Being a criminal defense attorney could be quite hectic since your services are in high demand. The number of phone calls your office is receiving could be too high for your staff to handle. Most individuals seeking legal guidance are in a hurry to receive help, and failure to pick their calls will make them call another firm.

If you are incapable of handling all the phone calls, you risk losing potential clients. Even though it may not be possible to personally speak to all the clients as soon as they call, a criminal defense answering service can help you achieve this goal. Some of the reasons why an attorney answering service could be a great idea to incorporate in your criminal defense law firm include:

Your Secretary is Relieved when you Hire an Answering Service

Even when you already have a receptionist, sometimes the clients' phone calls could be too much for your staff to handle. This could cause fatigue, and an overwhelmed receptionist may not offer the right response to each caller. By partnering with an answering service, you relieve your secretary and direct the overflow to the answering agents. Also, during the weekend or after hours, when your receptionist is off work, the answering service could handle the calls and messages.

An Answering Service Can Give Feedback on Basic Questions from Potential Clients

Most callers hate automated messages. Calls made to a criminal defense law firm are often urgent, and the last thing a client wants to hear is an automated message. The type of services you offer, your charges for guidance and representation, and your location are some of the basic questions that a client may ask when they call for the first time.

Even though the answers to these questions are on the website, callers could hear them directly from the firm. With automated messages, the information may seem the same as that on the answering service. Most attorneys are busy dealing with case paperwork, representing clients in court, negotiating for settlement, among other tasks. Therefore, a legal answering service will help you answer these questions and provide live answers to callers.

You are less Likely to Miss Calls from Clients

Growing your criminal defense law firm is critical to the survival of your practice. Adding new clients to your firm is the first step in ensuring the growth of the firm. Attracting new clients is not easy with immense competition in the legal industry. You add new clients by making the first impression when they contact you. Dealing with new clients is likely to take your effort and time away from pending cases.

Sometimes you are in the courtroom or meeting with a client, and you are not in a position to answer a call. When a potential client calls an attorney and fails to respond, they will be more likely to call another firm. However, with an answering service where the operation is 24/7, you are less likely to miss client calls. Also, having a live answering service gives you an upper hand over the competition among law firms.

An Answering Service will Cater Form the Needs of your Criminal Defense Law Firm.

Each law firm has specific goals and type of service they want to provide for their clients. By partnering with an answering service, you will form a productive relationship with a partner who understands your needs and will work together with you to meet the goal. Answering agents could note down the tone used by different clients to establish their position and the call's urgency.

Other than responding to messages, calls, and offering information about your business to the callers, answering agents can set up appointments. This is possible since they could familiarize themselves with your calendar and set appointments even after hours. After scheduling the appointments, an answering service could give appointment reminders. This helps alert the client when their appointment is nearing.

There is Less Interruption in your firm Activities when you have help answering Phone calls.

When you are busy around the firm, a ringing phone could be a distraction since you cannot turn it off like a cellphone. However, the distraction could be a potential client seeking your legal guidance and representation. When you have pressing matters, you cannot afford to take the call, but putting the caller through voicemail could cause you to lose the clients.

A legal answering service could attend to your callers during these busy moments and leave you to deal with other pending issues. When phone calls are too much, a non-receptionist could be ordered to take the call. This will interrupt the concentration of the staff from their duties. After returning to their tasks, they may lack the momentum and concentration they had before the call. When you have a criminal defense answering service, you never have to interrupt your staff from their duties to process calls. Answering agents will handle all the calls improving the service you offer your clients.

Helps you Retain Customers

Each day, businesses lose their potential clients due to the communication gap. An individual seeking a legal insight on charges they face or for a loved one who has been arrested may not be so patient. When a caller contacts your firm and cannot talk to a human, they can be quite frustrated. This will cause the client to move on to the next firm. In rare cases, a potential client would call a second time after being put on voicemail.

When you have a legal answering service as part of our firm, you can retain existing and potential clients. If one gets excellent service and reception from your firm, they will likely recommend your services to a relative or a friend. This attracts more clients to your firm, and in return, your business grows.

