Drunk driving is a common offense in California. Therefore, your DUI defense law firm will be flooded with phone calls from clients seeking legal assistance. The moments following an arrest can be traumatizing for anyone. Therefore, no one has the patience to listen to an automated message or call back after a rejected call.
When a person contacts a law firm, they want the assurance that you will help them handle their case. This may not always be possible when your staff is busy dealing with other law firm matters. Most of your in-office staff work with existing clients and attend court sessions.
When there is no one to receive a phone call that comes through to your office, you risk losing potential clients, which can deter your firm's growth. Therefore, partnering with an answering service is one of the wisest decisions you can make for your firm. The right answering service will have trained agents to handle all communications with your callers and pass urgent messages to you.
The following are some of the reasons you should consider an answering service for your DUI defense law firm:
Saves on Cost
While you want to provide the best help for your clients to battle their DUI charges, your law firm is a business that requires money to run. Your budget for hiring and training staff to take your calls can impact your profit. The following are some ways an answering service will reduce the cost of operation at your firm:
- Salaries. Partnering with an answering service costs less than hiring and training receptionists. This is because the answering service will only charge for the number of calls and messages they receive for you.
- Equipment. When you work with office receptionists, you must have the latest equipment. However, an answering service comes with their equipment, reducing your business expenses.
- Advertising. When the answering service agents serve your clients appropriately, you benefit from good reviews and referrals. This means you will allocate less money for marketing.
You Enjoy Call Prioritization and Filtering with an Answering Service
Most clients who call your law firm need immediate attention. Legal guidance is critical when battling drunk driving charges. Therefore, the caller wants an immediate solution. However, some people will call your law firm to inquire about small details about your services and other minor issues. For this reason, call prioritization is necessary.
Because clients' concerns are important, handling them is always a priority. When you partner with an answering service, you can inform them of the calls that need urgent attention. In this case, they will be able to forward them to you. Call filtration is critical in ensuring that all clients are served appropriately. A happy client will review your firm well and recommend your services to others.
An Answering Service Creates Illusion of Size
DUI criminal charges can be challenging for anyone. Many people believe that a large, more established law firm provides the best legal services. Although this is not reality, you do not want to lose potential clients to this notion.
When a potential client calls your firm and is connected by a professional answering service agent, they will assume it is large and well organized. This gives them the confidence they need to obtain your services.
Avoid Missing Calls from your Existing and New Clients
Arrests for DUI can happen at any time of the day. Often, most people do not wait until business hours to contact a law firm. Since everyone understands the need for legal guidance, phone calls will always come through to the office. When you work with an in-office receptionist, they have specific hours to be at work. This means that when a call comes through after hours, it could go unanswered.
Legal guidance is critical when battling DUI. Therefore, a potential client will call another firm if you fail to answer their phone call. Even when you have secured a client and are working with them, they may need constant guidance from your attorneys. If an existing client has an urgent matter and you fail to pick up their call, they could move on to seek services elsewhere.
If your DUI defense law firm is in the growth process, you may lack the staff necessary to answer all your calls and take your messages. In most cases, your defense attorneys and other administrative staff in the office will be busy submitting documents, completing paperwork, and attending court dates.
However, when you partner with an answering service, you ensure that all client concerns and inquiries are handled accordingly. Therefore, you can avoid losing clients to missed calls and automated messages.
Helps Cope with the Unexpected
The legal industry is unpredictable. Regardless of your experience and the past success of your DUI defense law firm, an unexpected event can occur, changing the course of your business. For example, when business is slow and you are handling fewer clients, retaining in-house receptionists can be costly.
This is because salaries for office staff are independent of the workload. When less is coming in, and you have to cover all the costs associated with retaining staff, you may need to accrue more profit to keep the business running. Answering service providers often charge you depending on the volume of calls they handle for your law firm. Therefore, you spend less when fewer calls and messages come to your firm.
Your Law Firm Experiences Credibility and Professionalism
Clients' response to your firm on the first call is their first impression of your business. You can impress or push away the client by how their first call goes. Legal matters are often very serious, and most people want to work with a firm that exhibits professionalism.
Sometimes, humans are unable to control their emotions. If your in-house receptionist is having a bad day or is in a bad mood, they could answer a call rudely or informally. This will cause the caller to lose faith in your ability to handle their case.
