In the last few months, we have done a number of "secret shopper" 'phone calls to legal firms in Glasgow and Edinburgh...and a few others to firms in Manchester and London. Unfortunately, we’ve found that about 95% of the firms we are calling are doing a poor job at encouraging our caller to do business with that firm or even the lawyer they talk to.
Here are six ways you can improve your law firm's conversion rate by dramatically improving that initial call experience for someone who calls up looking for help or legal services;
1. Show empathy. Our caller contacts personal injury firms all the time and the person on the other end of the 'phone never even says, “I’m sorry to hear you were in an accident.” He/she immediately begins to ask questions without showing compassion.
2. If you mention your firm’s website, spell it out. Many lawyers have websites that are difficult to spell, so by taking an extra minute to spell it out you can ensure the caller will actually be able to find your website.
3. Always answer the phone with a smile and the firm’s name (Our caller repeatedly hears “ xxxx law firm please hold”).Or worse, sometimes our caller cannot even understand the name of the firm!
4. If you absolutely have to, then before you place someone on hold, ALWAYS ask the person if it is ok.
5. Before you transfer a person, always get their name and number in case you get disconnected so you can call back.
6. Make sure whoever answers the 'phone actually likes that role and is able to dedicate his/her attention to the caller 100% (Our caller was often left with the impression that the call was annoying or irritating the person who answered!).
Fixing this is not hard. You just need to put a process in place that works for you and train your people to follow that process. Sometimes the simplest fixes can provide compelling results – and this is a simple fix that can make a real difference in your appointment rates.
Here are six ways you can improve your law firm's conversion rate by dramatically improving that initial call experience for someone who calls up looking for help or legal services;
1. Show empathy. Our caller contacts personal injury firms all the time and the person on the other end of the 'phone never even says, “I’m sorry to hear you were in an accident.” He/she immediately begins to ask questions without showing compassion.
2. If you mention your firm’s website, spell it out. Many lawyers have websites that are difficult to spell, so by taking an extra minute to spell it out you can ensure the caller will actually be able to find your website.
3. Always answer the phone with a smile and the firm’s name (Our caller repeatedly hears “ xxxx law firm please hold”).Or worse, sometimes our caller cannot even understand the name of the firm!
4. If you absolutely have to, then before you place someone on hold, ALWAYS ask the person if it is ok.
5. Before you transfer a person, always get their name and number in case you get disconnected so you can call back.
6. Make sure whoever answers the 'phone actually likes that role and is able to dedicate his/her attention to the caller 100% (Our caller was often left with the impression that the call was annoying or irritating the person who answered!).
Fixing this is not hard. You just need to put a process in place that works for you and train your people to follow that process. Sometimes the simplest fixes can provide compelling results – and this is a simple fix that can make a real difference in your appointment rates.
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