Criminal defense attorneys usually face several unique challenges every day in their line of duty. Because of the nature of your work as a criminal defense attorney, you should expect client calls even at 2 a.m or on holidays when someone's life or freedom is on the line. When potential clients call your line at midnight, you shouldn't hesitate to pick up the phone because they need your help and need it right away.
Since it is almost impossible to anticipate when potential clients might call your business line needing your legal help, you cannot afford to lose any chance of offering them the legal representation they need. That is why today, in this blog, we will discuss why you should use an answering service for your criminal defense law firm.
Understanding Criminal Defense Law Firm Answering Services
Nowadays, for a law firm to stay competitive and reputable, there is a need to do more than just hiring the best legal receptionists in town. A law firm with reliable customer service treats their clients over the phone and other communication platforms like emails with the same attention and seriousness as walk-in clients.
As much as you would wish to respond to all of your customers' calls whenever they call your office line, despite the time and place, it would not be possible because we all need time to relax, recharge and rejuvenate for the next day's chores.
It is not worth losing a potential case to another criminal law firm and a chance to do what you do best because you are on the phone with another client or you are at home enjoying priceless moments with your family.
For that matter, you should consider outsourcing an answering service provider to handle your clients' call overflows when you are on the phone with other clients and emergency calls all round the clock.
A criminal defense law firm answering service provider is typically a call center with professional answering agents whose core duty is to respond to your clients' needs over various communication channels that you use for your business.
Criminal defense attorneys do it all from conducting legal research, litigation, advising clients, mediation, strategizing about cases, and staying up to date with any law adjustment. However, sometimes you don't have to do it all because some of your office duties are better in the hands of other professionals who can handle them better and differently to boost your firm's customer service and reputation.
If you are often out of the office to attend your clients' court proceedings and investigate various cases more than you are in our office, having call answering agents in your law firm would help a lot.
Reasons Why an Answering Service is Important in a Criminal Defense Law Firm
There are various reasons you could need answering service agents in your law firm, regardless of your firm's legal practice. If your goal is to expand your law firm business and create a credible reputation among your clients, you should consider outsourcing a specialized answering service for the following reasons:
They Will Give You an Alert to Emergencies
Most clients requiring emergency legal assistance will call you after work hours, probably at night when you are asleep. Because you will be busy answering their phone calls to capture every business opportunity, you end up sleeping for fewer hours, affecting your productivity.
However, if you outsource a 24/7 answering service, you can sleep well and recharge knowing your answering agents will professionally handle all your clients’ emergency legal needs. Whenever there is any legal inquiry the answering agents cannot answer over the phone with a client, they will pass the message to you or your office staff in the morning.
Every client calling at midnight with an emergency legal need usually needs a real and empathetic professional to talk to about their case. Therefore, if a potential client calls or texts your business line only to find automated messages and voicemails, you can be sure that he/she will look for another alternative, which takes just a touch of a button.
Ensure you capture every potential business lead which comes in the form of an emergency call in the middle of the night by outsourcing answering service agents in your law firm.
An answering service brings some relevance to your business. After all, it doesn't make sense to fail to help a potential client because it's the weekend or Christmas. Criminal allegations can arise at any time of the day anywhere, and the only way to show your clients that you value them is being there for them 24/7 whenever they try to reach your business line.
Increases Your Firm's Client Satisfaction
Most criminal defense attorneys will tell you that their primary focus is customer satisfaction, but that is not possible if they cannot answer their clients' calls after work hours. A 24 hour or after work hours answering service can help you boost your firm's customer satisfaction and reputation if there are always live people to respond to clients' needs any time they call your business line.
Having a real live individual to talk to whenever potential clients call your business line gives them the impression that you value them and you are ready to offer them the best legal representation they need.
Ensuring a live person is available to speak to your clients whenever they call your office line can create a long-lasting partnership with your potential and existing clients because that's what every client wants. The ability to satisfy your clients' interests leads to more recommendations and referrals to your criminal defense attorney firm, translating to more income.
Boosts Your Firm's Revenue
Believe it or not, being reachable when a client needs your law firm's services can increase the revenue that your firm generates. Every client text, call, or email that comes on your business line any time of the day is a potential business opportunity that can boost your firm's revenue.
Your answering service agents will ensure you don't miss any potential business opportunity when you are in court doing what you do best or after office hours. If you are always there for your clients, you should expect more referrals from your past clients, which means more business opportunities to increase your firm's revenue.
