As an injury attorney, it is crucial to respond to clients' demands at any time of the day or night. Since you are not sure when an injury will occur or when the phone will ring, it is important to stay alert. If prospects call your law firm and are met by automated phone services and answering machines, they will likely look for help elsewhere. Missing a single call from a client is equivalent to losing a client. As a personal injury law firm, you need an answering service that recognizes your business's needs.

It is essential to look for a call center with experience and skills in working with injury attorneys. A call center that ensures no call is missed and that every client is treated professionally and with respect. This will attract new clients and have additional benefits to your business.

What is Personal Injury?

It is damage that people sustain from a dog bite or an accident. In this context, mainly a car accident. In most cases, people sustained severe injuries like whiplash/ brain injury and fractures. It also happens when a cyclist is hit by a vehicle. In case of an accident involving a cyclist, the cyclist is likely to suffer more severe injuries.  

The harm sustained by the crush is personal injury. It may include the loss of income or work due to the inability to work. You can be compensated for the psychological, sadness, and pain endured.

The Role of a Call center in Personal Injury Claims

Every year, there are tens of thousands of road accidents. Personal injury attorneys can't answer all incoming calls and attend to the client's cases simultaneously.  Before, personal injury victims used to report directly to the law firm. Nowadays, the law firms' call centers handle the intake interviews.

Usually, they ask the personal injury victim what happened, what complaints they have from the accident, and what damage they endured from the accident. After asking all the questions, the call representatives draw a report of the call and send it to the acting attorney.

Benefits of Having a Call Center For Your Personal Injury Law Firm

Here are some of the benefits that a legal answering service can have to your law firm:

