How well are enquiries from your website being responded to?

When law firms first started to promote themselves online their websites were little more than brochures. “This is who we are, this is where to find us and you can phone or email us for more information.” 

Many firms have now developed a much more interactive experience for clients and potential clients, but for others the only advance has been to create an online form for an enquirer to complete by way of indicating their needs.

But where do these forms go, who responds to them and how quickly?

For prospective clients searching for a local solicitor, or a solicitor with a particular expertise, there’s generally an expectation of a timely and helpful response. It should go without saying, therefore, that when the enquiry is received the firm should respond quickly to capture the enquirer as a client.  After all, yours may well not be the only firm to whom an enquiry has been submitted.

Seeking an accountant

Some time ago, I had cause to seek the services of an accountant, so I did some research and narrowed down my choice to three firms.  All of them had online forms and I duly submitted my queries to each of them.  Only one produced an automated email response advising me that I would hear from them within one working day, and they duly contacted me within that time.  The second took two days to respond, and only then after I emailed them to ask whether I might hear from them.  I never heard back from the third. Guess who didn’t get my business?

Rocket science

At Legal Workflow we develop and implement ever more sophisticated systems for law firms – from online legal services to chatbots – using artificial intelligence to select the appropriate questions to ask and answer, as well as integrating with clients’ systems and sending automated answers, so simple form submissions and automated response mechanisms really aren’t rocket science…