A selection of articles related to popular and up-and-coming legal technology and its best uses for attorneys at small law firms.

Tag Archive for: Legal Tech

8 Essential Tips to Manage Small Law Firm Finances & Bookkeeping

Finances & Bookkeeping (for Small Law Firms)

Finances and bookkeeping may not be the most exciting part of managing your small law firm… But it’s crucial for the success of your practice. We’ve put together a list of practical tips to help you manage this important aspect of your business. So, let’s dive in and master the art of small law firm money management!

 

1. Keep Business and Personal Finances Separate

Avoid financial confusion by keeping your personal and business finances separate. Maintain separate bank accounts and credit cards for your law firm. This will simplify tracking your firm’s financials and make tax time much easier.

This isn’t to say that you can’t use your personal cash to finance your business. Many solo attorneys and small law firm owners do. If you’ve chosen to put personal money into your law firm, that’s fine, but keep your accounts separate.

2. Create a Budget and Stick to It

Budgeting may not be glamorous, but it’s the foundation of financial success! Create a budget that covers all your law firm’s expenses, from rent to salaries to office supplies.

When creating your budget, it’s important to:

  • Be thorough and realistic with your estimates
  • Regularly review and adjust your budget as needed

That’s right – budgeting isn’t a one-and-done ordeal. It requires continuous review and adjusting to stay on track.

3. Invest in Legal Accounting Software

Make your life easier by investing in legal accounting software. Meaning accounting software that was specifically designed for law firms. Look for features such as trust accounting, expense tracking, and time tracking.

The right legal accounting software will help you to:

  • Automate tasks
  • Streamline financial processes
  • Generate accurate financial reports

Need some ideas? Check out this article from Clio on the Best Legal Accounting Software for Lawyers.

4. Keep Accurate Bookkeeping Records

Good bookkeeping is essential for your law firm’s financial success. It’s important to keep meticulous records of all financial transactions. Precise organization is key.

You should be reconciling your accounts regularly (read: at least once a month). Don’t have time? (Who does??) Consider outsourcing your bookkeeping tasks to a virtual assistant. Outsourcing is a great way to free up your time and ensure accurate record-keeping.

5. Stay on Top of Cash Flow

Make Lots of Money as an Attorney

Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business, including law firms.

Here’s how to stay on top of it and ensure your law firm’s financial health:

  • Create cash flow projections
  • Monitor your income and expenses, making adjustments as necessary

Be proactive in addressing any cash flow challenges

6. Plan Ahead for Taxes

Don’t let tax season catch you by surprise. Stay ahead of the game by:

  • Keeping accurate records of your income and expenses
  • Setting aside funds for estimated tax payments
  • Familiarizing yourself with tax regulations for small law firms

Taxes can be, well, taxing. Consider consulting with a tax professional to optimize your tax strategy.

7. Review Financial Reports Regularly

Financial reports provide valuable insights into your firm’s financial performance.

To assess the health of your law firm’s finances, regularly review:

  • Profit and loss statements
  • Balance sheets
  • Cash flow statements

Use these reports to inform your financial decisions and adjust your financial strategy as needed.

8. Outsource to a Virtual Assistant

Consider outsourcing some (or – who are we kidding – all) of your financial and bookkeeping tasks to a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants can assist with tasks such as:

  • Data entry
  • Expense tracking
  • Financial reporting
  • Client billing

Outsourcing financial tasks frees up your time to focus on what you do best – practicing the law! Be sure to carefully vet your virtual assistant before hiring to ensure confidentiality.

Alternatively, you can work with a virtual legal assistant provider. Back Office Betties supports a range of highly-qualified virtual legal assistants allowing you to hire a new employee… without the hassle of recruiting!

 

Following these essential tips, you’re ready to manage your small law firm’s finances like a pro. Remember, sound financial management is key to the success of your law practice. Stay organized, be proactive, and keep a close eye on your firm’s financials. Here’s to your firm’s financial success!

 

Learn more about how Back Office Betties Virtual Legal Assistants can make your life easier and your law firm more profitable. Schedule a call with our Growth Solutions Strategist today.

Live Chat for Law Firms: Do Attorneys Need It?

Law Firms without Live Chat Are Missing Out on Potential Clients

The legal landscape is becoming increasingly digital… and law firms (even the smallest law firms) need to adapt to changing client expectations. Live chat is a great first step.

Law firms that have live chat on their websites see the following:

  • Enhanced engagement
  • Improved client experience
  • Increased generation of new business.

What Is Live Chat?

Live chat is a real-time online conversation tool. It allows your visitors to chat with your law firm right on your website.

In this blog post, we’ll review the benefits of live chat for law firms… and discover why more and more attorneys are adding it to their websites.

 

1. Increased Engagement

Client engagement is crucial for law firms. It builds trust and establishes strong relationships. Live chat enables your law firm to engage with potential clients on your website in real-time:

  • Answering questions
  • Addressing concerns
  • Providing immediate support

This creates a personalized experience and a warm first impression for potential clients.

You can also use live chat to offer help and guidance to leads who are browsing your website… but haven’t contacted you. All you need to do is initiate a chat yourself.

 

2. Improved Client Experience

Attorney and Client

An exceptional client experience is essential for generating referrals and positive online reviews.

Live chat improves the client experience by offering a convenient contact method. Your clients can chat with your law firm without needing to make a phone call or send an email. As a result:

  • Response times are reduced
  • Long waiting periods are eliminated
  • Your law firm shows that you value your clients’ time

 

3. Capturing Contact Information

Capturing leads and generating new business is essential for your law firm’s growth. Live chat is an effective tool to help.

You can require your visitors to provide contact information when initiating a chat. Such as:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Phone number

That contact information can then be used to follow up with leads later on. This makes live chat a fast, low-effort way to capture leads that you can nurture into potential clients.

 

4. Increased Website Conversion Rates

What is website conversion rate? It refers to the percentage of website visitors who take desired actions. Examples of desired actions are:

  • Calling your law firm
  • Submitting a contact form
  • Scheduling an appointment

Live chat boosts website conversion rates by offering an immediate way for potential clients to contact you. Many people are more likely to engage in a chat conversation than navigate through your website or fill out a contact form.

Live chat can also help address objections or hesitations in real-time. Allowing you to overcome barriers to conversion and guide leads toward taking action.

 

5. Competitive Advantage

In today’s competitive legal industry, it’s crucial to stand out. Offering a convenient contact option, like live chat, gives you a competitive edge. It also demonstrates that your law firm is tech-savvy and customer-focused.

Potential clients compare many law firms before making a decision. Stand out by offering immediate support and addressing their concerns on the spot.

 

6. Cost-Effective Communication

Is there a cost-effective way for law firms to implement live chat?

Absolutely!

Legal virtual receptionist providers, like Back Office Betties, can handle your live chat services for you. You’ll provide instructions on how to handle conversations. And professional legal receptionists will represent your law firm in real-time.

