Making a call to a client to remind them of their appointment to see you will make you money. We, as lawyers, cannot charge clients for No Shows, so the only way an attorney to can make money is if the client keeps the appointment. Appointment reminder calls are now standard for most professionals. I receive a reminder call for my CPA, dentist, doctor and even massage therapist. And I appreciate those calls.
As lawyers we know that time is money. You do not want to waste your time calling clients to remind them of an appointment. But, that’s okay because you are not making that call. Your receptionist is making the call.
Reminder calls for potential clients first appointments are the most important, and most valuable calls
Reminder calls for potential new clients first appointments are the most important, and most valuable calls. The average appointment reminder call takes less than one minute. If you have 10 potential new clients per month, it will only take 10 minutes of staff time to make the reminder calls. That is less than 2 hours of staff time per year. Each new client is worth at least $5,000.00. If your appointment reminder calls only convert one additional client per year, that will make you at least an additional $5,000.00. Who would not trade 2 hours of staff time for $5,000.00?
Appointment Reminder Calls will Make you Even More Money
Making appointment reminder calls to every client for every appointment will make you even more money. You have blocked out an hour for the client appointment. Your mind set is for the meeting with the client. When the client No Shows, you forfeit most of that scheduled time. Sure you convert and do other work, but the time spent waiting for the No Show and then converting to other tasks is time wasted. Plus, afterwards, your staff has to spend even more time to reschedule the No Show. The smarter move is allocate a few minutes of staff time to call the client the day before and avoid the No Show.
If you average 80 to 100 appointments per month, it will require less than one and a half hours of staff time per month to make those client reminder calls. It will take more time than that to reschedule missed appointments.
Plus, if you waste only one hour per month on No Show clients, that will cost you over $3,000.00 in billable time per year.
In conclusion
The client reminder calls are a task to delegate. You will need to train your staff person to diligently make the reminder calls every day, and you will need to follow up with staff to make certain that they are making the calls. But making appointment reminder calls to clients will make you money.
Frank Morris
Frank, co-founder and senior partner of Divorce Lawyers for Men, has spent the last 40 years litigating complex legal claims. He is a Founding Member of the WSAJ distinctive Eagle Program; a Presidents’ Club member of the AAJ; and a member of Million Dollar Advocates, Washington State Bar Association, Thurston County Bar Association, and King County Bar Association Family Law Section.