5 ways law firm call recording can improve your practice

Even though solicitors offer a highly specialised service, like many other professions there is still fierce competition when attracting and retaining clients. Successful revenue generation and business development is built on personal recommendations and reputation and so your ability to train and retain ‘high performing’ legal staff is critical. Law firm call recording can be instrumental in assisting with this.

1. IDENTIFYING LOST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

In most cases your first interaction with a potential client tends to be by phone and your firm’s ability to handle these initial enquiries can make all the difference, so ask yourself the following;

• Do you know how many initial phone enquiries become lost opportunities or why?

• Do you know which associates handle calls better than others and what differentiates those calls?

Call recording technology is increasingly being used by solicitors to address these very questions and to drive more business opportunities whilst pinpointing areas for call handling improvements.

2. BENCHMARKING BEST PRACTICE AMONGST LEGAL SUPPORT STAFF

For legal assistants tasked with client telephone liaison duties the ability to demonstrate empathy, professionalism and an understanding of the legal context behind the call is fundamental to providing service excellence. Call recordings can be used to coach, measure and highlight examples of best practice as well as identifying how calls can be better handled under difficult circumstances.

3. ENSURE CONSISTENCY OF LEGAL ADVICE ACROSS ALL CHANNELS

Consistency over the interactions your firm has with a specific client is also important. Particularly where there may be multiple people working on one case or where a case may be passed to a colleague. The ability to play back previous calls with that client ensures your solicitors can resume or share work effectively providing case continuity across offline, online and phone based communications.

4. PROTECT YOUR ASSOCIATES FROM COMPLAINTS

Ensuring successful knowledge transfer of cases and keeping clients up to date with what is happening can also help minimise complaints against the firm. According to the Legal Ombudsman between 2013 and 2014 around 7,995 complaints were received with failure to advise and failure to follow instructions accounting for over a third of the complaints made. Where disputes arise the recording of calls can help protect firms by ensuring employees follow due diligence in these area’s and can be used to safeguard them from unfair accusations. The tweet below highlights the importance of effectively communicating with clients.

@sra_t4t the research shows communication matters most to clients. @Legal_Ombudsman data shows this is most the common cause of complaints.

— Legal Services Consumer Panel (@LegalServicesCP) October 28, 2014

5. MAXIMISING SOLICITOR PRODUCTIVITY

On days where solicitors are making court appearances the ability to have mobile phones recorded helps maximise the productivity of your associates.  For example where important calls are made or received from another client, having a record of that conversation enables your solicitor to not only access it on their return to the office or home it can be shared with legal support staff so that a number of cases can be progressed in any one day, regardless of location.
In a nutshell law firm call recording can help improve your practice by focussing on training staff to handle client legal enquiries in the right way so you can better identify and turn around lost opportunities whilst making sure your solicitors are managing their time in the most effective way.

For further information on technology available contact Business Systems now.