Moreover, live chat streamlines communication and reduces the back-and-forth that comes with email. Meaning you’ll spend less time on non-billable work and see a faster path to inbox 0!

 

Conclusion

In today’s digital age, live chat is increasingly valuable for law firms:

  • Improving client experience
  • Capturing valuable leads
  • Generating more new business
  • Providing a competitive edge in the legal industry

Long story short, it’s time for attorneys to embrace the power of live chat!

 

Schedule a call with our Growth Solutions Strategist today. Learn more about professional, legal live chat services and how they can help your law firm.

Save Time & Sanity by Turning Your Practice into a Self-Service Law Firm

The Self-Service Law Firm

Running a law firm is a little like juggling while riding a unicycle. Oh, and the pins you’re juggling are on fire.

You’re probably going to wind up exhausted, a little bruised up, and possibly burned.

Between handling the day-to-day logistics, client acquisition, and billing headaches, there’s not a whole lot of time left to actually, you know, practice law.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. More and more law firms are offering self-service options that enable clients to do a lot on their own. These options can help you save time, money, and sanity.

 

What tasks can a self-service option handle?

Automation and self-service portals can handle a lot of tasks that may currently be overwhelming you and your staff. For example, think of the time involved for your staff to take a client’s name: it needs to be spelled and then verified. Why not just have the client enter their name themselves? It’ll be quicker for everyone involved, with less risk of error.

Some of the tasks that could benefit from a self-service option include:

  • Scheduling. Although many people will still prefer to call your office to schedule, there are also many who will prefer to choose an open time from your online schedule.
  • Intake. This can be offered during the scheduling process or later on. Allow your clients to fill in their own information to increase accuracy and decrease the amount of time your staff spends on this task.
  • Client Portal. Setting up a client portal allows your clients to access documents and bills directly from their computers or devices.
  • Client Education. The use of a client portal also gives you the option to provide educational materials to your clients, thereby potentially decreasing the amount of introductory education you need to provide during in-person consultations.
  • Online Bill Pay. Reduce the amount of physical mail that needs to be sent, received, and processed by offering online bill pay.

 

Benefits for attorneys

The benefits of self-service options for law firms are immediately apparent. You’ll potentially be able to:

  • Reach more clients.
  • Collect information with more accuracy.
  • Reduce the amount of time your staff has to spend on data-entry tasks, making them available for more important work.
  • Be able to collect testimonials and reviews more easily and consistently.

 

Benefits for clients

Many self-service tasks will benefit both you and your client. Potential benefits for clients include:

  • The ability to access their client portal from wherever they are.
  • The convenience of online billing and bill pay.
  • Providing education, making clients more confident in the legal process.
  • Increased satisfaction with their experience from start to end.

 

Improve the Experience for Everyone

Self-service tasks will increase productivity on your end and satisfaction on your client’s end. Some lawyers worry, though, that they don’t have the knowledge or ability to implement these solutions. But your firm is probably already using software like LawPay, Clio, or AcuityScheduling — so you may already offer your clients some self-service options.

Remember, you don’t have to build everything all at once. You can make changes and add services as the need arises.

 

Curious about how to structure and implement self-service offerings? Download our free e-book to see how automation can improve your service and give you time for more important tasks (and billable hours).

Turning Passion into Practice

Make a Difference Doing what you love

Would you quit a job you enjoy to start a new venture you’re passionate about?

Alene Anello, a graduate of Harvard Law School and president of Legal Impact for Chickens, faced this very decision. Eventually, she used her entrepreneurial spirit to found a litigation nonprofit that married her passion and purpose with her experience as a lawyer.

Originally inspired to learn about industrial animal agriculture thanks to her beloved pet chicken, Conrad, Alene has turned her lifelong love of animals into a career.

Find out how Alene decided to establish her own organization, what drives her work, and the one tech tool she couldn’t live without as a solo practitioner.

Making Life-Changing Career Decisions

Looking back, Alene’s career path wasn’t much of a surprise.

“My story was basically just that I’ve always been very opinionated,” says Alene.

“I was passionate about animal protection even before law school and I just wanted to keep doing animal protection in some way, Alene shares. “But I never envisioned being an entrepreneur.”

Alene began writing down her ideas and how she wanted to approach cases differently from what she was seeing. Eventually, she had listed so many things that she realized it was time to branch out as a solo practitioner.

The first step? Leave her good job.

“It was almost like my dream job…except I kept having these ideas,” says Alene. “It’s been really scary and really wonderful and exciting.”

How Consumers Can Help

We asked Alene what the average consumer can do to help the cause of Legal Impact for Chickens. She shared that “there are a lot of different things you can do; that depends on what feels right for you.”

People interested in supporting the ethical treatment of the animals should consider:

  • Trying vegan products that act as meat-free chicken alternatives
  • Advocating for better treatment of chickens by support organizations like LIC
  • Researching food companies they purchase from and asking them to pledge to improve the treatment of chickens
  • Researching how to interpret food labels to find the most ethical products

“I think it’s all about thinking about what feels right for you,” Alene explains. “There are a lot of really easy things you can do to improve animal lives. It should never be something that feels really unpleasant because then you’re not gonna stick with it, but something where you feel good about it. That’s the kind of thing you’re gonna do over and over again.”

The Tool You Can’t Live Without

When Alene was starting Legal Impact for Chickens, she was at first overwhelmed by the many different things that she had to do. She wanted to save money, so case management software was off the table. After trying to track her tasks with a notes document on her computer, Alene started to feel stressed out—until she found the perfect tool.

Now, when it comes to getting things done (and as an entrepreneur, there is a lot to get done), Alene swears by the task management app Todoist.

“It’s basically just like the best to-do list ever,” Alene explains. “You can just set a list of things to do with dates. Then when you’re done with them, you can click them off and it feels very satisfying.”

Stay in Touch With Legal Impact for Chickens

If you’re interested in keeping up with Alene and her work with Legal Impact for Chickens, visit legalimpactforchickens.org and follow LIC on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

 

Putting the Client Experience First

FOCUS ON CLIENT EXPERIENCE (Stop Wasting Your Marketing Dollars)

How can firms stand out in a crowded online space and make meaningful connections with clients?

 

This is the question that drives Gyi Tsakalakis, President of AttorneySync, a legal marketing agency that helps leading lawyers grow their practices through digital marketing. Gyi shares how solo law firms should approach marketing, the client experience, and their digital footprint to gain a competitive advantage.

They Don’t Teach You This in Law School

When it comes to running a firm, most lawyers aren’t prepared for the marketing side of things.

I’m a licensed lawyer, even though I’m not practicing. And I can tell you when I went to law school, they didn’t teach marketing and business stuff,” says Gyi. “Especially now with all the tools and technology and social networks and all this internet stuff—lawyers get overwhelmed,” he adds.

You went to law school to learn the history of law, not to learn how to create Facebook ads, right?!

