How To Fire Your Receptionist

I guess I should feel bad about advocating the elimination of jobs, especially the lower level jobs in this World.  After all, it cannot be helpful to the job market if most law firms, traditional and non-traditional, eliminated their receptionist.  But, the truth of the matter is the good old receptionist is about outdated as the buggy whip.

In the good old days the receptionist was necessary as not only the palace guard, but he or she directed all communications and mundane work to the person who was due to receive it.  But that is old world.  Now the receptionist is an expensive luxury.

Lawyers, especially I think, got use to not the usefulness of the receptionist at intake and directing information, but in hiding lawyers from their clients.  This task has not passed, but it is about the only task for which a receptionist is still useful -- as the palace guard.  Interestingly, I have found, it is the task (lying to clients) that most receptionist hate the most.

It is not just the cost in terms of salary and benefits, although that is steep.  It is the cost of the additional space for the receptionist, the need for on-premise phone systems, computer equipment, fax machines, copy machines and all of the utilities expended on this staff person.  And for what?  I called a bankruptcy lawyer the other day and asked to speak with him, and the well trained receptionist stated, "He is in court, can I take a message."  I asked if I could just leave a voicemail message.  She said yes, and directed me to his voicemail.  It took a minute or so after I was placed on hold, so I suspect she had to ring him first and tell him not to pick up his phone when she transferred it to his extension.  She came back and on said, "I'll transfer you now."  On my voicemail message I told the lawyer his receptionist told me he was in court, but it was 5:30 p.m., and when I left court there was nobody but the cleaning crew there.  He promptly called me back and apologized.  His receptionist thought it was a client calling.

Well, I was thinking, what if it was a client?  Even more important, what if it was a prospective client?  This tactic might make a lawyer feel more comfortable, but not only is the cost of the receptionist too expensive, it is probably costing him money in missed opportunities.

So get rid of the palace guard.  Here is how you start.

1.  Answer you own phones.  Clients, attorneys and the courts are all now use to phone trees so that calls are directed to the necessary people.  For less than a $100.00 a month, add a virtual PBX and work on the phone tree so as to get the calls directed as you wish.  If you are really not at the office, directed the call to where you are.  If you cannot take a call, let it go to voicemail.

2.  Eliminate the reception desk.  In fact, move your office home, your staff to their homes, and all of the other lawyers to their homes, and work virtually.  But, if you cannot do that for some reason, then rearrange the office so the people closest to the reception area can hear when people enter.

3.  Publish your own email address.  Come on, face facts, whether the email goes to a general email address, clients discover your email eventually.  And besides, whether it goes to a more general email address, the email or a copy of it gets sent to you anyway.  You have to at least scan it and email it to someone else to follow up.  And, if you are not getting the emails now, how safe is that to your law practice?

4.  Add a direct fax number for everyone in your office.  That is right, you do not need a fax machine anymore.  Who uses those things these days anyway?  I am just kidding, I know there are some clients and older attorneys that still use a fax machine because they do not have the capability or do not understand how to scan and email.  But, I can tell you that number is falling fast.  Even as early as a couple of years ago, I would get one or more faxes every day.  Now I probably get a fax a week.  So, you do not need the receptionist to check the fax periodically or to fax things out.  Either sign up for a stand alone service or most virtual PBXs have fax to email and email to fax capabilities.  If you have a simple, cheap, scanner on most desks even in a physical office, and some extranet, you do not need someone to keep up with the faxes coming in and going out.

5.  Start eliminating the mail.  Most of the mail I get these days is just junk anyway.  Sure it makes the letter carrier happy to have a friendly face to look at and someone to say hi to each day, but is this worth the cost?  I do not think so.  Get bills coming to you by email, work at cutting down on junk mail, and start directing clients and other attorneys to send you attachments on email.  If you have a physical office, then establish a discrete basket for incoming and outgoing mail and alert your letter carrier to this.  Then whoever is coming in and out that works at the office can pick up the mail and distributed it quickly to the one who needs it.  If it is a matter of applying postage for outgoing mail, then how hard is this.  Just place the scale somewhere close, teach everyone how to use it, keep the postage machine or stamps handy, and like the water pitcher in the frig, whoever empties it is responsible for purchasing or supply replacements.  Or, at least to place it on the list of things to acquire.  But, most postage machines require you to call in and get a number for new postage.

