Law Firm Industry Analysis

Transcription

1 Law Firm Industry Analysis

2 Table of contents Preface: SAS Knows that Growth Depends on Availability 2 Chapter 1: Start with Programming Basics 3 Part 1: Frequently Asked Questions 4 Part 2: Call Handling Cross Section 5 Chapter 2: Evaluating Statistics by Call Type 10 Chapter 3: Putting it All Together: Call Volume Statistics 15 Chapter 4: The Cost for Amazing Service 16 Chapter 5: Gaining Perspective 17 Taking You Farther, Faster 19

3 PREFACE: SAS Knows that Growth Depends on Availability. Even for established lawyers, using voic to field missed can damage your bottom line. And for people who are just starting out, losing one prospective client can easily become a make-or-break situation. That s why many law offices look to Specialty Answering Service to provide exceptional 24/7 live-operator customer support. If you ve never used a call center, or if you are using a service and want to do a side-by-side comparison, then this law office analysis of a few of our valued clients will point you in the right direction. A B C D 02

4 CHAPTER 1: Start with Programming Basics. Succinct, straightforward scripts are the key ingredient to a successful phone call. Whether you re using SAS as an answering service or virtual receptionist, guiding the operators by way of frequently asked questions or specific language to employ will ensure that flow smoothly for the customer and operator alike. We ve broken programming down into two parts. t Par t Par 1 tly ns n e qu estio e r F Qu ed k s A 2 ing l d n on a H l ti Cal ss Sec Cro 03

5 Start with Programming Basics Part 1: Frequently Asked Questions FAQs allow our receptionists to provide general knowledge via phone rather than take a message. The majority of accounts contain details such as location, business hours, phone number, and website. Additional questions are formatted with concise, uncomplicated language. Here s how four of our law clients personalized their FAQs. What types of law do you practice? A How many attorneys are in your firm? Do you handle criminal cases? What are the attorneys names? C What information do I have to provide in order to speak with someone? B What is workers compensation? Is the office closed for lunch? D What are the attorneys names? Free Consultations: When people are in need of How can I be helpful? legal assistance, pricing is almost always a concern. While cost will vary depending on the complexity of the case, it can be beneficial to include information in your FAQs about whether or not you provide free consultations. 04

6 Start with Programming Basics Part 2: Call Handling Cross Section Call handling, or scripting, is what the operators use to interact with your customers. You might have different instructions based on the caller s question or issue, or maybe you want a basic message for all. As you can see below, scripts run from simple lead capture to more involved scenarios. A CALLING FOR A SPECIFIC PERSON Select the name of the attorney from list. Gather Name, Company, Number, Regarding Text and the attorney. the office. COURT OR COURT OFFICIAL Select the name of the attorney from list. Gather Name, Number, Regarding Cold Transfer the call to the attorney. Text and the attorney. the office. 05

7 Start with Programming Basics // Part 2: Call Handling Cross Section ASKING ABOUT FAMILY LAW Gather Name, Company, Number, , Regarding all attorneys. ALL OTHER CALLS Gather Name, Company, Number, , Regarding Text and the lead attorney. the office. B MAY I PLEASE HAVE YOUR FIRST NAME? If YES, Gather Name, Number Were you involved in a motor vehicle accident? If YES, gather Address Attempt to Warm Transfer twice to the on-call attorney. all attorneys If NO, ask if Slip and Fall, Workers Compensation, or other issue. If NO, go to a Closing stating that we cannot assist caller without their contact information. all attorneys. If Slip and Fall or Workers Compensation, gather Address all Attempt to Warm Transfer twice to attorneys the on-call attorney. If OTHER, gather Regarding all attorneys 06

8 Start with Programming Basics // Part 2: Call Handling Cross Section CALLER REQUESTS A SPANISH SPEAKER Attempt to Warm Transfer twice to a Spanish-speaking attorney. all attorneys. C ALL CALLS ARE YOU AN EXISTING CLIENT, OR ARE YOU CALLING ABOUT A NEW CASE OR A NEW CRIMINAL MATTER? If NEW, gather Name, Number, How Heard, Regarding If EXISTING, ask who were you looking to speak with? If All Other Calls, gather name of the person caller is trying to reach. Can you tell me which county the case is in? Gather Name, Number, Regarding Gather Name, Number, Attempt to Warm Transfer Text and all attorneys. Text and all attorneys. Text and all attorneys. 07

9 Start with Programming Basics // Part 2: Call Handling Cross Section D ALL CALLS Document the initial reason for the call. Are you an existing client, attorney, or service provider? Existing Client Are you calling about an emergency? If YES, gather name of the person caller is trying to reach. Gather Name, Number, Regarding Text and the on-call attorney. If NO, go to a Closing stating that caller has reached the service and should call back. the office. Attorney / Service Provider Go to a Closing stating that caller has reached the service and should call back. the office. 08

10 Start with Programming Basics // Part 2: Call Handling Cross Section New Client Gather Name, Number, Regarding Text and the on-call attorney. Other Gather Name, Number, Regarding the office. The details above are just the tip of the iceberg. There are all kinds of things that you can add to your script, such as Patching Jail Calls or from Judges Chambers, Reach On-Call for emergencies, Appointment Setting, and more! 09