“Unless they came from that background or had been an entrepreneur in another context, why would we expect them to know anything about running business marketing, especially when it comes to digital?”

Yet marketing can help attorneys establish a larger client base and grow sustainably…when done right. The key to marketing a solo firm, says Gyi, is looking at the big picture: client experience. This encompasses client engagement, client intake, and client service. If a firm has poor client experience, all the marketing in the world can’t help them grow.

Gyi particularly focuses on the importance of handling client intake, which sets the stage for the rest of the client experience.

An ineffective client intake process might look like this:

  • A website visitor clicks on the chatbot and asks a question and never receives an answer.
  • A referral emails the firm using the primary email and doesn’t receive a response for 2 weeks.
  • A potential client finds the firm’s phone number online, calls, goes through an automated answering service, and gets frustrated when they can’t speak to a person.
  • A potential client calls the firm and leaves a message, and does not get a call back until the next week.

Despite all of the work done to get clients through the door, this unpleasant client experience will cause drop-offs at an early stage of client intake. “You’ve got to fix that stuff first before you actually spend a single dollar on marketing,” Gyi explains.

How to Stop Wasting Marketing Dollars Through Client Experience

Get more bang for your buck by focusing on the client experience. This approach will help you retain the leads coming in, ensuring that your marketing is pulling in leads that convert rather than leads that drop off during intake.

How can a solo firm put this into practice? First, think about every experience that a potential or current client has with your firm.

Try asking these questions:

  • What does a potential client see when they search your name online?
  • What do they see when they arrive at your website?
  • What happens when they call you?
  • What happens when they email you?
  • Where can they reach you?

Everything you set up has to be viewed from their perspective, not just what’s most convenient for you.

The answers to these questions can guide solo law firms in creating client-centric processes. Ultimately, the real goal is to answer client questions and help them identify if your firm is the right fit for them right away. That’s not always realistic, so the next best thing is to set their expectations and stop their search.

Establishing a solid client experience could mean the difference between keeping a lead in your funnel and a lead heading back to Google to find the next lawyer to work with.

The #1 Marketing Tool Every Lawyer Needs

 If there’s anything that Gyi wants lawyers to take away from marketing it’s this: you absolutely must sign up for Google My Business.

This goes back to his approach to the client experience. “People are gonna go look for information about you online,” Gyi explains. “Google has the lion’s share of search traffic.”

How you appear in Google is going to make a big difference for those searches. If your firm doesn’t show up on Google, for instance, it’s likely the search will stop there. However, if your firm shows up with a website, reviews, and a phone number, they are more likely to get in touch.

Think of Google My Business as the website before your website…and it’s free! All you have to do is claim the profile and fill it out. This boosts your digital presence and legitimizes the firm for clients. You wouldn’t have a law office without a sign on the building, and you also shouldn’t have a law firm without a digital presence.

Enlist a Marketing Expert

Solo practitioners have a lot on their plate, and running a firm can mean learning on the go. You can’t master everything at once! Get the most out of your marketing with a strategy that maximizes marketing dollars spent by building a digital presence that brings in leads for your firm and turns them into paying clients.

If you’re ready to amp up your digital presence and stand out in a crowded market, you can reach Gyi at attorneysync.com, connect with him on LinkedIn, or follow him on Twitter.

The Top 5+ Mistakes Attorneys Make In Running Their Practice

Don't Let These Mistakes Attorneys Make Hinder Your Law Firm's GrowthMistakes are inevitable. Especially for small law firms that are just starting out. The good news is that overcoming these mistakes is possible and doing so will get your firm back on track for growth.

Below are the top mistakes attorneys make in running their practice and ways to avoid them.

 

Mistake #1. Failing to Communicate With Their Clients

The #1 bar complaint is lack of communication.

So why is failing to communicate with clients such a common mistake that attorneys make?

 

Short answer: They fail to view situations from their client’s perspective.

Your clients want to know what’s going on… even if there’s nothing going on. You might think you don’t have an update, but you do:

  • There’s no news yet
  • I’m still working or waiting on paperwork
  • Etc.

Set expectations for when your clients can expect to hear from you – and follow through!

After speaking with a client, tell them when you’ll be in touch again. And reach out when that time comes. Keep your clients in the loop to relieve their anticipation.

 

Mistake #2. Not Setting Up an Effective Intake Process

Not completing intakes on the initial phone call is likely the most common mistake attorneys make regarding new client intakes.

 

Your firm should be completing new client intakes on the first call.

 

It’s important to hook potential clients right away – they will be calling through a list of attorneys to find someone they connect with.

Potential clients feel like they have already found their attorney and begun their process when an intake has been completed.

If your competition is taking messages and letting calls go to voicemail while your firm is completing intakes on that first call, there is no contest.

 

What is an effective intake process?

Effective intake processes are streamlined and easy to follow. They ensure that the same information is collected each time and that nothing gets overlooked.

The #1 intake secret is building a script that establishes a streamlined process and leaves your callers with a competent and professional impression of your firm.

 

Not developing an intake script is a common mistake that attorneys make.

 

Mistake #3. Not Settling Into a Niche

Potential clients search online for exactly what they need:

  • “Divorce lawyer in Austin, Texas”
  • “Lawyer for bankruptcy Phoenix, Arizona”

 

Very few people are searching for:

  • “Lawyer”

And if they do… “lawyer” covers EVERY ATTORNEY in your area.

 

People want to hire a legal expert who specializes in their case type. The same way they want to see a cardiologist for heart disease, not a general practitioner.

Furthermore, finding a niche allows you to simplify your law firm’s operations. Focusing on the same type of cases will eliminate the back and forth of moving from case type to case type.

 

Mistake #4. Not Paying Enough Attention to Customer Service

Satisfied customers are the most valuable element to growing your law firm.

And once you’ve narrowed your competition by settling into a niche, how can you differentiate yourself within that group? With excellent customer service.

Too often, attorneys overlook the importance of empathizing with their clients and connecting with them on a human level.

Avoid that by doing the following:

  • Ask for feedback.
  • Keep your clients updated.
  • Ask them how they’re doing (Genuinely).
  • Make sure your receptionist is utilizing friendly verbiage.
  • Set up a referral program.
  • Use layman’s terms and check in to confirm your clients are understanding often.
  • Make them feel taken care of.

It can be embarrassing for clients to admit they don’t understand the terms you’re using or scenarios you present which can leave them feeling out of control and lost.

 

And remember that it’s never too late to fix mistakes. Poor customer service leads to bar complaints, negative reviews, and a lack of referrals.

Customer Service Recovery Paradox

 

Wow your clients with great service and they will send their friends and family to you

 

Mistake #5. Avoiding Technology and Automation

Many law firms seem to be stuck in the past when it comes to technology and it’s one of the biggest mistakes attorneys make.

But there are so many tech tools that can help you run your firm.

 

CRMs and Practice Management Software

A good legal CRM and/or practice management software will transform your law firm.

