Costly Mistakes Law Firms Make Managing Their Inbound Calls in 2024

The legal industry is vastly different from most others, as clients often have access to their attorneys at all hours of the day in the event that questions needs answered or new information comes to light.

Depending on an attorney’s workload, they may find themselves focusing more on their existing clients and not making enough time for new ones. Whatever the reason, when attorneys fail to make themselves available to new clients, it can start a chain reaction that ultimately damages their firm. 

Below are the most common mistakes that industry insiders have heard various attorney clients say they were making when attempting to handle their after-hours calls, along with some suggestions about how you can avoid the same pitfalls.

Once you set up your own phone system, there’s nothing preventing you from taking as many calls as you can handle. However, most attorneys don’t have an inbound calling plan in place, which leaves them unprepared to handle the demand. And while some attorneys keep their answering service number available on their business cards, many do not.

The majority of clients don’t have a separate line set up for business hours and personal calls but rather use their cellphone as their primary form of contact for all inbound calling. However, when an attorney takes business calls outside of their normal hours, they aren’t allowed to let them go to voicemail. If they do, then they need to work overtime, which also costs them more money in the long run.

Many attorneys note that they started with every intention of properly managing their inbound calling after hours but stopped due to the influx of sales calls, telemarketing, and other non-essential calls. Lawyers are people, too, and don’t want to have to deal with the same sales calls that everyday people avoid on a regular basis. 

But this is potentially dangerous, as you could be missing out on a very important client. This again gets back to making yourself available when you say you are available. If you don’t want to fight through 20 sales calls for every one or two client calls, you need to consider hiring a call center to handle your inbound calling for you.

The sad truth is that the majority of people don’t leave voicemails anymore. So if you are counting on your voicemail system to collect information from missed calls, you might be in for a surprise. When looking at the numbers, a staggering 65% of callers do not leave voicemail messages after missed calls. Think about the money you could be leaving on the table as a result.

If your calling hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., think about not only the hours of your office but also when you’re available, and then be there. Many clients have run into the issue of trying to get through to an attorney based on their posted hours, only to find that the firm operates under completely different hours.

This isn’t good customer service and will likely result in prospective clients giving up and seeking legal counsel elsewhere. As such, you want to make sure your firm is open when you say it is. Obviously, after-hours law firms are somewhat limited in this regard, but conventional law firms should abide by this rule and make themselves available whenever possible, if not only when their posted hours say they’re open.

You can effectively put a stop to missed calls by hiring a call center to manage your calls for you. Try as you might, you can’t be available for every call that comes through. But by having a call center fielding your inbound calls, you can be sure to capture and make a note of every call coming through to your firm.

What’s more, you can opt to have your call center work according to your needs, such as on the weekends or after hours. This helps minimize the risk of missing an important call from a potential new client. And when you field every single call coming in, you can be sure to provide stellar customer service at all times. 

If you are interested in securing a professional call center for your inbound calls, call ASPEN today. We will be happy to discuss the most suitable solution for you to ensure that you provide the best service to your clients while capturing every incoming call.

At ASPEN Media, we excel at meeting our clients’ needs by offering a wide range of services, including outbound , inbound, and back-office services. We strive to build long-term relationships with our clients and develop beneficial cross-referrals. Contact us today at 303-786-9500 to discuss how our inbound calling center can benefit your business. You may also fill out our contact form to get started.

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not decide whether to contact a lawyer based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.

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