As our client Alex Brown from Bakers solicitors noted:
“We have saved a minimum of 30% on the cost of employing one receptionist. Plus savings on office space, equipment, pensions, payroll costs, management time and red tape!”
At Verbatim we’ve worked with many law firms to help them streamline their service and protect their most valuable asset – their time. Whether you’re a small firm or a large one, we can help you manage your working hours more efficiently, improve your customer service and save money while we’re doing it. If you would like to know more about our call answering and web chat services specifically tailored for legal firms, get in touch with the team today.
