Did you know that 67% of potential clients hire a lawyer based on the timeliness of the firm’s initial response? A law firm also receives payments 39% faster if online payments are accepted. Efficient clerical tasks are the key to sustainability and growth for your firm, and you should consider hiring virtual receptionists.
A Virtual Receptionists Value for Lawyers
As a lawyer you’re constantly busy with litigation, advising, strategy, briefs, and so much more on your plate. Successful law firms understand that delegating certain tasks to others can create more value for the business. This includes having a virtual receptionist take on communication and clerical duties.
A quality virtual receptionist is well-versed in office and administrative tasks. Virtual receptionists deliver the following critical responsibilities:
- Collecting payments with a billing software
- Qualifying potential clients
- Blocking unsolicited calls and spam
- Scheduling appointments that directly link to your calendar
- Making outbound calls
- Integrating with your marketing automation, CRM, and other software
Phone answering services for law firms make your job more efficient and your clients will appreciate your firm’s timely efforts. Phone answering services will ensure that your clients are quickly responded to and valued. Here are more ways that virtual receptionists provide value for your firm:
Capturing and Qualifying Leads
Your day is fully booked as a lawyer with meetings, court dates, and numerous chargeable tasks. A virtual receptionist will keep your workday from being interrupted. If your firm has a team of virtual assistants, they can answer multiple incoming calls and respond to emails.
This ensures that all inquiries are responded to right away. The timeliness of these efforts creates new leads and retains existing clients. A virtual receptionist can also qualify these leads based on your criteria, and will base it off of these questions:
- Do the potential client’s time demands conflict with your schedule?
- Are their legal needs within your practice?
- Is the client willing to pay your specific fees?
- Are they residing in your jurisdiction?
Virtual receptionists can then make an educated decision on whether or not the potential client is good or bad. The receptionist can also share important information with any leads while they have them on the phone. This will allow the lead to stay well informed and filter themselves as good or bad leads.
Intaking New Clients
After the virtual receptionist determined a good lead, they can go ahead and process a new client. Intake forms with your CRM and practice management software will allow the receptionist to create a proper record for the new client. You just have the receptionist complete the form fields in the software and you can easily add to it.
If you can’t take on a new client for whatever reason, your virtual receptionist can issue a referral. Since attorneys can earn up to 40% of the referred firm’s client fees, this is advantageous. Your receptionist can provide another firm’s contact information while on the phone, based on the lawyers you recommend.
Collecting Payments
With the goal of collecting as much of your revenue as possible, a virtual receptionist can certainly help. It can be frustrating to take time out of your hectic day to keep up with missed payments and collection calls. Your virtual receptionist will perform the following payment collection tasks:
- When a new client is on the phone, the receptionist can take payment information on the spot for consultation fees.
- Quickly respond to existing an existing client’s call or email to make a payment for one-time or recurring fees.
- Keep track of invoices and missed payments, and then make outbound calls to collect.
- Implement online payment systems
- Make client’s feel comfortable discussing invoices with a third party
Finding a Virtual Receptionist
There are plenty of virtual receptionists ready to assist you and your law firm. A business phone answering service can help you collect your fees, get more work done, and become more profitable. Phone answering services and virtual receptionists will lead you to success.
If you’re interested in learning more, discover more benefits of technology here on our site.
