As a record expungement and sealing attorney, receiving all your clients’ calls can be challenging. Most of your administrative staff will spend time interacting with clients and attending court sessions. Your team will not have time to provide callers with the necessary attention and information. However, this does not change the fact that clients need to reach you to help them expunge or seal their criminal records. As an attorney, you must be there for your clients whether they contact you during work hours or after work.
Hiring a legal answering service ensures that every person who calls your law firm receives an answer, feels valued, and has an incredible experience. An answering service will handle the clients who call or send messages as you work on cases and attend court hearings.
The success of your record expungement law firm hinges on your ability to create great relationships with your clients the first time they contact your firm. Great customer service and excellent relationships go hand in hand. Working with a dedicated calling service will help your law firm reap immense benefits, including the following:
Helps You Focus On Your Record Expungement Duties
Record expungement and sealing attorneys, also known as record sealing attorneys, are busy. As an attorney, you must help people with criminal convictions, helping them convince the court to expunge or seal their criminal records. Record expungement and sealing attorneys must work hand in hand with clients to uphold the legal rights of the accused to ensure they receive a fair judgment. The primary duties of a record expungement and sealing attorney include analyzing cases, conducting legal research, and collecting evidence to support record expungement requests.
An attorney works closely with the defendant while preparing an expungement request and presenting them in court. An attorney also has the role of negotiating with the judge and the prosecutor for the best outcome of a case. With so many commitments, a record expungement and sealing attorney has little or no time to handle phone calls. However, despite these commitments, an attorney cannot afford to miss a phone call because this could translate to lost business.
An attorney can still communicate and assist clients with an answering service at their most trying moment. Often, an attorney stands between the convicted person and a negative criminal record. A negative criminal record affects many areas of your life, including employment. It would be disappointing for the defendant to contact you seeking to seal their record only for the call to go to voicemail.
People will perceive your law firm based on seemingly minor details like whether you answer the phone within three rings. You cannot afford to disappoint your clients when they need you by failing to answer the phone. With an answering service in place, you will always be there for your clients, making you come out as dependable.
A Professional Representation Of Your Record Expungement Law Firm
As a record expungement and sealing attorney, it is crucial to maintain an impeccable relationship. Without a good reputation, prospective clients could hesitate to trust you with their cases. An answering service can help you maintain a good image or spruce it up. An answering service provider first seeks to understand your business standards and how you want your law firm to be represented. This way, the answering agents will know how to meet your expectations while keeping your clients happy.
Legal matters are sensitive, and clients are always careful when choosing a law firm. Clients understand that an attorney’s expertise and experience influence the outcome of their record expungement cases. Therefore, clients want to work with a professional attorney who will help them fight and wipe away their criminal records successfully. As an attorney, you must paint a good image to your existing and prospective clients to win their trust.
The way your law firm handles phone calls says a lot about your firm. Many clients use their phone experience to gauge your reliability and responsiveness. Clients could assume that your firm will not help them if they call and receive an automated response. Clients like to call their attorneys for updates and advice as a case progresses. You must assure your clients that you will always be available whenever they need you. An answering service helps you prove this.
A professional answering service positions your law firm as trustworthy and credible. To scale your law firm, you should strive to win your clients’ confidence. You can meet your revenue goals within a relatively short period by ensuring that no call goes unanswered. Professional answering services help in customer scheduling and support. Clients will not hesitate to call your firm to schedule appointments anytime they want.
You Will Not Miss Calls From Existing And New Customers
With a professional answering service, clients will receive a response whenever they contact your law firm, either day or night. You will have peace of mind knowing that your clients are being served, whether you are in court or a meeting. The growth of your record expungement law firm highly depends on how you treat the clients who reach out to your law firm. For example, if a new client contacts your firm, but no one picks up, they are likely to move to another law firm. On the other hand, if a customer calls your firm and receives a pleasant service, they will have a positive attitude towards your firm and spread the word to other clients.
With an answering service, you will always have someone to handle incoming calls. There will be no missed calls whether clients call during the day or at night. Clients will be motivated and feel confident that you are always there for them when they need you. An answering service can make even a new law firm appear more established.
Answering Basic Record Expungement Questions
Most people who contact your law firm require basic information. They will ask basic questions like your law firm's location, work hours, the expungement process, and your rates. The respondent will give clear information to the callers. If the responder appears unsure or uninformed, the callers might call your competition. However, an answering service will professionally answer all questions as your administrative team handles sensitive matters. An answering service will help you with activities like appointment scheduling and appointment confirmation.
