When you’re choosing a virtual receptionist for attorneys to partner with and answer your law firm’s phones, it’s easy to focus on the obvious things: availability, technology, pricing, and legal intake capabilities.
But there’s another factor that can be more important and much harder to measure – culture.
The virtual legal receptionists you hire are representing your firm to potential clients often during high-stress moments. How those people are treated, trained, recognized, and supported internally can show up in every conversation they have externally because great client experiences don’t happen by accident. They’re created by people who genuinely care about the work they do and the people they serve.
At Back Office Betties, our values aren’t just words in a handbook or something we mention during a Zoom call. They’re built into how we hire, how we recognize our people, how we treat each other, and how we show up for the law firms that trust us with their clients.
Our BettieIsms are central to everything we do:
(1) Be A Good Human
(2) Be A Boss
(3) Be A Goal Digger
Our BettieIsms are more than catchy phrases we like to say. Although, admittedly, we do like to say them.
They’re our north star, our secret sauce, and the culture behind every call, every intake, and every interaction.
You can’t put a price tag on good culture. But you can hear it on the other end of the phone. And – trust us – your clients can hear it, too.
Here are five ways we put our BettieIsms to work and how your firm benefits from them.
1. We Celebrate Bettieversaries
At Back Office Betties, we don’t believe in letting a work anniversary quietly pass by with just a “Congrats on another year!” Google Chat.
Each year a Bettie spends with us is worth celebrating.
On every Bettieversary, our team members receive a paid day off to celebrate their milestone, a gift card of their choice that increases in value each year, $100 to enhance their home office, and an increase in their PTO accrual rate.
And when a Bettie hits five years? We really bring out the confetti. They receive a $3,000 bonus and two full weeks of paid time off.
Why all the fuss?
Because experience matters and consistency matters. The longer our Betties are here, the better they know our clients, their processes, their preferences, and the nuances that make each law firm different. That experience translates into more confident conversations and more consistent service for the people calling your firm.
In other words: Happy Bettie + Experienced Bettie = Better Call.
You might call that Bettie Math.
2. We Recognize the “Betties” behind Back Office Betties
Every quarter, we recognize two Betties who consistently demonstrate what it means to Be a Good Human, Be a Boss, and Be a Goal Digger.
Our team members nominate their peers, shining a spotlight on the people who are living our values in the everyday moments that don’t always make it onto a performance review.
The winners are celebrated during our quarterly company meeting and receive a monetary award. Of course, there are cheers, congratulations, and plenty of virtual high-fives. Because when a Bettie is doing Bettie things, we believe in making sure everyone knows it.
When does that matter to your law firm?
Because what gets recognized gets repeated. When empathy, ownership, accountability, and excellence are celebrated internally, those behaviors become part of how our team naturally interacts with callers and clients.
We aren’t asking our Betties to “be nice” on the phone. We’re building a culture where being good to people is just how we do business.
3. We Have a Dream Manager – Because Betties Have Lives
They have families. They have bucket lists. They have vacations they’re saving for, goals they’re chasing, and dreams that have absolutely nothing to do with the work. And we think that’s a good thing.
Every Bettie maintains a Dream Manager list, where they can record up to 100 dreams, from personal ambitions and travel adventures to milestones they want to accomplish along the way.
Knowing what matters to our people gives us more opportunities to celebrate in ways that actually mean something.
Because “Great job, Bettie!” is nice, but helping make their dream come true is better.
When people feel known and valued as people, they’re more likely to feel engaged in the work they do.
And that matters when your law firm is trusting someone else to be the first voice your potential clients hear.
4. We Know Pet Grief is Real Grief
We have a confession to make: We’re very serious about pets around here.
For many of us, our pets aren’t just animals. They’re family members, best friends, emotional-support supervisors, and sometimes the most demanding coworkers in our home offices.
A survey by the Pew Research Center found that 97% of U.S. pet owners consider their pets part of the family, and more than half say their pets are as much a part of their family as a human member.
When a Bettie loses a beloved pet, we don’t expect them to simply shake it off and get back to work.
We offer two days of paid pet bereavement leave because compassion shouldn’t have an asterisk.
And while pet bereavement leave may seem like a small thing, it says something pretty important about the kind of company we want to be: We care about our people when life gets hard, not just when they’re sitting at their desks.
That compassion doesn’t disappear when they put on their headsets.
5. We Work Hard and Do Good.
Being a Good Human doesn’t end when the workday does.
Every Bettie receives one paid day off each year to do something that makes the world around them a little better. That might mean volunteering, helping a nonprofit, supporting a community organization, or simply doing something meaningful to them.
We also match up to $350 per employee each year in charitable donations, helping our Betties support the causes they care about most.
Doing good shouldn’t require a permission slip. When you give employees opportunities to contribute to something bigger than themselves, they bring that same sense of purpose and service into their work.
That’s important in our business. Your clients aren’t calling because they’re having the best day of their lives. They’re often calling because something went wrong or something is about to change. They need someone on the other end of the phone who understands that.
Your Clients Can Hear Your Culture
Here’s the thing about culture: When you outsource your legal answering service, you’re outsourcing more than your phones. You’re outsourcing a piece of your client experience.
You are putting someone on the front lines of your brand, trusting them to represent your firm when a potential client calls. So yes, you’re outsourcing culture too.
Whose culture are you choosing to outsource?
When looking at a virtual receptionist service for attorneys, you’re selecting more than a legal intake partner, you’re making a decision about the people who will be there for your clients.
That’s why we believe our culture isn’t just an employee benefit. It’s part of what you’re buying. When you outsource your phones to us, you’re not just outsourcing a phone line, you’re outsourcing good culture.
Ready to put our culture to work for your firm? Schedule a discovery call with Back Office Betties and let’s talk about what happens when great culture meets great client service.
