3 Essential Practices: Outsource Call Handling without Sacrificing Law Firm Reputation

Every interaction with a potential or current client is crucial for your law firm’s reputation.

For smaller law firms especially, one important (and often overlooked) aspect is the character and personality that they possess. This character and personality plays a pivotal role in helping small law firms stand out from their competition.

It’s common for answering services to use one-size-fits-all solutions that make their operations less complicated and more profitable, but also erase the unique qualities that make your law firm different. But it doesn’t have to be this way! If you know what to look for, it’s possible to determine whether an answering service will elevate your law firm’s reputation or mix you in with everyone else – before wasting your time and money.

 

Check for these 3 practices before signing up for a new answering service:

 

1. In-House Style Service

Your virtual receptionists will need to use both in-house language and the same terminology that you do, as well as have access to your law firm’s operational details to deliver a consistent experience.

What does this look like?

• Knowing the names and job titles of everyone in your office
• Using in-house words such as “we” instead of “they”
• Referring to your appointments by their official titles (for example: “Discovery Meeting” instead of “Consultation”)
• Being able to give callers directions to your office
• Having the answers to commonly asked questions and knowledge of who to reach out to for additional information

This is the style of in-house service that leaves your callers asking where your lovely receptionist is when they visit your office.

 

2. Dynamic Call Handling

Certainly few attorneys prefer that all of their calls be routed in the same manner based on availability. Just because you might be available doesn’t mean you’d like to talk to everyone, and just because you might be unavailable doesn’t mean you want everyone turned away. Consider the following:

Suppose you’d like to speak with other attorneys if they call when you’re available. And you need to speak with the Social Security Administration even if you aren’t available when they call! But you’d certainly prefer your clients to schedule appointments to speak with you, regardless of your availability.

In-house receptionists can route your calls this way – and so can virtual receptionists! Intricate call routing takes a bit more time and skill to establish, but it’s more than worth it.

 

3. Custom-Designed Scripting

Your call handling script should be custom-created to fit your law firm like a glove. No one knows your law firm like you do, so stay clear of answering services that boast immediate account activation or require minimal setup questions. A thorough understanding of your law firm’s operations, team members, typical callers, and outcomes you’re looking for is necessary to uphold your reputation. If you aren’t providing that information in detail, you’re signing up for a one-size-fits-all solution.

 

 

Want to improve your law firm’s reputation take your time back? Schedule a call with our Growth Solutions Strategist today.