  • Keep your clients and leads organized and connected to their cases, paperwork, correspondence, appointments, and billing.
  • Automate emails and track referral programs to save you and your staff time and headaches.

 

Payment Processing

As Above the Law so eloquently states:

“Today, if you ask anyone under 35 for payment via check, you might get a perplexed look and a response like this:

‘Uh… I don’t use checks. Can I Venmo you instead?’”

 

While Venmo might be a little difficult for law firms to navigate, credit card payment is an option for almost all firms. You may have to pay fees or pay for a software subscription but it is well worth it.

Both receiving and making payments will be more reliable and painless. Resulting in a win-win for you and your clients.

The easier it is for your clients to work with you, the more likely they are to leave good reviews and refer you to friends and family.

 

Mistake #6. Spending Too Much Time on Administrative Work & Not Charging Enough Billable Hours

Lawyers report spending only 2.5 hours per day on billable work.

That number is painful, but surely not surprising. Every small law firm struggles with finding enough time for billable work, making this one of the most common mistakes that attorneys make.

 

Administrative work is TIME-CONSUMING and tedious. And frankly, there is no reason that you should be doing it.

The money spent paying someone else to do your administrative work is substantially less than your hourly rate. The misconception that answering phones and completing administrative work yourself saves money is one of the most common when law firms are first starting out.

This is because it costs you in the long run and prevents your firm from taking on more business and growing.

 

The misconception that answering phones yourself saves money is a common roadblock for small firms looking to grow.

 

Furthermore, if you have your paralegal or office staff taking your calls, consider hiring a legal-specialized virtual receptionist service. (Back Office Betties is a great choice, wink wink).

Your time is valuable, but so is your paralegal’s – let them take some of the more complicated administrative work off your plate and stop wasting their paycheck on calls. The only person that should be answering your everyday phone calls is a dedicated receptionist or receptionist service.

 

 

Is your firm making any of these mistakes? Request a call with our Growth Solutions Strategist to strategize the best route to growth for your law firm.

 

The Giant List of Tools That Run Back Office Betties (That Can Help Run Your Law Firm Too)

Virtual Tools to Run Your Law FirmThe number of virtual tools you can find online is nearly endless.

It’s hard to sift through everything and find the tools that are worth your time and will actually help run your law firm.

Luckily, we have a full toolbox and we’re going to share everything that helps us run Back Office Betties with you!

 

  1. Officevibe

Officevibe is an online tool that enables you to keep track of employee morale through anonymous feedback.

You can create custom surveys with polls and text-based questions or use Officevibe’s pre-made templates. Surveys are sent to employees by email and are answered anonymously. For text-based questions, however, you can give your employees the option to answer anonymously or not.

This tool helps management stay aware of employee morale and the effects it has in the workplace. Allowing your team to speak candidly about problems and experiences makes for better employee retention and relations.

Track responses and engagement rates over time, broken down into 10 key metrics. Officevibe also allows you to schedule 1:1s and provides guidance for managers on responding to feedback and growing within their leadership roles.

Pricing: $4/user/month

 

  1. Snagit

Snagit is a screen capture and recording software.

Snagit is a great tool to create video tutorials and how-tos. You can record your screen and audio or take and edit screenshots. Their editing features include drawing tools, text boxes, arrows, directions, etc. Use their templates to transform your screenshots into step-by-step instructions or manuals.

These features save you time and confusion explaining processes and training new employees. New employees, especially, take in so much information that it’s impossible to remember every detail. Video and image tutorials make it easy for them to go back and review. (And you won’t be interrupted with questions either!)

Pricing: One-time fee of $49.99/user with discounts for more users.

 

  1. Screencastify

Similar to Snagit, Screencastify is a Google Chrome extension that allows you to record your screen and create instructional videos.

You can record your tab, whole screen, or webcam only. A great feature is the ability to embed your webcam anywhere in the recording. (Hello to your talking head in the corner.) Screencastify also has great annotation tools such as mouse spotlighting, a drawing tool, and click highlighting.

The videos are easy to share and save. Recordings auto-save to your Google Drive, and you can export them as MP4, MP3, or even animated GIF! If you want to upload directly to YouTube, that’s an option too.

Pricing: $0 with a 5-minute recording limit or $49/year for unlimited.

 

  1. UberConference

UberConference is an online video conferencing software.

UberConference simplifies video conferencing – no pins, passwords, or downloads required! It’s easy to switch between camera and voice only during the call, and individual callers will be highlighted while speaking. You’ll never have to ask, “Who just said that?” again. Screensharing is quick and easy, and settings can be toggled to allow any caller to share.

After meetings end, UberConference provides you with a detailed summary of what happened and a link to the recorded meeting. The summary will include who was on the call, action items, and voice transcriptions of everything said. You can even search through the transcriptions for keywords.

Pricing: $15/month for up to 100 users.

 

  1. Teramind

Teramind is a computer monitoring software with a multitude of features.

The main purpose of Teramind is to record and collect data from employees’ computers. Teramind also serves as a way to protect private information and put in place restrictions and permissions.

The following are only some of the features that Teramind offers:

  • Monitor Recording – Watch employee’s screens live and access the recordings later.
  • Administrative Access – Take full control of monitored computers at any time. This feature is fantastic for troubleshooting tech problems with your team.
  • Audio Recording – Record audio picked up through the computers’ microphones and listen live or access recordings later.
  • Keyboard Monitoring – All keystrokes and copy/paste operations are logged – including passwords. Use this feature to ensure strong passwords are being used and not repeated.
  • Email Tracking – Save all email information and set up alerts to notify when mail is sent to non-corporate or suspicious hosts.
  • File Transfer Tracking – Track files’ movement through systems and block access to certain folders or locations. This is a first-line defense against data leaks!
  • Printed Document Data – Collect information on printed files and print requests. Set alerts for attempted printing of sensitive data.
  • Productivity Evaluation – Monitor active vs. idle time and create custom productivity indicators. Analyze how your employees’ time is spent by minute-to-minute activity monitoring.
  • Website Monitoring – Create notifications for when entertainment, off-limits, or suspicious websites are accessed.

All of the information tracked and monitored is easy to search through with a variety of metrics.

TLDR? Jump over to Teramind’s webpage detailing Teramind for Legal and Risk Management.

Pricing: $10 – $25/user/month

 

  1. Coassemble

Coassemble is an online platform designed to create training courses for your employees.

Coassemble lets you easily create online courses for anything you need. Split your courses into sections and add quizzes or checkpoints throughout. Embed videos, images, and audio anywhere you want. And don’t stress too much, you can make updates and changes at any time.

There are 40+ templates to choose from when creating each question or presentation page. Coassemble lets you completely customize your courses to your brand with headers, logos, background colors, and more.

It’s easy for your employees to enroll themselves through a direct link, or you can assign them courses through Coassemble. You’ll have access to all the data you need, including reports showing completion rates as well as grades and checkpoint completion.

