Are you up to answering the call? And the next one and the next one?
Increased call volume is a good thing. It means you’re attracting more attention from existing and potential clients.
But answering all those calls costs you time and money, whether you hire a receptionist or take time out of your work day to answer.
And what about the missed calls? Customers want an answer when they call. They don’t want to wait around for a return call.
Hiring an answering service to field your calls can help your business run more efficiently. Your customers get a consistent, high-quality customer service experience, too.
Are you still unsure if an answering service is right for your business? Read these benefits of using an answering service to see how it might help your business.
1. Never Miss Important Calls
Do you rely on staff to answer calls between their other duties? Do you work with clients on the other side of the world? Answering the phones in-house can cause you to miss important phone calls.
When you’re running a business, every client call is important. Missing a new client can cause them to try a competitor.
An existing client who gets voicemail might feel neglected. They want answers to their questions immediately.
With an answering service, every call gets answered when it comes through to your number. You’ll know that each client gets the attention they want even if you’re busy with other tasks.
Answering services can provide you with detailed records of every call. This helps you follow up efficiently when necessary.
If you have random employees answering calls, they may not track the calls. Messages and notes for follow-up calls might get misplaced or lack details.
2. Free up Your Time
You’re in your groove, working on a project, when the phone rings. You don’t want it to go to voicemail. It could be an important client.
But answering the call breaks your concentration. If the caller has an issue that takes some time to resolve, you lose work time on the project.
It can take you time to get back into the zone once you return to your project. And you’re likely to have many more calls before the end of the day that continue interrupting you.
Even if you have other staff members helping, they’re all getting interrupted from their work duties. Answering phone calls takes value work time no matter who picks up the phone.
Letting a professional answering service handle all your calls lets you focus on your work. You can stay in the zone to complete your projects faster. And you can work on new revenue-generating activities that help grow your business.
3. Improve Reliability
Do you have one person who handles your phone calls? What happens when that person is on vacation or sick? With an answering service, there’s always someone there to take the calls.
Answering services also have the latest equipment and software to handle calls efficiently. You don’t have to worry about customers getting busy signals or dealing with equipment malfunctions. They can get through each time and enjoy clear phone quality.
4. Provide Consistent Customer Service
Answering services great your customers in a professional way. Callers get a consistent experience since the answering service handles calls the way you specify. The people answering the phones are specifically trained in customer service to provide the best interactions.
When your staff answers the phone, callers might get a different experience each time. Some of your employees may be great at customer service. Others might be better at the behind-the-scenes work.
Unless you train your staff on answering phones, they may provide different answers or handle things in different ways. This can cause confusion for your clients.
Consistency helps build your brand as a professional company. Customers know they’ll have a positive experience each time they call.
5. Ensure Customers Talk to a Human
Having a human connection can make a big difference to your clients. If they get an answering machine, they may simply hang up instead of leaving a message. You miss out on a chance to connect with those clients and build a relationship that makes them want to stick with you.
If they have to leave a message and wait, your customers might get frustrated. That’s especially true if they have an emergency or need an immediate response.
Why does keeping your customers happy matter? Satisfied customers keep coming back to you for your services. If you can boost your customer retention by just 5%, that can translate into a 25% to 95% increase in your profits.
It pays to keep your existing customer base happy. Hiring an answering service and giving them a human voice to talk to can help with that customer satisfaction.
6. Save Money
Having in-house staff answer phones can cost you more than you think. Hiring a dedicated customer service person to answer calls comes with salary, insurance, and benefits costs.
If you have other employees answer the calls between their other duties, their productivity declines. Say you’re paying an employee a decent salary to design websites. When that person stops to answer a phone call, they get less of the design work done that you’re paying them to do.
With an answering service, you pay a set amount, which makes it easier to budget. That cost may save you money over hiring a full-time customer service employee or losing money on decreased productivity.
7. Stay Competitive
The reliability, consistency, and round-the-clock availability keeps your company competitive. An answering service can give you the edge if your competitors don’t use one. They’re potentially missing out on those after-hours calls that you can take thanks to the answering service.
You can make yourself even more competitive by choosing an answering service specializing in your field or finding a local service. Check here for different services that match your preferences.
Get Started with an Answering Service
An answering service can help you free up time and better serve your customers. The decision to use an answering service can help you grow your business. Check out more business articles to find other ways to run your business well.