Answering service agents will offer you a customizable and cost-effective plan, which will reduce the overall cost of running your business. If you have had to employ more receptionists in your firm or instruct your current office team to assist with reception work, that means you have a serious problem handling an influx of client calls.
However, this will be unnecessary if you work with a reliable answering service provider because that kind of scenario will only cost you money and your office team productivity. Answering service offers you a customizable plan that is cost-effective because it allows you to pay for the services you use, which is cost-friendly compared to employing in-house receptionists.
Furthermore, with answering service agents in your law criminal attorney firm, there is no need to buy or keep up with the latest communication equipment advancement to boost your customer service. A reliable answering service provider will come with their own latest equipment for the best answering services you need in your criminal defense attorney firm.
Helps You with Call Filtering and Case-by-Case Prioritization in Your Firm
As an attorney, you must be aware that not every client's call on your business line is urgent because sometimes a person might call to ask routine questions like your hourly rate and location. Other clients will contact you when they are in deep trouble, and their freedom is on the line.
To distinguish which client call is more important than the other can make a great difference in capturing a prospect business lead. Knowing which clients call is urgent and requires immediate attention can take your office team away from other important tasks of your firm, which reduces their productivity.
A criminal defense attorney answering service can aid you in the filtering of important calls in terms of priority to help you address urgent cases first. Then, other non-urgent calls you can return at your own convenient time.
Outsourcing answering service experts in your criminal defense attorney firm will reduce unnecessary interruptions in your office. That means your office team will have adequate time to focus on urgent tasks at hand without having to handle incoming client calls who are calling to ask routine questions.
Provides You With Confidential and Specialized Services
Unlike general answering service agents, a criminal defense attorney firm answering service agents are trained professionals who are knowledgeable and familiar with common law terminologies.
Furthermore, before making any significant commitment with your prospective answering service provider, you will liaise with their agents to give them an idea of the types of services your law firm offers.
Answering service agents can come up with a tailored script for responding to your clients' inquiries according to the information you provide to them about your firm or you would like your clients to hear.
Answering service agents are eloquent and can respond to your clients' inquiries on various communication channels professionally as if they are real members of your office team. You need answering service agents in your criminal defense law firm if you often receive calls from clients speaking other languages like Spanish.
A reliable answering service will come with bilingual agents who can also speak other languages other than English. Spanish speaking answering agents can help your firm harness more clients and expand your reach, which means more income.
A criminal defense attorney firm answering service provider also follows data protection laws to ensure confidentiality, even during clients' information registration. Criminal legal matters require some levels of privacy, and reliable answering service values confidentiality in their work because legal matters and information are sensitive.
Boosts Your Firm's Professional Representation and Efficiency
Regardless of the size of your criminal defense attorney firm, answering service agents can give your firm a professional representation/image that can make it hard for prospective clients to distinguish the size of your firm.
Presenting an outstanding professional image to your prospective clients during every call is an essential element of showing a sense of confidence in your area of practice to make clients trust your services. Your prospective answering service agents will liaise and work with you to develop a customized greeting they will use whenever answering your clients' calls and messages.
A criminal defense attorney firm answering service provider will also boost your professional representation by offering you appointment scheduling services. Criminal defense attorneys work on strict schedules, which are all very important, but sitting down to plan an appointment schedule can take much of your valuable time as the actual appointments themselves.
The answering service you decide to outsource can work with you to create appointment schedules on your behalf to avoid time wastage and keep you and your staff in a productive mindset. They will also send reminders to your clients via messages or emails when an appointment date is nearing to ensure every client shows up for a scheduled appointment on time.
Apart from the outstanding client experience that an answering service gives your criminal defense attorney firm, you will also enjoy excellent staffing efficiency. Criminal legal matters involve a lot of paperwork and research, which requires attention to details to avoid any information error that can make you lose a case.
When you outsource a reliable answering service in your law firm, your employees will have adequate time to devote their energy to other day-to-day responsibilities of your firm's practice. By doing this, you will notice an increased efficiency in your daily office work, which is very integral in a criminal defense attorney business for more revenue and success in your cases.
As you can see above, there are several benefits your criminal defense law firm can accrue from answering service agents. Regardless of the type of services your criminal defense law firm offers, answering service agents can help you expand and flourish your business by staying unique in this competitive field full of experts.