Pricing: $399/month for unlimited everything.

 

  1. Gusto

Gusto is an all-in-one online HR software. Their platform has you covered with everything you need and more. Gusto makes HR easy!

Some of their primary features are:

  • Onboard new employees – Send offer letters and store new hire paperwork. Utilize their e-sign tool and complete the whole process online.
  • Employee Benefits – Employees can enroll in benefits themselves and are walked through the process by Gusto.
  • Time Tracking – Employees can clock in and clock out right from their Gusto account.
  • Run Payroll – Gusto does the math for you.
  • Manage PTO – Enter your PTO policies, and employees can submit PTO requests and view their balances themselves.

Pricing: $39/month plus $12/user/month for the Complete Plan.

 

  1. Paperform

Paperform is a flexible online SaaS platform that provides you with all-in-one tools for various business solutions.

Paperform combines both thoughtful design and serious digital smarts. From conditional logic, guided mode, and calculations to rating, rank, and appointment fields you can create solutions for all your needs.

The drag-and-drop functionality, in-app editor, and 25 question types offer you the opportunity to create from scratch. Designed to be as simple as writing a document, you don’t need to be tech-savvy to customize backgrounds, tweak colors, change fonts, and add or edit images and videos anywhere on the page.

Don’t want to start from scratch?

Design fully customizable forms, quizzes, and surveys, take payments, schedule appointments, and perform complex calculations using one of their 500+ templates. If you need it, they have it.

Forms can be embedded in your website or shared directly with a unique URL. You can use your form to process payments through Stripe, PayPal Business, Braintree, and Square. Paperform even has its own scheduling software that integrates with its forms.

Pricing: From $20/month when paid annually for their essentials plan

 

  1. Design Pickle

Design Pickle is a flat rate custom design and illustration service.

With Design Pickle’s flat-rate plans, you can request unlimited designs with unlimited revisions. All of your requests will land in a queue, and you can rearrange their order at any time. Design Pickle promises a 2-3 day turnaround on all requests. For their Graphic Design Pro plan, they promise same-day delivery.

Create unlimited brand profiles and work with one designated designer who will get to know you and your vision personally. Design Pickle’s clean and simple interface makes it easy to request designs and communicate with your designer.

Pricing: $400/month when paid annually for their basic plans

 

  1. Acuity

Acuity is an online scheduling system that makes managing your calendar easy.

Acuity offers a highly customizable experience and a clean interface. On the back end, you can organize your appointment types by color and set custom automatic reminders by email and/or text for each appointment. On the front end, your scheduling page can be customized with background colors, and pictures and descriptions linked to your appointments.

Clients can schedule themselves through your customized scheduling link, or by a direct link to each appointment. Your calendar will auto-adjust for time zones, and clients can pay for appointments and add-ons and fill out paperwork during the scheduling process.

Pricing: $23/month when paid annually

 

  1. Trello

Trello is a free online collaborative productivity platform.

Trello lets you create boards with lists and cards. Work by yourself on a private board or invite team members to collaborate.

Create a board for your team and assign tasks to each member by creating their own list. You can set a list to ‘watch’ and get notified when changes occur. Each card is customizable with formatting, to-do lists, and pictures. You can also add deadlines and customized labels.

Simply drag and drop cards from one list to another. As a bonus – their mobile app is excellently adapted making it easy to stay on track on the go.

Pricing: Free!

 

  1. Stripe

Stripe is an API software for customizable payment solutions.

With stripe, you can create easy to navigate payment pages for everything:

  • One-time checkouts
  • Recurring payments or subscriptions
  • Usage-based billing
  • & more

Their software is optimized for any device and carries from one to another seamlessly. Customize invoice templates to match your brand with color choices, and all the fields you need for one-time charges or recurring payments.

Pricing: 2.9% + $.30 per charge.

 

  1. Clickfunnels

Clickfunnels is an online sales funnel builder.

Clickfunnels will help you build beautiful pages with an easy drag and drop builder that guide your visitors through your website and prevent them from getting lost or leaving. Clickfunnels helps you lead your customers through the sales process by:

  • Introducing your business
  • Demonstrating your services or products
  • Bringing them to a landing page with the information they need to contact you.

Pricing: $99/month

 

  1. OneDrive

OneDrive is a personal cloud storage system by Microsoft.

Access your files from any device. Your phone, laptop, desktop, tablet, etc. Create shared folders to collaborate with coworkers and avoid zipping and emailing large files. OneDrive will also keep everyone’s files safe in case of unfortunate events such as lost or broken devices.

Pricing: $1.99/month with OneDrive Standalone with 100GB or Included with Microsoft Office.

 

  1. Sticky Notes App (Microsoft Windows)

The Sticky Notes app on Microsoft Windows is a virtual sticky pad.

It’s simple, and maybe doesn’t sound too exciting, but don’t overlook Sticky Notes! Perfect for taking quick (or long!) notes during a meeting, phone call, or while working on projects. Virtual sticky notes have some advantages over your tried-and-true paper notes.

  • Make them any size you want – 1 or 2 inches to full screen.
  • Tuck them away for later – Closing your note doesn’t delete it. The Sticky Notes app keeps a handy list of all your past notes that you can pull from at any time.
  • Add pictures – Embed pictures right in your note.
  • Easy formatting – Just click to switch to bold, italics, underlined text, strikethrough, or add bulleted lists.
  • Change colors – A great way to keep notes organized is color-coding!

Pricing: Included with Microsoft Windows

 

  1. DocuSign

DocuSign helps gather signatures in a seamless and secure way, then sends copies of the signed documents to both parties. Easily manage your contacts and client agreements without the hassle of printing, scanning, or faxing.

You can upload your own documents, or you can create new documents and agreements within DocuSign with their templates and brand personalization. With the Business Pro plan, you can also easily accept payments at the time of signing, cutting out yet another step for your clients!

Pricing: $10-40/month

 

  1. Zoho

With 62 apps in total, Zoho has everything you need to run your office.

Zoho organizes those 62 apps into 8 categories:

Sales & Marketing

  • CRM – Everything you need to manage clients and customers.
  • Campaigns – Send marketing emails to your leads and clients.
  • Bookings – An online scheduler that allows clients (or coworkers!) to schedule meetings that integrate with Zoho Calendar.
  • Meeting – Meeting is a video conferencing software that integrates with your Zoho Calendar appointments.

Email & Collaboration

  • All of your office suite apps such as Mail, Writer, Sheet, Docs, and Calendar.
  • Cliq – An online messaging platform that lets you stay in contact and collaborate with your coworkers easily. Create groups by department, project, or simply one on one to streamline communication and keep your team just one chat away.

Finance

  • Books – Similar to Quickbooks, Books keeps your finances organized with a clean and easy-to-navigate interface.

Human Resources

  • People – Organize your hiring and onboarding process, track attendance and PTO, and manage your company’s departments.

