Returning Phone Calls is a Must in Office Management

Last week I began to talk about one of the various rules we have in our firm for helping "get the work done." As you know, "getting the work done" is one of the five areas that make up part of every business in the world. The other four areas are "clients or customers," "administration," "billing," and "getting paid."

This week we are going to talk about the "24-hour rule" for returning messages. Okay, okay, I know what you are thinking, is he really going to talk about this rule for a third time? The answer is a resounding "not only yes, but heck yes!" What does it tell you about how important I think this rule is that I am going to talk about it for a third time in a third part of these articles?

We work very hard in our office to try to have every phone message returned by someone in the office within a twenty-four hour period. The lawyer may not be able to return the message, but certainly a competent staff member can. The concept is to project effort and that is done by having the initial phone message returned within twenty-four hours.

The lifeblood of law firms in the year 2004, in my opinion, is still the telephone. Because of the advent of cell phones, people can literally be available 24/7/365. If anything, the use of telephones has greatly increased, notwithstanding the additional increases of the use of fax machines and e-mails as well. There is just something about hearing the other person's voice and listening for the appropriate, or as the case may be, the inappropriate inflections from the person on the other end of the conversation.

If the telephone is the lifeblood of the law firm, then accurately taking down telephone information has got to be the "plasma" of the system. Accurate phone messages are indispensable. Every message needs to have the person's name accurately spelled and accurate phone numbers for the phone calls to be returned in a timely fashion. Any information that can be gleaned about what the call is about is always helpful when trying to prioritize the urgency of phone messages. Any staff member that can help a person on the telephone and alleviate the necessity of the lawyer having to talk to the client is highly encouraged. On the other hand, if the client wants to talk to the lawyer, that is what the client is paying for, and they should not be disappointed.

In our office, we keep a carbon copy of every phone message that is taken, so that we can have a permanent record of every phone call we receive in the office. These phone logs are kept for a ten year period from the date of the call, and then they are destroyed after that time. In the state where I practice, there is a five-year statute of limitations on legal malpractice and I have found that almost all matters close within a five-year period.

As part of our telephone system, we have voicemail in our office, but I highly encourage our staff to try to use voicemail sparingly. In addition, I have the staff take messages from my voicemail, so I have a hard copy of the message as well as a carbon. I keep the phone messages in a separate small folder so I can take them with me when I leave the office in case I have an opportunity to return any of the messages while I am out of the office. This information could be done electronically without the utilization of hard copies, but you would have to be sure to have a good system that allows you to keep the information accurately and prompts you to timely return the phone calls. You would also need some storage capacity to be sure that the phone messages were accurately stored for an appropriate period of time.

I constantly review my phone messages as I am going by my administrative assistant who handles the phone messages for me. I ask my administrative assistant to put my phone messages in reverse chronological order. The reverse chronological order is by date and by time. The top message will always be the latest message that I receive. You may think this last in and first out system on phone messages is counter intuitive, but I find that it makes me work harder to get to the messages that are older and to be more timely in returning the phone messages that are newer. Try this system. I think you might be amazed how much it helps you.

One of the most frustrating things about returning phone messages is "telephone tag." How many times have you tried to return a phone message and all you do is simply have to leave another message for the party you are calling? Some years ago I resorted to having my staff help me return phone messages and that way I can continue working while the messages were being left by my staff as opposed to by me. Some people seem to take a little umbrage at having a staff member return a phone call, but I try to remind them that having the staff member return the call is better than having nobody return the call. In general, most people seem to be happier to complete the call instead of continuing to play telephone tag.

One of the other things that I have utilized in returning telephone calls is having my staff set up telephone call appointments with people who are difficult to reach on the phone. These telephone call appointments seem to work very well and will minimize the "telephone tag" merry-go-round.

I keep all-important telephone messages that have a detailed description of what they were about, and put them on the "Notes, Facts, Memorandums" backboard in the client file. It is very helpful to have something to remind you about what date a phone call was made and what the substance of the message was. If it is helpful to document the file, don't throw it away, file it!

By emphasizing the return of phone messages with the "24 hour rule" in three different parts of these articles, I am trying to emphasize how important it is to return phone calls for "marketing," "administration," and "getting the work done." If you fall down in any one of these three areas in returning phone calls, you will lose business, lose existing clients, lose valuable information, and potentially end up with a disciplinary complaint and even a malpractice lawsuit. Return your phone calls, get staff members to return your phone calls, and do everything you can to project effort by communicating!

For the next several weeks we are going to continue to talk about some more rules we have for "getting the work done." Next week we are going to talk about "non-verbal communication" in "getting the work done." This includes nonverbal communication with your clients, other lawyers in your office, and your staff. Non-verbal communication is an integral part of "administration," and it is even more of an important part of "administration" when it helps to "get the work done," on an efficient and timely basis. I think you will find some of my expanded comments in this area very helpful to you.

Talk with you next week.

Jim Wirken is a civil trial attorney and the Chairman of the Board of The Wirken Law Group in Kansas City.