11 CHAPTER 2: Evaluating Statistics by Call Type. Depending on the type of law that you practice, inbound call statistics can vary. For example, criminal lawyers might see a boost when temperatures soar or during the winter holiday season while tax lawyers will be in full-swing from February through April. Understanding your call traffic helps SAS staff accordingly, and the data trend will give you a solid reference point for when you may need to step up your advertising to draw more clients. You ll also have an indication of which months might cost you a bit more or a bit less so that you can plan ahead from a financial standpoint. Check out the 2017 call volume breakdown for these four clients. Whether you re looking for the total number of or segmented by type, we have you covered. Knowing peak hours will help you determine whether to use SAS 24 hours a day or just for after-hours or overflow support. 10

12 A 7% 2% 16% 5% 20% 32% % 58% 17% 46% January 2017 February 2017 March % 31% 19 53% 38 April % 68% 16% 58% May % June % % 59% 5% 24 42% 55% 5% September % 4% 24% % 17% 4% August % 37% 5% July % % 18% 63% 14% 14% October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 LEGEND: Specific Person Family Law Other Calls Message Ticket Info Only Answered Question, Solicitor, Wrong Number 11

13 B 3% 3% 6% 5% 5% 5% 5% % January % 57% 9% 1% 4% 7% 2% 86% 13% 2% 8% 2% 3% 81% October % 6% 1% 4% 92 9% September % 5% 5% 2% % 48 72% August % 40 5% June July % 68% May % March % 4% 68% 28 7% April % 1% 3% 90% 7 February % 19 3% 3% 85 87% November % December 2017 LEGEND: Call Transfered Refused to Provide Info Motor Vehicle Accidents Message Ticket Info Only Answered Question, Solicitor, Wrong Number Slip & Fall Other / Not Listed Workers Compensation 12

14 C 18% 24% 31% 2% % % 42% 37% 135 2% 30% 32% January % February 2017 March % 20% 20% % 39% 31% 26% 145 6% 77 47% 12% 27% 28% 30% April 2017 May 2017 June % 19% 33% 4% 99 5% 43% 75 32% 71 7% 29% 39% July 2017 August % 8% 1% % 43% 15% 12% 85 September % 2% 2% 46% 53 49% 30% 26% 22% October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 LEGEND: New Client or New Case General Message Existing Client Message Ticket Info Only Answered Question, Solicitor, Wrong Number 13

15 D 16% 16% 27% % % 15% 13% January 2017 February % 228 9% April % 20% 9% 8% 13% August % 26% October % 12% 33% 13% 15% 12% 22% September % 19% 15% 4% July % 27% % 12% 19% % 18% June % 226 May % 6% 14% 23% 18% 22% 19% 12% % March % 24% 13% 22% 12% 17% % 16% 17% 25% 9% 9% November % December 2017 LEGEND: Existing Client Not Urgent Attorney or Service Provider General Message Reach On-Call Refused to Provide Information Info Only Answered Question, Solicitor, Wrong Number 14

16 CHAPTER 3: Putting it All Together Call Volume Statistics. Taking an average of the data for all four law clients, in 2017, we answered approximately: 1,753 CALLS totaling with a typical length of MINUTES MINUTES PER CALL 3,910 Client A 2.29 B C D Answered ,705 4,059 A total minutes , , , Average call length minutes 15

17 CHAPTER 4: The Cost for Amazing Service. At SAS, we strive to provide cost-effective service that is designed to improve your day-to-day operations and make your life easier. Based on our data, the average law office can expect to pay around: $427 PER MONTH $5,123 & PER YEAR Consider this. According to Glassdoor.com, the average salary for a full-time receptionist is around $29,000. That s more than twice the annual invoice total for our busiest law office clients, and it doesn t take into account overhead costs such as insurance and equipment! Client AVERAGE COST PER MONTH & PER YEAR 1, A Average Monthly Cost 2017 Invoice Total , B , C , D $ 16

18 CHAPTER 5: Gaining Perspective. Ultimately, what are the benefits of using Specialty Answering Service over having an answering machine manage your missed? Reviewing the call and cost data as a whole, the answer is clear. If you re looking for ways to justify cost, this generalization will do the trick: You receive 1,753 per year. As a result of your busy schedule, you miss 300 of these, or about 17%. Instead of leaving you a voic , callers just dial the next law office in the phone book. We ll guesstimate that 200 would have resulted in new business. According to Thumbtack, the average cost for an attorney is between $200 and $600 per hour. So, we ll go with $200. The average cost of having SAS capture the missed might be somewhere around Client C s invoice total. We ll round it up to $4,

19 Gaining Perspective Now, let s imagine two scenarios, which don t account for revenue from ongoing cases: 1 2 Billable time 1 hour Billable time 2 hours $200 x 2 = $ appointments x $200 = $40, appointments x $400 = $80,000 $40,000 - $4,550 = $35,450 $80,000 - $4,550 = $75,450 Without SAS: You lose $40,000 per year. You lose $80,000 per year. With SAS: You gain back $35,450 of the revenue that blew out the window when your answering machine picked up. You ll have $75,450 net revenue. 18

20 Taking You Farther, Faster. With Specialty Answering Service on your side, you will have the freedom to worry less about what you re missing and the time to focus on the billable hours that drive success. Contact SAS today, and get ready to open the door to more business, happier clients, and a healthier bottom line!