IT & Help Desk

Customer Service

  • Desk – Organize customer or client conversations and tickets and assign tasks to your team members.

Custom Solutions

Business Intelligence

Zoho has multiple bundle plans, so you can choose the best fit for you.

Pricing: $30/user/month for the all apps included bundle: Zoho One.

 

  1. Canva

Canva is an online design platform with endless possibilities.

No matter what you need to make, you can make it with Canva. There are over 420,000 templates to choose from, in a multitude of genres:

  • Posters
  • Logos
  • Videos
  • Flyers
  • Resumes
  • Business Cards
  • Book Covers
  • Letterhead
  • Invoices
  • Cards
  • T-shirts
  • And even Zoom Virtual Backgrounds!

…to name a few.

Additionally, there are 75+ million stock photos, videos, graphics, and audio to choose from.

Canva has multiple plans, including a free version, and they offer video tutorials to help you through designing for all your needs.

Pricing: $9.99/month for 1 person when billed annually on their Pro plan.

 

Our toolbox is always growing, and we’re always making renovations to keep Back Office Betties in tip-top shape.

Have a tool you can’t live without? Let us know about it!

Want to take it a step further and start automating your law firm? Download our Money-Making Automations guide here.

Troubles With Google Voice? Here’s What We Recommend Instead

Trouble with Google Voice Free Phone Services

We understand the attractiveness of the free version of Google Voice, but is it really benefitting your law firm? Let’s dive into the facts.

Who Is Using The Free Version Of Google Voice?

The free version of Google Voice has continued to increase in popularity among small businesses. It’s easy to understand why: Small business owners need to save money where they can and will always be on the lookout for ways to do so. In fact, the majority of the companies who use this version of Google Voice have less than fifty employees.

Google Voice Is Not Meant To Be Used For Business

Unfortunately, the free version of Google Voice simply isn’t intended for business use. In fact, Google actually changed the name of this version to include, “For personal use”.

When you consider all of the known issues and the frustration this service has caused business owners and administrative staff, it makes sense that they are dissuading businesses from utilizing the service. Though, perhaps the most concerning aspect of this for businesses is the fact that the quality cannot be guaranteed. When you’re running a small business like a law firm, you need reliability. Google Voice simply doesn’t provide that.

There Is No Customer Support

The only support offered to users of the free Google Voice is a list of commonly asked questions and community forums. Run into an issue and need tech support? You’ll be left hoping that someone else has publicly solved that same problem on a forum in a way you’re capable of accomplishing by yourself.

Do you really want the operations of your business reliant on a “fingers crossed” situation?

Call Forwarding Is Tricky And Known To Not Always Work Properly

The most common complaint with Google Voice is that call forwarding simply stops working out of nowhere, sending your calls straight to voicemail.

The initial call from a potential new client is crucial and can make or break their trust in your law firm.

If you were trying to find a lawyer and had a list of numbers to call in front of you, would you really waste your time waiting around to see if someone gets that voicemail and returns your call? Not if another firm answers and can get your process started right away.

This is where that lack of technical support can really cause some issues.

Here’s the scenario: It’s the middle of your workday. You’re busy and working on time-sensitive cases. After a while, you realize all your calls have been going straight to your voicemail.

What can you do? Spend the rest of your workday on Google’s community help forums? Lose all of your potential new clients for the rest of the day? Neither of those is ideal, so why chance putting yourself in that situation in the first place?

Your Receptionist Only Has So Much Control Over Your Calls

There are a couple of things to consider when using Google Voice with a virtual receptionist service such as Back Office Betties:

Google Voice is designed to quickly locate a human for a live answer. If the call is not answered within a few seconds, it then forwards to Google Voicemail. Unfortunately, this means that if a call comes into our system during a high-volume time and rings more than a couple of times, the call will route to Google Voicemail.

Not only does this take the call out of the hands of the professionals you’re paying to WOW your callers, but it’s also sending messages to yet another voicemail box that you’ll need to check.

Many of our clients do use the free version of Google Voice in conjunction with our services successfully, but the fact that some law firms have issues is enough for us to work out some alternative suggestions for your law firm.

Keep in mind, the Betties team will always do our best to troubleshoot anything within our power. We can track a call once it’s entered our system and your receptionist team has successfully answered. However, if the issue of Google Voice sending the call to Google Voicemail arises, we may not be able to offer a full resolution to the problem.

We Recommend Taking A Look At These Other Providers

You might be thinking that sure, there are some drawbacks, but doesn’t the fact that it’s free make up for that? Not really.

If you want to grow your law firm, client experience is everything. When it comes to phone services, saving money now might lose you business later.

There’s a saying that goes “If you buy quality, you’ll only cry once.” While we don’t expect your phone service provider to be a big enough ticket to have you crying, it will absolutely help you avoid crying every time you miss a potential client’s call due to Google Voice acting up!

Phone Service Providers That We Have Had Positive Experiences With:

 

RingCentral

With an annual contract, RingCentral’s Standard plan is $24.99/user/month. This includes 24/7 support, quality-of-service reports, integrations with popular applications, unlimited audio conferencing, and internet fax, among others. Take a look at their solutions for small businesses.

Dialpad

Dialpad boasts serving some of the most innovative companies like TED, Uber, and WeWork. Their Standard plan is $15.00/user/month with an annual contract. This includes unlimited calling, SMS and MMS, G Suite & Office integrations, among others. Take a look at their small business solutions.

8×8

8×8 has a special page on their site for legal solutions. They have mobile and desktop apps, enterprise-grade security, and 14 countries in their unlimited telephony calling zone under their Standard plan, which costs $24.00/user/month with an annual subscription.

Vonage

Now serving companies as large as Glassdoor and Allstate, their original business model catered to families and small businesses. Vonage uses a pay for what you use by the minute/message pricing system. Outbound calls start at $0.0139/minute. Some features include, 24/7 customer support, call analytics and reporting, integration with popular applications, among others.

Grasshopper

Made for small businesses, Grasshopper includes mobile and desktop apps, incoming call control, virtual fax, voicemail transcription, detailed call reports, and more with all of their plans. Their Solo plan with 1 phone number and 3 extensions is $26.00/month with an annual contract.

Nextiva

Rated the Best Business Phone Service in 2020 by U.S. News, Nextiva offers unlimited calling, texting, and faxing worldwide, 24/7 support, unlimited conference calls, and video conferencing, among others. Their Professional plan is priced at $31.95/user/month for 1-5 users with an annual agreement, and costs are lowered with longer agreements and a higher number of users.

 

All of the above were featured in either The Best Small Business VoIP Providers of 2020 from GetVoIP or Best Business Phone Systems of 2020 from U.S. News and many of our clients have success in using them.

 

We are here to ensure all your calls are answered – don’t let your phone provider sabotage you! If you have any questions about forwarding calls to Back Office Betties or ensuring that your current call process is suitable for your law firm, give our Growth Solutions Strategist a call at 800-958-8591.

