The number of DWI laws being enacted to discourage drunk driving has been on the rise. Many drivers who never thought of themselves as criminals find themselves on the wrong side of the law. They make desperate calls to a DWI attorney any time of the day after an arrest for drunk driving.
A DWI arrest can cause a lot of anxiety, especially if it’s a driver’s first-time offense. Most of them don’t know what to do after the arrest, so they reach out to DWI attorneys for legal guidance. As a DWI attorney with a defense law firm, you understand that the prosecution begins an investigation and evidence collection at the roadside. You want to be available to answer a client’s call after the arrest to guide them on what to do at this time.
Unfortunately, these calls come in after hours, during weekends or holidays when you are closed. With an answering service for your law firm, you can ensure that none of these calls goes unanswered. An answering service will free up most of your time and that of the employees, enabling you to build legal defenses to contest DWI charges.
A Common Problem DWI Attorneys Face
DWI cases are not entirely hopeless. With a DWI attorney that devotes their time and resources to the case, it’s possible to find ways in which officers bungled roadside investigations and utilize the officer misconduct as a defense. Additionally, they can evaluate the chemical test results and find weaknesses that can help prove the BAC results have errors.
However, to do this requires you to devote a lot of time to one case. With DWI being the most frequently charged crime, it’s challenging to focus on one customer. You will be handling many clients at a time hence little time for incoming calls. Further, because of limited time to prepare for the case, you might find yourself negotiating for plea bargains with prosecutors instead of building strong evidence to win the case.
Being unable to provide the best representation in court and answering incoming calls from existing and prospective clients might mean losing existing clients and the inability to attract new ones. Poor customer service could damage your reputation because people will lose trust. If you don’t pick up a call for a driver who has been arrested for drunk or drugged driving, they will call another DWI defense law firm that is readily available to answer their call and provide a solution to their problem.
Clients will be happy to know that they have your attention and you are willing to provide a solution to their problem or guide them on what to expect after an arrest to avoid the anxiety that comes with DWI arrest and charges.
If you and your attorneys are performing customer service tasks and at the same time representing clients, answering customer calls will be draining and will distract you from the core aim of the firm, which is to protect the rights and freedom of your clients. Both customer service and client representation will be subpar, and this will be bad for your reputation.
The question you might be asking is, how do you keep your customers satisfied and grow your business without straining? The answer to the question is employing an answering service.
Reasons You Should Utilize an Answering Service for Your DWI Defense Law Firm
As a DWI attorney law firm, you and the majority of your employees specializing in DWI law focus on legal research, strategizing, negotiating plea deals, building legal defenses, and keeping yourself up to date with the ever-changing zero-tolerance policies. It means you will have no time for customer service.
You must be willing to delegate duties if you want to develop and direct your law firm smoothly, without being stretched physically or in terms of finances. Some law firms hire conventional receptionists to handle customer service. This has not always succeeded because a permanent receptionist will require a salary, which is an extra cost to the firm.
Also, one or two receptionists cannot handle all incoming calls and voicemails, even after incurring additional costs. There will be no return on investment.
These receptionists won’t be available around the clock, which means missed calls, which translates to missed opportunities. The receptionists will also be tied up in other activities and might fail to respond to emails and messages from people facing DWI arrest or charges.
While it’s possible to hire multiple in-house receptionists to handle various customer service needs, it will incur extra costs because of these employees’ salaries. You must also invest heavily in new infrastructure, equipment, and technology for the receptionists. A manager or supervisor will also be required to monitor and control the receptionists and ensure your goals are met.
Luckily, you can outsource an answering service to perform all the traditional receptionists’ duties at a fraction of the cost.
Here are some of the reasons why you should use an answering service for your DWI defense law firm.
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Reduced Number of Missed Calls and Inquiries from Both Existing and New Clients Arrested or Charged with DWI.
Communication is critical to the success of any business. For your DWI defense law firm to be successful, you must be available to speak to your clients at their hour of need. If a driver is arrested in the middle of the night for drinking and driving, they want to talk to an experienced attorney.
Even if they have been referred to your firm by previous satisfied customers and assured of quality services, if they can’t reach you at this time, they will be forced to call the next number, and this will translate to a missed opportunity for your practice.
However, if you have partnered with an answering service, a virtual receptionist will be available to answer the call any time of the day and connect the caller to a DWI attorney if it’s an urgent matter. An answering service can also take a message and have an attorney get back to the client during office hours. That way, anybody who calls with an inquiry or urgent DWI issue will have someone to talk to, thus enhancing communication.
