Phone It In: How Do You Get Calls Answered?

Law firms only answer 1 of 3 phone calls they receive, on average.  Couple that with the fact that 64% of law firm voicemails are not returned, and there isn’t much “service” left in law firm “customer service.”

The good news is that this is all fixable.  And it’s merely a matter of how you might array a number of call-answering options.

Although lawyers can pick up phones on their own (delighting leads and clients in doing so), that can be a difficult thing for solo and small law firms to do because they run the risk of having each of those calls converted into an open consultation.  The better solution is to have an administrative staff person dedicated to answering calls; and it’s better if that person is not a paralegal who would be drawn off of performing billable work in order to answer the phone.  Perhaps the best option of all is to engage a virtual receptionist service whose staff can follow scripts and answer your calls 24 hours a day.  That also allows you to mix and match solutions.  For example, if the attorney and/or her staff are able to answer the phone during working hours, a virtual receptionist service could pick up after-hours calls at a reduced rate.

No matter how you manage the logistics, it’s important to ensure that clients (and especially) leads get an answer when they call your law firm.  If that doesn’t happen, you’re likely to lose new business and endanger the happiness of your current clients.

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If you need help managing your law firm communications, pick up the phone and give us a call.

The Wyoming State Bar offers free law practice management consulting services through Red Cave Law Firm Consulting.

To request a consult, visit the Wyoming State Bar’s law practice management page, and start running your law firm like a business.

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