How to Automate Your Law Firm While You’re Working From Home

Automate your law firm while working from home

Now that you’re working from home for the foreseeable future, whether you are more or less busy than usual, it is the perfect time to automate your law firm. If you’re more busy than usual, this is important to help you save time and money and bill more of the hours that you are working. If you are less busy than usual, this is the perfect time to dedicate time to making your transition back to the office easier! Pro tip: You can also use this downtime to really hone in on your marketing and automate that, too!

Why You Should Automate Your Law Firm

To some, automation sounds scary and gives the impression that you are taking the personal touch out of everything in your firm. However, our favorite definition of automation is the creation of a system that takes repetitive work off of your plate and allows things to happen seamlessly without you thinking about them. This can absolutely mean that another human does the task for you! Whether you automate tasks that your assistant handles or you outsource tasks completely, you don’t have to take the personal touches out of your law firm. And frankly, you shouldn’t!

Automation provides time freedom and ensures that you don’t need to be working on things that aren’t billable. Once you set up a system, it should be able to run over and over again with only your initial hours invested. Can you imagine how much time and money this saves you?! No need, because we found the facts and figures for you:

According to the Clio Legal Trends Report, attorneys spend an average of only 2.5 hours on billable work per day and only actually collect payment for 86% of those hours. In addition, there is data to suggest that you could save up to 9 work weeks each year by automating the repetitive and non-billable tasks. Imagine the number of billable hours you could fit into 9 work weeks!

Can you picture how much simpler and enriching your workday would be if you could set up processes one time and focus solely on your billable work afterward? You signed up to be an attorney. You’re good at being an attorney. You shouldn’t be wasting time each day sending invoices or answering the phone for solicitors or sending marketing emails. Heck, you really shouldn’t even be spending time intaking new clients!

How Automation Will Help You to Work From Home

Whether you are super busy or pretty slow during this pandemic, you are likely juggling work with family. Not to mention, you’re trying to do it all in the same place with no breaks. You can’t really automate your family but you can absolutely automate your work to make the juggle a little easier.

Consider this. Your phone is ringing but you’re in the middle of typing up a client agreement and your child needs help figuring out a math problem and your spouse is asking what you’d like for dinner and your clients are blowing up your inbox with questions. Wouldn’t this scenario be so much less stressful if your phone was being answered by someone else and you know that your client agreement is already typed up and sends when triggered by the previous task and your email has messages drafted and ready to go that cover most of your client FAQs, you just have to hit send? Phew! That run-on sentence was exactly how chaotic this series of events feels when you’re not automating your firm.

Now you can focus on quality time and the client questions that are only applicable to their case. You can spend more working hours on billable work and research. You can focus on helping out with math problems and cooking dinner. Your phone isn’t ringing off the hook and your clients are taken care of in the background. What a dream!

What You Can Automate in Your Law Firm

This is not an all-inclusive list, but it is a great start! Keep in mind that you can automate just about anything you want to; automation can just be another human doing a task for you. Get creative! Is there anything you absolutely dread doing or that takes up a ton of your time? There is likely a way to automate it.

Client Management

Managing your leads and clients and all of their questions, matters, case notes, etc. can be really tough. There is so much to keep straight! When you use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, things get a whole lot easier. If there is a certain process that happens during client intake or after their first call, CRM makes it really easy to automate it. You can set up tasks that trigger based on certain criteria. Say that you have a new client call: You enter their information which triggers an automated email thanking them for their call and informing them of next steps. Then a task triggers to your assistant to reach out and ask follow up questions. Once those answers are input, another task triggers that informs you of what you need to do for their case. The limit of possibilities does not exist! Not to mention, every step is documented so you can easily see what has been done, what emails have been sent, and what still needs to be done.

Invoicing

Make payment processing easy and painless by triggering invoices to be sent after certain tasks are closed or deadlines are met. You can easily draft common and customized invoices for different items or billable hours and link them to your client management so that they send at the proper times. Some payment processing systems will even send reminders when due dates are approaching or pass by, helping to ensure you don’t miss out on getting paid for your hard work.

Scheduling

There are two great ways to automate your scheduling and client intake. We believe that it is best to implement both!

The first is to have a scheduling link on your website that allows clients to put themselves on your calendar. You can set up a thorough intake process that asks all of the pertinent questions and delivers them to your inbox without anyone having to speak to the client to get it. Ease of access is a big selling point for busy clients so the easier you make things on them, the easier things can be on you!

The second is to have someone else schedule appointments and intake new clients for you. There is nothing billable about grabbing information from a PNC and clients are not expecting to get through to the attorney the first time they call. The smart thing to do is to pay someone else to field those calls and ask all of the pertinent questions, then schedule the caller on your calendar under the appropriate appointment type. This one leads right into our next automation.

Phone Calls

Answering your own phone calls is for the birds. How many times does someone call you over and over again when you can’t (or just don’t want to) answer? What is the number of calls you miss when you’re in a meeting or having a Zoom appointment with a client? What happens when someone calls while you’re eating lunch and just took a huge bite of your sandwich? How often are your kids screaming or your dog barking in the background while you’re trying to be professional on the phone?

Even if you don’t automate anything else while working from home, this one is a must. Having someone to screen your calls and speak to your clients while relaying the important stuff to you is invaluable and saves more time than you could imagine. Whether this person is an answering service (psst, we’d love to help!) or a full-time receptionist, this automation is the number one thing you can do to make more money while also increasing your productivity. Remember – you’re not getting paid to answer the phone for a telemarketer. At the same time, not answering every time is the quickest way to lose a client.

Email

You may be wondering how you can automate your emails when your inbox is overflowing daily. The answer is easy: Set up templates that answer FAQs. You can use a template as an easy jumping off point if more information needs to be added. However, this is a speedy way to quickly answer those frequently asked questions with the click of a button.

Another option would be to hire a Virtual Assistant to monitor your inbox and reply to those FAQs or to screen your messages. This is really helpful when you get an array of emails and need help keeping them straight. We offer this to our clients who are on our Platinum plan and have heard nothing but raving reviews as to how helpful it is.

Social Media Posting

Social media can be frustrating and time-consuming. One thing that really helps to make social media less difficult is to plan ahead. Schedule your posts ahead of time for the month with different tools like Facebook’s Publishing Tools or Hootsuite. This not only saves you daily frustration, but it saves you the time of switching tasks. When you’re on the spot each day, it can take twice as long to actually make a post. Then you have to consider the time spent refocusing on your important tasks at hand.

Marketing

Automating your marketing is a huge time saver and one of the top things you need to automate first. Since marketing is what brings you clients in the first place, it just makes sense to spend the time setting it up to run automatically. Make money when you sleep, baby!