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The Reliability and Consistency Caused by an Answering Service will Increase the Confidence and Trust DWI Offenders have in your Law Firm.
In most cases, when a driver is arrested for drinking and driving for the first time, they swear never to repeat the same mistake. However, after some time, the person gets a second DWI and a subsequent one. Suppose the first time a client like this was apprehended for driving under the influence, reached out to your law firm and got the best customer service and legal help. In that case, they will contact your firm the next time they have a concern or have been arrested for a subsequent DWI charge.
A satisfied client will not only become a returning customer, but also they will refer their friends, colleagues, and family arrested for drinking and driving to your firm, resulting in growth and enhanced reputation.
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DWI Arrestees will Experience an Excellent First Impression
To win a DWI case requires a commitment of time and resources to a particular case. The reason people choose private attorneys over public defenders is because of the time devoted to the case. A personal attorney takes time to prepare a case, which means solid defense and a favorable outcome.
When a client calls your law firm for an inquiry, and the call is answered right away by a personable virtual receptionist, they develop trust in your practice. They will feel that you have time for them, and the same will be reflected during the legal representation. They will be convinced that you will have time for their case and will be available to address their concerns as they arise.
However, if a client calls and they are directed to automated messages or voicemail, they will get the impression that you are too busy for them. They will feel that even if they hire your practice for representation, you won’t have time for their case, which will result in an unfavorable outcome.
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You Gather More Prospects Facing DWI Charges and their Information
With a call answering service, all people that call your law firm inquiring about the practice will have someone to answer their calls and respond to their inquiries. An answering service will also record the information of these callers asking about DWI arrests and charges. Not only does answering the calls help you gather more prospects, you get to collect information about prospective clients and their needs. That way, you can learn more about them and tailor your services to meet their needs.
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You can Screen Calls and Decide which DWI Case needs Urgent Attention and One that can wait until Morning Hours.
It can be frustrating to stop an important client or prosecutor meeting to answer a client’s general call. As an attorney, you want to control the phone calls that you pick and when to pick them. Luckily, with an answering service, they can use the call screening feature to differentiate urgent calls from general ones. That way, you don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to speak to a client with general inquiries.
Instead, you want to speak to clients with urgent needs like those arrested for a DWI and want legal guidance. Other callers with matters that can wait should leave a message and information with the receptionist so that you can get back to them during your free time. An answering service will screen the calls and only forward those that need your attention, reducing distractions, and increasing productivity.
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Most of the People Calling to Inquire About or Seek Representation for DWI Charges will Bring you New Business, Leading to Increased Returns.
Advertisement is key to the success of any business. After investing time and resources to create awareness of your DWI defense law firm, you want an answering service to be available to connect your callers to the law firm. With a reliable answering service, anyone calling to inquire more about the practice will speak to a friendly receptionist and get all the answers they need.
All your callers are business leads, and if you can answer all of them, you transform them into business opportunities.
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DWI Arrestees who don’t Speak or Understand English will Speak to Friendly Bilingual Operators.
As a reputable DWI law firm, you expect to be dealing with clients of all races who have been arrested or charged with the offense of drinking and driving. If your receptionists only speak English, you will be closing your business for the Spanish population and other clients who do not speak English or use it as a second language.
However, when you enlist a bilingual call answering service, you can be sure that even people who don’t speak English as their first language will have receptionists who understand their language. As a business, you will be proving to this population that your law firm values their business and that you care about their rights.
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Your Team of DWI Attorneys will Focus on What they Love Resulting in Increased Productivity.
Customer service is essential in your business’s growth, but it shouldn’t take much of your time to forget the activities that build your business. You need to focus on evaluating the prosecutor’s evidence to build concrete defenses and not spending most of your time answering calls or responding to messages and emails.
Your productivity will soar if you must handle every customer service matrix, including answering calls, scheduling appointments, devising defenses, and defending the client in court. Doing so will take up most of your billable hours.
However, if an answering service takes calls, messages, and schedules appointments, you will focus on fighting DWI charges, which is why you are in business.
Do You Need an Legal Answering Service for Your DWI Defense Law Firm?
Building a law firm is not easy. What’s even more challenging is outsourcing a business component that you sacrificed a lot to develop and direct. It might feel as if you are losing control.
You might even feel you don’t need help because already you are running things and earning revenue. However, the truth is that you need to utilize an answering service to focus on fighting DWI charges on behalf of your clients.