Give your Firm a Voice

You may be missing out on a chance to connect with your clients when you rely on social media or email as the only communication method. Most clients are more receptive to the human voice, and a live answer may assure that someone is ready to listen to them and help. Your image and brand could suffer when you rely on written communication. Using an answering service, you can offer friendly services and make your firm stand out amidst the competition.

You Extend your Scope

Sometimes your law firm may not be growing because you cannot cover all potential clients who call your firm. This could cause you to lose legal leads. Most local business telephones cannot receive calls from long-distance callers. However, a legal answering service can cover a wide scope of clients to ensure you never miss any lead and a chance to expand your practice.

An Answering Service is Flexible

As a criminal defense attorney, you are likely to face several challenges in the line of your work. The services you provide at your criminal defense law firm are crucial and urgent to the clients. Therefore, it is expected that you will receive calls from clients late in the night. Since most criminal arrests occur at night, you may have no choice but to answer the call, or you can potentially lose the client. There is only so much that you can do during the day, and by the time you go home, you will be too tired to attend to office work.

By partnering with a criminal defense answering service, you will rest easy knowing that all the calls and messages sent to your firm are answered, unlike a secretary who retires for the night and starts work again the next day. Answering service agents are available at any given time. This will help ensure that you do not lose potential clients, and your criminal defense law firm continues to grow.

Partnering with an Answering Service, Helps keep your Firm More Organized

Another benefit you accrue from partnering with an answering service for your criminal defense law firm is organization. The answering agents can receive your calls and categorize them according to their urgency. Other than offering 24/7 call answering, the details of each call are noted down. Different issues could cause a client to call our firm. When the agent organizes them, it will be easier for you to take care of each client.

Over time, the answering service will be familiar with the calls you want to be transferred directly, and ones that can wait. You do not need to handle so many messages on your desk or keep track of all the phone calls. Client information is well arranged depending on the type of help they needed from you.

The Services Offered by Answering Agents Could be Cheaper than Hiring a Receptionist

Unlike hiring a secretary to handle your calls, it would be more cost-effective to partner with an answering agent. A secretary is always on the payroll even when they are sick or during the weekend. However, when an agent is responsible for your calls, they often charge per call. In this case, the amount you spend is proportional to the services you receive. Also, they are always available when you need them. When the calls are in excess, and you do not have an answering service, you may need to hire another receptionist. This will take up money and time to train them to fit your requirements.

An Answering Service is Focused on a Single Task

A criminal defense law firm is a busy establishment with numerous tasks to undertake. Sometimes when the phone rings, staff may be required to answer it even when it is not their specialization. With little or no knowledge of speaking to clients, the response they give could be unsatisfactory. However, when you partner with a criminal defense answering service, the agents will only focus on one task: answering calls and messages directed to your firm.

When the answering service is focused on handling client calls and with no distractions from other duties, you can receive services worth your money. Handling each caller in their unique way helps strengthen your criminal defense law firm's standing in the community. When all clients contacting your firm are attended to on time and receive feedback for their questions, you may develop a good reputation of the firm that is always responsive to its clients.

Answering Agents are Professional

Agents at the answering service are well trained on matters of privacy and data protection. This helps to ensure that all details of your phone calls are kept private. When a client contacts a criminal defense attorney, they trust that all the information they share will be confidential and could not be used against them in the charges they are facing.

You can also customize the answering service to offer your clients the service you dream of offering each person who contacts your law firm. The answering agents could help you create a customized script to ensure all callers are well attended to during the times you are in the courtroom, meeting with other clients, or sleeping at night.

With an answering service, you can schedule the times you need the agents to cover your calls. Some attorneys like to use the answering service after hours when another firm staff has gone home. Other attorneys prefer to engage the answering service when the day is too busy.

Improve the Services of your Criminal Defense Law Firm with an Answering Service

As a criminal lawyer, you may have numerous tasks such as advising clients, litigation, strategizing on different cases, mediation, negotiating settlements, handling paperwork, and appearing to court. You do not have to do everything on your own. When you are busy handling pending and urgent matters, you can partner with a criminal defense answering service to handle your phone calls. This helps ensure that you do not lose potential clients when you are not able to answer the phone calls.

When you delegate the communication duties to professionals, you give your firm an upper hand and avoid the frustrations experienced when navigating relationships with existing and potential clients.