The first step is to ask yourself a few questions. What’s already working in your marketing? Do you have a fantastic lead magnet? Are there marketing emails that have gotten great response in the past? Take all of that and create systems so that everything runs seamlessly without your touch. This takes some time but it is hands down so worth it! And if you’re less busy than usual right now, what better to do than set up some money-making systems?

Set up workflows through your CRM to send email sequences to leads, target your traffic through pixels on your website, and never stop using ads that are working. You can also create a monthly campaign calendar that you recycle each year. This helps to keep your marketing fresh without spending too much time on it every month. Simply create your monthly offers and gimmicks for the year once, then reuse what works.

Relish in Your Newfound Time

We hope this helps offer some insight into how you can automate your law firm and make your day-to-day life so much easier! Use that freed up time to hang out with your family or use it to bill more hours, but whatever you do, quit doing the repetitive tasks yourself. Automation is truly the best thing you can do for your law firm in terms of growth (and keeping your sanity).

If you’d like to chat about how we can help with your phones, please give us a call at (800)958-8591.

How to Capture More Clients With a Better Intake Process

We want to take a moment to introduce Kat, co-founder of one of our new favorite web calendars, CozyCal. Kat understands the need for efficiency and customer service for a successful business and shares some great tips in this article for boosting both in your firm. In the case of current worldly events, this is proving to be more important than ever!

We all understand that delivering great customer experience is important for businesses to attract leads and build a client base. However, based on Clio’s 2019 Legal Trends Report, even before being faced with the Coronavirus pandemic, attorneys fall short in delivering quality communications to clients. In a study done with 1,000 law firms, a majority of law firms suffer from poor email and voicemail response. Even though law firms are better at answering phone calls, they rarely return calls. And when they do get time to follow up, they don’t provide enough information over the phone.

Clio Legal Trend Report

Source: Legal Trend Report By Clio, 2019

It is alarming that in Clio’s report, among surveyed clients who have contacted a lawyer, 64% mentioned that the law firm they didn’t end up hiring failed to respond to their phone or email. Clients have low expectations for law firms in general. This finding presents a gap between clients’ expectations and what law firms think they can deliver. When firms are delivering substandard customer experience, they risk turning prospective clients away.

But the finding also presents an opportunity for you to work on making your intake process better. If you can run a streamlined client intake process that beats clients’ expectations, your chance of getting hired is much higher than competing firms. So how can you improve your client intake process? There are two solutions that you can try.

1. Hiring a virtual legal receptionist

If you are a solo-attorney or runs a small law firm, answering phone calls during work hours can interrupt your workflow. When you are unable to respond to qualified leads’ voicemails or follow up afterward, you are losing opportunities to acquire clients for your practice.

Hiring an in-house legal receptionist seems to be the most obvious solution. But the cost can be expensive. On average, a full-time legal receptionist’s annual salary is approximately $46,360 USD. When you take into account ancillary benefits such as health insurance and paid vacation, the cost can add up quickly. Moreover, there is the opportunity cost in hiring, training and managing a receptionist. The more time spent on doing these administrative tasks, the less time you have to focus on client work.

An alternative solution is to hire a virtual legal receptionist. This solution offers several key benefits that might make it a more suitable choice for you.

  • Cheaper pricing: Many legal virtual receptionist firms offer tiered pricing plans that satisfy the needs of law firms of different sizes. Back Office Betties is a boutique legal virtual receptionist firm whose plans range from Bronze ($299/month, 100 minutes) to Platinum ($1,599/month, unlimited minutes). If you go over the plan’s limit in call minutes, they simply charge by the minute for as low as $2.59 per minute. If you do the math, the cost of a virtual legal receptionist is much lower than an in-house receptionist. In addition, the monthly subscription-based payment model gives you the flexibility to change your plan easily so you are not locked in with a fixed cost.
  • More Responsive: Legal virtual receptionists provide much better flexibility in responding to calls. Even if lead calls are coming in outside of office hours, they can be taken care of by the virtual receptionists. While some virtual receptionists can take incoming calls after business hours, some can even stand by 24/7 to make sure no calls are ever missed.
  • Legal expertise: Unlike generic virtual receptionists, virtual legal receptionists are trained to understand legal terminology, process, and software. For example, Back Office Betties has their own training program “Betties Legal Academy” that equips receptionists with an essential foundation to communicate with clients professionally. Delivering quality experience to your leads is more likely to win them over for your business. Legal virtual receptionists like Back Office Betties offers flexible and cost-efficient pricing plans to accommodate law firms with varied needs

2. Installing a scheduling tool on your website

Another alternative solution to improve your firm’s onboarding customer experience is installing a scheduling tool on your website. Nearly 40% of all small law firms don’t have websites. And of those firms that have websites, 70% do not have a call to action item on their homepage. As more people are finding information online, it is important for you to make it accessible and easy for leads to reach out to you.

An easy-to-use and reliable scheduling tool like CozyCal allows you to automate your firm’s intake process so you can capture quality leads anytime and anywhere. By automating scheduling, you can reduce the risk of no-shows, customize your intake process and save a great amount of time in the long run.

CozyCal Intake Form Example

By installing a scheduling tool like CozyCal, you can automate scheduling and capture leads around the clock.

  • Capture leads right on your firm’s website: You can create a customized and professional booking experience to capture potential clients. When you deliver an easy-to-use intake process that meets potential leads’ expectations, you are more likely to retain them as your clients. Qualified leads can view your pre-set availabilities with one simple click to schedule free consultation sessions right away. This eliminates the painful back-and-forth calling and email tagging while you can manage all your appointments in one place.
  • Collect information through intake forms: Based on your appointment types, you can create customized intake forms to collect key information from guests such as their full name, email, phone number and reason for consultation. The intake form information is saved automatically so you can always follow up with qualified leads later on.
  • Powerful integrations for streamlined scheduling: CozyCal provides a wide variety of integrations including Clio, Stripe, Google calendar and Microsoft 365 that connects scheduling with your existing workflows easily. If you are using Clio, the Clio integration allows you to sync with Clio’s calendar in real-time, send information collected from intake form to Clio’s calendar events, and automatically create new contacts in Clio.
  • Save cost: If your budget doesn’t allow you to hire someone else to manage appointments for you, a scheduling tool like CozyCal can save you a fair amount of money. Paying only $15 per month, you can automate your law firm’s scheduling and have it onboard new leads 24/7. You only need to convert one captured lead into a client a year to cover the cost of using CozyCal.

Whether you prefer to hire a legal virtual receptionist for the person-to-person interaction, use a scheduling tool to automate intake process on your website, or even combine both solutions, the goal is the same: to leave a good first-impression on leads and provide stellar client experience even at the early stage of the business funnel.

Uncertainty is at an all-time high right now. By adopting these solutions, you can become a more responsive firm that delivers quality communications in a timely manner and provides your clients with a clear process and the support they crave.

When you have a systematized intake process in place that goes above and beyond clients’ expectations, you will be able to capture more clients and grow your firm in the long run.

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