6.  Overnight packages.  Email is eliminating the overuse of this service as well.  But, I understand that you still get settlement checks and the like.  First, discourage any document that can be sent by email coming to you by overnight delivery.  Second, direct the overnight delivery people to the same mail basket.  Third, if you are sending a package out, put it in the drop box yourself so that the delivery person does not have to rifle through the mail basket for outgoing overnight packages.  If a signature is needed to accept a package, then simply apply the same procedure for anyone entering the office.  The person closest to the reception area needs to be alerted and is there to sign for the package.  How hard is it to throw it on someone's desk?

7.  Legal research.  In my day, the receptionist was mostly the person that updated the law library.  She would add the pocket parts when they came in, she would place the Reporters back in place, and generally clean up the conference room.  But, who maintains books any longer.  If you do, stop!  Online research is easier and less expensive.  And, it does not cause a mess.  It does not resort in the need for copies. It does not have to be updated or placed back in place.

8.  Copy machines.  Some receptionist are responsible for the copy machine.  They have to keep it stocked with paper or run the copies themselves.  Eliminate the copy machine.  Scanners and printers are cheap.  In fact, if you keep yourself from printing everything, you can buy old use printers for nothing.  Add documents to your extranet.  Email them to whoever needs them.  This eliminates the need for a lot of toner and the need to keep the paper in the copy machine stocked.  If there is no copy machine to use as a crutch, the number of copies will naturally fall and this, along with the cost of a fax machine and maintenance contracts, will save you a ton of money as well.  If you do need a copy, then scan and print or print it off your extranet.

9.  Errands.  Is there are reason to run to the courthouse any more to file papers?  If so, do it electronically.  If you need to look at a file, then do it when you are at the courthouse yourself.  You are probably a better judge of what you need to see anyway.  When you are at the store on the weekend, just pick up the water, sodas, coffee and tea for the rec room, or the toilet paper for the bathroom, and carry it in with you when you come to work.  And, pick up your own damned laundry.  Quit being a spoiled baby.

10.  Calendar.  If most communications are by email or phone calls, and you are handling your own mail, then it is just easier for you to train yourself to calendar it then and there.  Besides, it takes more time to remember to tell someone else to do it.  Keep your firm's calenders online.  That way you can access them at home, at court or when you need them.

11.  Paychecks.  Guess what, if you eliminate the receptionist, you have just cut the number of paychecks by one.  You have cut the number of vendor checks by many.  So now everything is easier.  But, in any event, you do not need help handing these out.  Just have your bank, accountant, or payroll company automatically deposit the checks in everyone's bank accounts.  It is easier.  If you are not that sophisticated, then use the online pay system at your bank.

Believe me, there is nothing that your receptionist can do for you, unless you are sleeping with your receptionist, that cannot be easily replaced by cheap tech.  And, frankly, there is a substitute for sleeping with the receptionist that your computer can provide.  And, this way your spouse or significant other does not catch something and nobody gets pregnant.  I do not advise you to use this service.  I mention it to say that a receptionist is so last century.  I cannot imagine why you are wasting the money, time and space continuing to pay for a person that should have gone out with the buggy whip.

Now, if you have a receptionist, this post might have just saved you minimally what?  $30,000.00?  You are welcome!

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=788430103]

A great post, as always, Chuck!

I use a virtual receptionist (www.CallRuby.com) for one reason: I was losing potential clients who didn't want to leave a voicemail. Between court, meetings and phone calls, there's a lot of time each day that I'm not available for incoming calls. I found that some people would call, get my voicemail prompt, and just hang up.

I still get an occasional caller who doesn't leave a message, but most of them do. And everyone gets the option of my voicemail if they prefer that.

Andrew

[Julie A. Fleming]

It's a shame to see another job replaced by computers, but you're right that it's no longer necessary to have a receptionist. More significantly, I think your point about answering your own phones is right on the money. A potential client who can't reach you will probably just call another lawyer or two and decide to hire the one who's available.