A person is dealing with a difficult situation and needs a solicitor. They search in the evening, find three local firms and send an enquiry to each. One firm replies first thing the next morning with a clear next step. The others reply later that day. By then, the person has already booked an initial meeting with the first firm.
For small firms, missed and slow enquiries cost more than most partners realise.
A worked example
The numbers below are illustrative. Use your own figures.
Imagine a small firm receives 40 new enquiries a month through its website. Around a quarter arrive in the evening or at weekends. That is 10 enquiries a month outside office hours.
Suppose half of those out-of-hours enquiries go to another firm that replied sooner. That is 5 lost enquiries a month.
If one in three enquiries normally becomes a client, those 5 lost enquiries represent roughly 1 or 2 lost clients a month.
Now imagine the average matter is worth a modest fee, say 1,500 in the firm's currency. One or two lost clients a month is 1,500 to 3,000 a month, or 18,000 to 36,000 a year. That does not count repeat work or referrals.
You can run your own figures through the chatbot ROI calculator.
Why enquiries are missed
People look for legal help when problems happen, not during office hours. Many search in the evening, when they finally have time to think about it. The general pattern is covered in what missed enquiries cost your business.
Hotels see the same effect with group bookings, as covered in the cost of an unanswered group booking enquiry. High-value enquiries are always the most expensive to lose.
The cost of qualifying
The other cost is time. Fee earners often spend unbilled time on initial calls with people whose matters the firm does not handle. Capturing the basics first, such as the practice area, a short summary and urgency, lets the firm focus on suitable enquiries. We covered this in chatbots for law firms qualifying clients without billable hours.
What a website assistant does
SpideyChat for law firms answers questions about the firm's services, practice areas, fees information and process from your own pages, at any hour. It captures the enquiry details and passes them to the firm. It does not give legal advice, assess the merits of a case or promise outcomes.
Visitor: Do you handle employment disputes? Assistant: Yes, employment law is one of the practice areas listed on the site. So the right person can contact you, could you share your name, contact details and a brief summary of the situation? Please don't include anything you'd prefer to discuss in confidence at this stage.
More on how this works for firms is in AI receptionist for law firms.
Confidentiality and first contact
People contacting a law firm are often sharing something personal for the first time. The first exchange should be careful. Ask only for what the firm needs to decide who should respond: the practice area, a short summary and how to get in touch. Explain that the details will be passed to the firm and that detailed discussion will happen with a qualified person. That approach protects the prospective client and helps the firm run its conflict checks before any substantive conversation takes place.
Speed still matters most
Even with good capture, someone at the firm needs to reply. Set a target, such as responding to every captured enquiry by mid-morning the next working day, and make one person responsible for meeting it.
Comparing costs
Set the cost of missed enquiries against the cost of covering them. Plans are listed on the pricing page, starting with a free plan, and Starter at $9.99 a month.
Getting started
Count your out-of-hours enquiries for a month and estimate how many turned into clients. The answer usually makes the case on its own.