One of the most important aspects of building a successful law practice is efficiency. When you and your team are at maximum productivity and have the systems in place to get things done (and get them done fast), not only are you able to provide better service to your clients, but you’re able to take on more clients and grow your practice without losing customers.But how, exactly, do you become more efficient? How do you make sure you and your team are taking the necessary steps each day to refine your practices and get more done?Here are three ways to increase efficiency in your law office (and grow your practice as a result):
Establish systems
The first key to maximizing efficiency in your law office is to establish systems.If you have a repeatable task or process within your business, there’s no need to start from scratch every time the task or process needs to be managed. Establishing a system decreases the amount of time you and your team will need to spend on each task – which will allow you to get more done in the day, giving your law office a serious boost in productivity. The Balance says it well; “Routine tasks need routine procedures if you want to stay organized and keep things running smoothly.”So, for example, let’s say your assistant needs to gather information every time a potential client calls to inquire about your services. Instead of having your assistant try to remember all the information they need to gather each time a new potential client calls, develop a system. Create a template that has all the questions your assistant will need to ask and then write clear instructions on how the information should be formatted, who it should be sent to, and when they should follow up to ensure it was received.Once a system is in place, it becomes automatic, which will cut down on the time and effort necessary to complete the task. And if for some reason your assistant moves on to another opportunity, you already have the system in place to hand off to the next person, which will save you time on training.
Automate whenever possible
Taking systems a step further, if you want to increase efficiency in your law office, you should automate legal processes whenever possible.There are so many incredible automation tools on the market that can help streamline the operations in your practice and give you and your team hours back each week.Are you spending a significant amount of time responding to emails inquiring about your services? Use an email autoresponder to automatically send a canned response explaining your practice and a link to set up a phone consultation. Spending hours on contract review or discovery? Use a data mining tool. Spending weeks training every new staff member you hire? Create training videos so you don’t have to spend as much one-on-one time with new hires.The more you can automate, the more time you’ll save. Our team of legal virtual receptionists can help you streamline some of these processes.
Hire remote workers to support your in-house staff
Sometimes, the key to getting more done is expanding your team. But the most efficient way to expand? Hiring remote workers to support your in-house staff.When you hire remote workers – particularly international talent who live in different time zones – you can literally have people working for you and your practice around the clock.So, for example, let’s say one of your in-house team members was working on research for a case. When they leave the office at 6 pm, they could pass the research along to a remote worker on the other side of the world who could continue that research overnight (which is daytime hours in their time zone). When your in-house person gets back to the office in the morning, they have an entire workday’s worth of additional research thanks to the remote support.Maybe you have an intake specialist that works in your office during the day. But what about those new leads that come in after hours? If you have a remote intake specialist who works in a different time zone, you can rest assured knowing that potential client calls will be answered – no matter what time they come in.When you expand your team to people around the world, you can have people working all hours to help you grow you and your law practice – and you can increase the efficiency of your team in the process. Read more about hiring a virtual team here or consider a virtual receptionist.Increasing efficiency in your law office is a must if you want to grow your practice. Now that you have these tips, you’re well on your way to making your office a more efficient and more productive place to work – and to growing your practice and taking things to the next level.
