Things Not To Do During a Consultation

Everyone likes to feel important. It really is as simple as that. Whether a customer goes to McDonald’s or Peter Luger’s, he/she always needs 3 things: attention, stimulation, and assurance, in order to have a positive experience. Especially today, there are a plethora of options these customers can opt for, and if they have an unpleasant initial experience, they have little interest in returning to where the aforesaid experience occurred.

I was watching old episodes of Family Feud a few weeks ago, (I love Steve Harvey, I can’t explain it) and I remember watching a category that I really identified with, surprisingly. He asked the two families, “What would you not want your therapist to do, while you are telling him about your problems?” Responses of course included: cry, laugh, sleep, seem uninterested, take a phone call, etc. Of course this all made me laugh, but it did strike me that this is one of the more applicable ways to explain to attorneys and customers why you really need to be able to speak to a live representative when you have an issue that needs to be resolved.

Here’s my point:

Everyone really does like to feel important, and there is no argument to be made that reaching a voicemail when attempting to initially contact an attorney does anything except make that potential client hang up. People need attention. We are social beings, after all, and if you as an attorney aren’t available to speak with the caller to really sell yourself and offer your services, letting a voicemail answer is just about the worst thing you can do. Even when a caller knows he isn’t speaking directly with an attorney, he feels better having spoken with a representative that is appointed to speak with callers like him when the attorney is unavailable. In general, people will be understanding. They know that today’s world is a busy one, especially for a professional with your talents and reputation. The initial call and initial attention that you capture from a caller is really the shiny necklace in the store window. It will get them inside the shop. At Answering Legal, we make sure that every call is 100% ensured to be picked up, so that people feel important. When they called, they received a real representative, not just an automated service.

Next is stimulation. Like the short anecdote before, people don’t want their therapist to not take them seriously. Moreover, they want to feel that they are in good hands. This is all up to you; we at Answering Legal can help you get them in the door and help you at this stage as well. If you miss the call in your office, we can patch that call into your mobile phone so that you can speak to that caller in real time. We can’t guarantee that you will close on every new caller, especially if you are laughing, crying, sleeping, or taking personal calls while you are offering a consultation. However, if we can send you more new customers than you could possibly have spoken to yourself, you gain a couple of things. First, if you offer a stellar consultation to a potential client, and he may not be able to afford your services, it will at least travel by word of mouth that you were professional, reachable, and helpful in their time of need. Second, your caseload could, should, and will increase. In this way, the service is really a money-making proposition.

Lastly is assurance. Existing clients who have already hired you, trust you. Perhaps they are having trouble and are receiving phone calls incessantly while they are trying to do business, and they keep telling that person, “Please contact my attorney.” The response to that statement, more often than I’d like to hear is, “We’ve tried to contact your attorney. We’ve left several voicemails to no avail.” This is not very assuring. Assurance sounds more like, “Hello, you’ve reached the ‘Live’ Law Office, how may I help you?” When that company tries to reach you in regards to your client, and they get a live person, at the very least they cannot say that they reached your voicemail. When your client knows that every call to your office is being answered, instead of reaching a voicemail and callers hanging up, they know that you are doing the best you can to handle matters completely and effectively.

Make every caller feel important, whether they are a new or existing client.

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