What if you have an in-house receptionist who receives calls and answers clients’ questions? In this case, you could assume you do not need an answering service. However, what happens when the receptionist goes to the restroom or for a lunch break? Your receptionist could also be overwhelmed if he/she has to answer calls and handle the clients visiting your firm. It could appear rude if the receptionist constantly stops serving your in-house clients to answer the phone.
If a client calls your record expungement law firm with an urgent question, but no one answers, the client is likely to hang up and call another firm. Clients will not be willing to wait until you are out of court to handle their questions. With an answering service, you can reach many clients and don’t have to confine your communications to office hours.
It Helps You Retain And Acquire New Record Expungement Clients
Communication gaps could make you lose clients. Clients will feel frustrated when they call your law firm only to receive an automated response or the call goes to voicemail. Clients want to speak to a real person who understands their needs and answers their questions. In addition, your callers want a warm response whenever they call you.
Your record expungement law firm will lose clients quickly if you have an uninformed and rude in-house reception. You will never lose a single client when you have a professional answering service. Both your new and existing clients will enjoy a professional and effective service.
Fewer Interruptions When Handling Record Expungement Cases
Phone calls can distract you and your in-house staff, especially when you must handle sensitive court matters. When attending to issues that require your undivided attention, it would be great to have someone handle the calls for you. This is where a professional answering service comes in. You will receive more calls as your record expungement law firm grows.
If you and your staff were to handle all these phone calls, the distraction could affect your firm’s productivity. With a professional answering service, your staff will not have to stop what they are doing to receive phone calls. You will not have phones ringing when you have an important meeting with a client. You will work without the fear of losing future business because a live agent will answer the phone whenever a new or existing customer calls.
Retaining an in-house team of record expungement lawyers is not easy in your pocket. The last thing you would want is to pay your legal team thousands of dollars only for them to spend their valuable time answering phone calls. Instead of your lawyers spending time handling calls, some even from telemarketers, you can have an answering service while your team focuses on what you hired them to do. An answering service provider will worry about answering calls while you focus on performing crucial legal duties without interruptions.
Keep Your Record Expungement Law Firm More Organized
You will enjoy improved output when you have an organized law firm. An answering service will keep your firm organized by handling every call, handling questions, and recording customers’ information. The call-answering agents will organize all customers’ messages, making it easier to trace them.
The call answering agent will categorize every call received in your law firm in the order of priority. When you report to the workplace in the morning, you will not find a list of calls received overnight that you must call back. Shifting voicemails will no longer be necessary. The call answering agents will organize the calls accordingly and transfer the most important calls to you if necessary.
Record Expungement Law Firm Answering Services Are Affordable
Especially if you are trying to cut your operational costs, you could feel like hiring an answering service is expensive. You would be surprised to learn that hiring a virtual call answering service is more affordable than hiring an in-house receptionist. A professional call answering service eliminates the need for a backup receptionist. A virtual receptionist always answers the phone, irrespective of the caller’s timing.
The good news is that your callers will not even know that they are talking to a virtual receptionist. Although affordable, virtual receptionists do not fall short in customer service or service delivery. A call-answering agent will provide the same or even better services than an in-house receptionist. In addition, unlike with an in-house receptionist, you do not need to set up a working space for a virtual receptionist.
An answering service can even help you with the legal intake process. In addition to answering phone calls, a virtual receptionist will take your clients through a list of intake questions per your agreed-upon protocols and specifications. An answering service provides an affordable way of ensuring that your law firm is matched with the appropriate clients.
Assist Your Non−English Clients
Your clients could include non-English speakers. With a professional call answering service, you will enjoy a bilingual virtual receptionist. For example, in recent years, there has been a surge in the Spanish-speaking community in the United States. You must have your non-English clients in mind and ensure that when they call your firm, they will talk to someone who understands them. If your clients cannot fully understand English, they will not be able to express themselves efficiently, especially when seeking a record expungement.
With a bi-lingual answering service, there will be no problem with the language barrier. A Spanish-speaking client will likely feel more at home if they call your firm and express themselves in Spanish. Therefore, a bi-lingual answering service drives more business and revenue to your law firm.
Conclusion
Managing a law practice can be challenging, particularly when juggling customers and cases. For you to relieve some of the stress, it is crucial to employ an answering service. A legal answering service can assist with everything from organizing appointments and returning calls to recording messages.
So, is hiring an answering service for your record expungement law firm worth it?
The answer is definitely yes. You get not only round-the-clock availability but also lower-cost lawyer answering services without sacrificing quality and professionalism.