  • 24/7 Live Answering — Accidents don't only happen during your office hours. Clients require legal representation for personal injuries at every hour of the day and night. Having an answering service that is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week will ensure that no call goes unanswered and every received call is an opportunity to gain a new client. If your law firm is small, an answering service will equivalent you with larger practices.
  • After hours — Even with in-house receptionists, most law firms don't have 24-hour coverage. With an answering service, you have a person on the line covering your inbound calls after normal business hours. The answering agent can route urgent calls to you, set appointments, and take a message.
  • No more missed calls — Since law firms are always busy, most calls go unanswered even with a hardworking administrative staff. Other times clients call over the weekend when there is no one in the office, and their calls end up unanswered. If you do not have an answering service that provides call service 24/7 any day, you are likely losing new clients, and you might also lose your long term clients. Law offices with answering services rarely miss calls.
  • Appointment Scheduling — Our team of professional answering agents can modify, schedule, or cancel appointments with your online calendar management software. Attorney's meetings can also be booked using multiple calendars. All of the updates are sent to you through text, email, or phone, giving you enough time to modify your schedule.
  • Bilingual — The U.S is experiencing fast growth, so it is crucial to help Spanish clients. Having a Spanish-English bilingual answering service will make them feel better. With bilingual agents fluent in Spanish and English, your Hispanic clientele will be well catered for, leading to your business expansion.
  • Coordinating White Glove Service — It is crucial to treat your clients with royalty after being injured in an accident. It makes you stand out from your competitors. A professional answering service can arrange limo services for the injured person, dispatch tow trucks to the accident scene, and any other services that the client may request.
  • Lead Capture — Clients demand to speak with a live person when they call after an injury. Keeping in mind that injury law is competitive, clients will always prefer the law firm they get on the phone first. It is crucial to get an answering service that recognizes the significance of live answering calls in lead capture. Agents that will be quick to answer the phone rapidly and keep the clients from going to competitors.
  • Professional Image — In the legal industry, professionalism is vital to maintaining and securing clients. Having an answering service ensures that no call goes unanswered and that no call goes to voicemail. They ensure that every client who calls your business receives high-quality services leading to client satisfaction.
  • Advertising — Most law firms spend a lot of money on advertising. Answering services can help you save on the advertising fee. After you have set the budget you want to spend on the advertising, the answering service will write a package including reporting, staff, and software installation. It means they do the advertising on your behalf on a low budget.
  • Improve the firm focus on client needs — Injury law firms are very busy, and they receive several calls a day. While the calls may be important, they could cause distractions to the attorneys, but having a call center helps the attorney focus on the current cases while receiving calls and making appointments. It ensures that the client's needs are fully met and that no call goes unanswered.
  • Boost Positive client reviews — Positive client reviews are crucial in every business. Having a professional call center that ensures all the client's calls are answered will improve your business reviews, attracting more clients.
  • Pump up firm loyalty among clients — Having a professional answering service helps you build trust with your clients. If a client calls and gets instant help, they will always prefer reaching out to you over your competitors since they are sure they will get immediate help.
  • Stay connected anywhere — A legal call center allows you to remain connected to your law firm anytime, any place. You don't always have to go back to your office after a meeting or court proceedings to check messages and voicemails. The call agent will be available anytime to respond to the clients and relay the message to you late. In case of an emergency, they will contact you immediately, keeping you alert wherever you are.
  • Answers routine questions — The most common questions in a law firm like your hourly rate, what cases you handle, where you are located, and other related questions. Even though the information is displayed on your website, some clients have no time to go through the whole site or not be able to see the information. A professional answering service can answer these queries fast.
  • Services on-demand — Legal call centers are vital when a live receptionist is out for lunch, in a meeting, or even busy answering phone calls. An answering service ensures that there is someone ready to respond to the clients. A call agent may also help the receptionist work and allow your staff to work on high priority work.
  • Preempt the competition — Most injury clients are always looking for immediate help. They have no time to leave a voicemail and wait for you to call them back. It is not right if you miss calls from your potential clients. Having an answering service ensures that a live person answers the phone and offers a solution to every client's needs. If you respond quickly and offer great help, the clients will likely choose you over your competitors.
  • Legal answering services show you what’s missing — Think about the number of clients you lose during an intake process. What about the clients who try to reach out to you during odd hours? In this unquestioned gap, you lose many leads. However, a legal answering service places a solid bridge to fill the gap. A prospect may see your ad late at night or during the holidays and decide to call your office. You are likely to win a client if you have a live person answering their call during those odd hours.
  • It helps you gain more legal clients — The most effective way of converting leads to clients is by ensuring that you offer a solution to their problems whenever they reach out. One of these ways is ensuring you have a live person answering your calls any time of day or night (24/7). It builds trust and helps you gain more clients.
  • Business continuity — Even when you are on holiday, in a meeting, or in court, it is important that your business continues to run. This is only possible if you hire a legal answering service. Answering services help you avoid the stress of unplanned situations like connectivity problems or being called away from a meeting for some minutes. Hiring a professional call service with whom messages and calls are related ensures that your business is still running even on busy days.
  • Receptionist — A call center ensures that there is an available receptionist even though your receptionist is busy. Having a readily available receptionist ensures that no call goes unanswered and that every client is fully satisfied with the services they are offered. Your receptionist does not have to serve a client in a hurry so that they can receive an incoming call before it goes unanswered.
  • Free up your staff’s time — No matter the number of employees in a law firm, law offices still get very busy. Your administrative staff would rather focus on current and upcoming cases than spend hours on the phone explaining the same things. Answering services can wok on the following projects as your administrative staff focus on time-sensitive projects:
  1. Providing directions
  2. Taking attorney’s messages
  3. Setting and confirming appointments.
  4. Providing information about the working hours of your business
  • Professionalism and consistency — You decide how your calls are received. We respond to calls in a professional, friendly, and polite way. If you hire answering agents that are skilled and professional, clients cannot tell that the call services are outsourced. Clients are different, and every client has a way they prefer to be treated. Some clients are needy, while otters are easily satisfied. Professional answering agents know how to handle each client while still being professional since they have mastered their professional work.
  • Avoid interruptions — Cases are complex to handle, and they need your full attention. Even though calls might be important, they could also cause interruptions. You don't want to choose whether to pick the incoming calls or focus on the cases at hand. To avoid this, it is important to have an answering service to manage calls and messages on your behalf, allowing you to focus on the important projects fully.
  • Make a great first impression — In every business, the first impression is very important. You can win or lose a client with the first impression. Answering calls immediately and responding to emails and messages on time creates a magnificent first impression of your company. If a client is impressed with your services during your first interaction, they will likely use your services again.

Find an Answering Service to Meet Business Goals

Clearly, having an answering service at your law firm is very beneficial. However, when choosing a call center, you should ensure that you evaluate the representative to ensure that they understand the needs of your business. It is also important that you share your business goals with them so that you can work towards the same purpose. You should also consider other qualifications like professionalism, good command of grammar, and even the cost.