Attorney’s Practice Grows After Hiring an Answering Service
Former high-school math teacher Joyce Molina was in her second year of law school when her husband died in a car accident. Suddenly, what had been an opportunity for her to develop as a professional, law school became a means to launch a career and support her family.
The mother of two boys, Joyce drew on her strong network of family and friends to help her as she completed her studies. She worked hard during the day, studied at night, and spent as much time as she could with her sons. Soon, law school was behind her, and she had passed her bar exam.
Joyce launched her own law practice. She sublet space from a financial planning company. Her office was modest and located in an equally modest, but respectable, part of town. When she was in the office she answered her own calls. When she was at the courthouse, she relied on voicemail to take messages.
Slowly her practice grew. She soon realized she needed some help, but she was reluctant to hire staff. Instead, Joyce outsourced all her telephone reception and appointment scheduling to a telephone answering service.
To her surprise the number of scheduled appointments doubled in the first month. “I always had hang-ups on voicemail,” Joyce said. “I never thought much about it, but what I learned is that whenever people really need an attorney, they want one now. Their problems seem overwhelming. If they get a recording, they just hang-up and call the next lawyer on their list.”
She laughs, “Back then, I was just treading water trying to keep up. If I had a hang-up, it was one less thing I had to do.”
The answering service also allowed Joyce to contact clients and prospective clients right away, when necessary. “Before, I would check voicemail after lunch and at the end of the day. Now, I have every message sent to my smartphone, and I can act quickly if needed. Since I’m not juggling my own scheduling anymore, I think I am better able to focus on the client. I think it shows. As a result my referrals have really gone up.”
Joyce smiles. “I wish I had done this right away. Maybe the boys wouldn’t have had to eat so much macaroni and cheese the last two years.”
Want an answering service that grows without burning out your team or your margins? In The Profitable Answering Service, Peter Lyle DeHaan draws on three decades of owning, running, and advising answering services.
Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, has spent his career in and around the answering service industry. He’s owned, managed, bought, sold, and merged answering service businesses as well as consulted, written, and programmed for the answering service industry. Learn more at PeterLyleDeHaan.com.
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