Why Your Health Law Firm Needs an Answering Service

Few industries are as heavily regulated as the health industry. From natural supplements to pharmaceuticals, and health products to surgical procedures, there’s a myriad of rules and laws that must be navigated successfully. A health law firm’s goal is to provide the guidance its clients need to steer clear of compliance-related issues, follow all applicable laws, and still manage to focus on their core mission. 

The health industry is also one of the most varied. It includes fields as diverse as biotechnology and bioethics, pharmaceutical development, clinical fraud, behavioral health, medical research (ethics and fraud), Medicare, and so much more. An experienced legal answering service can lighten your load so that your team can bring to bear the focus and expertise necessary to successfully guide clients forward.

Putting information in one easily accessible place

One of the most critical considerations for any health law firm is having access to accurate information when communicating with clients. That begins during the intake and onboarding process. Unfortunately, typos and other errors can reduce the quality of the data your team has, making it more difficult for them to do their jobs. A legal answering service provides a crucial workaround for this.

The most problematic time for data gathering is during initial lead intake and conversion into a client. Business and individual names, billing and physical addresses, specific contact rules, and other information should all be gathered at this point. However, mistakes made in gathering the information, as well as forgotten information, can lead to missing fields and other errors. That might make it difficult to communicate with a client later on, or even impossible to bill them if their billing information is incorrect or incomplete.

A virtual receptionist helps ensure that all information is gathered and that the details are entered into your CRM accurately. Experienced receptionists know the important information to request from leads, and it’s a simple process to request additional details, like the name and contact information for the client’s billing department. Adding this data to your CRM ensures that it’s available to team members who need it, but also helps protect against slowdowns and bottlenecks in the future due to inaccurate or missing information.

Increase the accuracy of your lead screening process

Every health law firm receives phone calls and emails from clients who want their help, but who might not be the best fit possible. It could be that they need a different legal professional entirely. It could be that they’re feeling out their options and won’t make a decision on hiring a health law firm for some time. They could even be in sectors of the health industry that you don’t represent. 

Communicating with these leads is a waste of time and resources, but it’s often unavoidable. A legal answering service helps you recapture that lost time and put those resources to better use. 

Working with a legal answering service ensures several things. First, every lead that makes it to a team member has been prequalified. While they might not have converted into a client yet, you at least know that your health law firm can offer the assistance they need. That means no more time spent answering questions only to learn that the lead isn’t suited for your firm.

It also means that your team members can stay out of the vetting process. They have more important things to do, such as due diligence or communicating with existing clients about current and upcoming situations. 

Finally, it also means that you can maximize your revenue and accelerate growth. Working with ideal clients and skipping most of the vetting process means focusing on more billable hours and fewer non-billable ones. 

Skip the spam and sales calls

Like other businesses, health law firms face a seemingly never-ending stream of spam and sales calls. Sales calls are usually a waste of time. Spam calls are worse and can be major security threats on top of the wasted resources they represent. And yet, your team probably spends a significant portion of their office time fielding just these calls. 

A legal answering service can offset this situation in a couple of ways. First, the right firm will maintain a list of known spam callers and use automated software to block those from coming through in the first place. The company’s virtual receptionists are the second line of defense. Any spammer not currently listed will be intercepted, blocked, and added to the list to prevent future calls. 

The same thing happens with sales calls. Any cold calls from salespeople are caught by the virtual receptionist. They can leave a message that will be forwarded on, but your team doesn’t have to deal with pushy salespeople ever again.

Finding the right legal answering service

From the discussion above, it should be clear that a legal answering service can provide major benefits for your health law firm. However, finding the right partner is important. Just like law firms, legal answering services vary in terms of services, quality, rates, and much more.

At Smith.ai, we employ a team of highly experienced virtual receptionists, as well as powerful, proprietary automated technology. Combined, they help prevent spam and sales calls, streamline your vetting process, and help you build the most accurate picture possible of leads and current clients. In addition, we can offer other services, such as appointment booking, payment collection, and outbound callbacks to help your firm boost productivity, efficiency, and profitability.

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai.

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