If you want complete control over people's impressions of your law firm, you should partner with a legal answering service. When you begin working with the answering service, you can give them guidelines on how you want the calls answered. This ensures that the information provided to your callers is uniform.
If you want an easier time, you can hire an answering service with experience dealing with a law firm. In this case, the agents will be familiar with the legal environment and can adapt to the needs of your DUI defense law firm.
An Answering Service Offers Live Human Interactions
When a person faces an arrest for drunk driving, they will have one phone call from their cell. If inmates use that call to contact your law firm, they must listen to an automated message. Moments following an arrest are filled with panic. Therefore, a conversation with a human is necessary for assurance.
If a potential client is met with an automated message from your firm, their first thought is to hang up and call another firm. Additionally, they cannot recommend your firm to anyone else. This can cause you to lose clients. Partnering with an answering service ensures all your clients feel important and prioritized.
In addition to giving your clients much-needed human contact, you save your office staff from returning to the office to check for messages. When a message or call is urgent, the answering service agents will transfer it to the available staff, which keeps you updated.
It helps Avoid the Headache of Hiring and Training New Staff
Working with in-office receptionists causes instability in your business. A receptionist may refrain from showing up to work, or you can fire them for failure to perform. This means you will need to hire other staff. Hiring and training new staff is time-consuming and costly.
When people take time to show a receptionist around and train them to meet your business needs, their productivity is reduced. Finding a professional receptionist can be difficult. However, when you partner with a legal answering service, you will eliminate the headache of finding and training new staff for your law firm.
An Answering Service Will Maximize Return on Your Investment
Making a return on investment is critical to expanding your business. Marketing your law firm will require human resources, money, and time. This can reduce the profit you stand to recover from the business.
With a call answering service, you will receive their basic services of answering calls and marketing. When a call-answering service agent offers professional help to a client, they can recommend your services.
Additionally, they can give a good review on your website, attracting other clients. This allows you to have more clients and expand the law firm without incurring the cost of advertising.
You Receive Value-Added Activities
You and your clients can benefit from an answering service in several ways. The United States has many Spanish-speaking individuals. Some people are more comfortable communicating in Spanish. Therefore, when they call your law firm and have a Spanish-speaking individual address their concerns, it creates more comfort.
When working with an in-house receptionist, you must hire a bilingual receptionist to handle the Spanish-speaking clients. This causes you to incur more costs in training and paying the receptionists. Most answering service providers have bilingual agents. Therefore, you will save on hiring and training new staff. Additionally, you can create a good image for your business.
Increases Productivity of Office Staff
While ensuring that your client's needs are met, you must stay productive. DUI defense law firms are often very busy. Most of your staff will be busy dealing with existing cases, attending to the concerns of existing clients, and attending court sessions. If your staff takes time out of their busy schedule to answer phone calls, they may need to focus more on their primary duties.
Although answering calls is integral to gaining more clients and expanding your business, some calls are not serious, while others are simple inquiries that do not need your attention. Focusing on these calls can take time and effort.
This can reduce productivity and cause work to pile up. Hiring an answering service ensures that your office staff is free to focus on the critical activities of the firm. The only interruption you could face is when an urgent matter is transferred from the call answering service.
Multi-channel Business Intake
DUI defense law firms attract leads from different channels. This could include phone calls, messages, emails, and other web forms. The key to a successful intake of clients is to respond immediately when the inquiry comes in. Office receptionists cannot speak on the phone and, at the same time, answer an email.
Working with an answering service ensures that clients from all intake channels receive their responses. Additionally, when a client needs urgent attention, it is transferred to your firm. The intake answering service agents can email or text to notify your lawyers.
Find a Reliable Call Answering Service Provider Near Me
Criminal activity occurs at any time of the day. For this reason, a drunk driving arrest can arise at night or when you are on vacation. After arrest, a person will consider contacting a DUI defense attorney for guidance and representation. DUI defense lawyers ought to receive phone calls from potential clients regularly.
Sometimes, having staff ready to answer all the calls and attend to all the clients is challenging. Although a solid legal team is the foundation of your law firm, how you represent yourself to potential and existing clients could affect your firm's growth.
When a person is arrested for drunk driving, visiting your office or sitting around and waiting for office hours may be impossible. Therefore, it pays to have a legal answering service. The answering service agents will take your calls, prevent distraction for your staff, and cut down on the cost of hiring an in-office receptionist.
