Practice Manager, Jacquie Johnson
Based in Shropshire, PCB Solicitors, have offices in Shrewsbury, Telford, Broseley, Church Stretton, Craven Arms, Knighton, Ludlow, and Worcester, offering expertise across all aspects of private and commercial law. In September 2013 the firm linked up with telephone answering specialist Moneypenny who now assist them with well over 1,000 calls every month.
Practice Manager Jacquie Johnson shares her experience of using an outsourced provider:
Q. Can you give me some background to your first contact with Moneypenny?
A. We had been aware for a little while that our procedure for telephone answering wasn’t ideal. We had a receptionist in each of our branches but inevitably there would be times when they were welcoming visitors or on another call for example so calls were tripping over to our secretarial pool. We knew we were still missing calls and had feedback that callers were frustrated as we were taking too long to answer on occasion. When you pride yourself on a professional efficient service this was unacceptable. In our smaller rural branches in particular we were doing a lot of multi-tasking with solicitors being interrupted as they picked up calls. We also had systems in place where calls would overflow to an alternate office but this just shifted the problem.
We looked at auto attendant to direct calls as they came in but didn’t feel this gave the right impression of the personal service we provide so we responded to a Moneypenny flier we had picked up at an event.
Q. What were your first impressions?
A. We felt confident making the approach knowing Moneypenny is endorsed by the Law Society and were immediately impressed with their response. We took advantage of the no-obligation trial and it was clear from the start that our Moneypenny Receptionist Melissa understood the needs of a law firm and was familiar with the language we use and the expectations of clients. Moneypenny offers a very friendly, efficient and professional service and very early on we were getting comments about our ‘lovely new receptionist!’. Some of our partners had been apprehensive about outsourcing and feared a third party wouldn’t answer the phone as we do. We needn’t have worried. In fact our callers just assume Melissa is sitting at our front desk with us.
Q. What difference has using Moneypenny made to the way you do business?
A. There have been so many benefits. Moneypenny has extended our perceived opening hours as our calls are now covered 8am to 8pm and we also know that business continuity is assured whatever is happening in our offices with Moneypenny right behind us if we can’t get to calls. In fact during the trial our Shrewsbury switchboard went down for an hour but we didn’t panic and could carry on seamlessly thanks to our secret weapon! Our branches all have a ‘people feel’ and our more rural ones especially are very much part of their local communities. Knowing our phones are covered takes the pressure off our small teams if we have guests or there’s something happening and we also know we are fully Lexcel compliant.
Q. What were your expectations of return on investment and have we met them?
A. It is far more cost-effective for us to employ Moneypenny across all branches and the value for money comes not only in the hours covered but in the fact that they charge on call volume so you only pay for what you are getting. We keep the volume down by using the service intelligently ourselves so we don’t end up including calls to each other! By never missing a call we are assured that we never miss an opportunity and our clients are receiving the best possible service. You can’t put a price on that.
Q. Do you use the Moneypenny App and Moneypenny Online?
A. I do and I encourage my colleagues to do so too. The app is a great way to instantly alert our Moneypenny Receptionist of people’s whereabouts and daily activities so she is armed with all the knowledge she needs. I love Moneypenny Online as all our real-time call and caller data is right there and I have to confess to sitting at home on many a night looking through it! I send useful information on to the partners and it’s very handy when preparing reports.
Q. Would you recommend Moneypenny to others?
A. Absolutely. We have all bases covered and still offer the warm personality behind our calls that we pride ourselves on. We review the service each month and know it is flexible to suit our needs. It’s hard to believe now that we were struggling to get to so many calls before.
