Do you run a small business and simply don’t have the time to spend on the phone with clients? Here’s why you should hire a call answering service.
Running a small business offers a rewarding experience as you find yourself working through different points of operation. From managing employees to test driving systems, there’s never any shortage of work to handle.
But what about handling incoming calls on your company’s phone system? If you’re in the startup stage you might feel reluctant to do so, but is there any option other than having a receptionist?
You don’t have to regulate yourself to screening a new employee and training them yourself. Outsourcing your calls to an answering service can free up time and still deliver the same results.
Learn more about why you should consider this option and how it can help your company thrive.
Maintain a Professional Appearance Even if Not Fully Set Up
If you’re still working out of your garage or home office, you likely don’t have anywhere to call home for your office yet. This can feel frustrating and you’re having a hard time imagining bringing an employee on to manage calls in the process.
Regardless, you know how important it is for your company to have a professional image. You’re worried that by coming off as a newbie, you’ll turn people away, including potential customers and even investors.
By hiring an answering service, you’ll have the benefit of individuals working remotely. They’ll still handle customers the same way an in-house employee would, only there’s no need to worry about hiring practices, benefits, or anything related to expanding your team.
Finding the right answering service and delegating the task to them, along with how you want them to manage certain calls, is all you have to do.
More Time to Manage Your Company
As a small business owner, it’s important to spend time on the key aspects of your business that provide you with a return. When you’re starting out, you’ll find it’s necessary to wear many hats.
But research shows that wearing several hats or handling multiple duties hurts your business more than it helps it.
If your main job is to handle customer accounts, you don’t want to overextend yourself with something as simple as answering the phones. When you start focusing on too many other mundane duties, you’ll take yourself away from doing what you excel in and building a name for your company.
Outsource your phone answering duties to call service for business, and see how much time you gain back.
Handle a Variety of Different Calls
One of the benefits of having a call answering service take over incoming (or even outgoing) calls is there’s no limit to the types of calls they can manage.
Taking Orders
If your business involves getting orders from customers, you don’t want to miss any possible money. Instead of hiring an employee (or several) to manage calls, a call answering service can help you in this regard.
The answering service can process orders and even input them into your system. This saves you money since you’re not losing out on calls.
Generating Leads
Generating leads proves a lengthy process depending on where you’re trying to get them from. If you’re still using any sort of cold calling or telemarketing methods via phone, it makes sense to outsource this to a company.
Like taking orders, the answering service can input any information you’ll need into your database, making it easier for you to follow up. Even if you need to see what works and what to let go of, using this method can help.
Providing General Assistance and Service
If folks have general questions about service, need to follow up with something, or want to know more information, an answering service provides a useful solution. People can call and find what they’re looking for, without spending a lot of time on hold.
This leaves you free to pursue other items on your agenda, while someone else takes care of the basics for you.
Providing a variety of help on calls is only one benefit an answering service offers. To learn more about other qualities you never associated with a call answering service, view here.
Provide Customized Options to Ensure Success
Maybe your business has special options to consider for callers. Perhaps you’d like to have a hand in customizing the menu when customers call in.
This allows them to tell the system where to direct the call. If they want to check on an order, the menu can direct them to that department.
For those that want to upgrade or need professional assistance with a technical matter, they can get routed to the correct person. Having your own custom menu system puts the focus on getting calls to the right department.
This saves time for both the answering service and the customer, making the best use of everyone’s time.
Do you want to have a specific message playing, or would you like to remind callers to check out your website? Either way, you can customize the menu options to include this information when people call in.
Make the most of a menu, and save everyone time by designing it to meet your company needs.
No Training Needed When Using a Professional Answering Service
One positive aspect of hiring an outside answering service is there’s no training needed. Think about what happens when you hire employees and need to show them how to take calls.
Besides teaching them about the company, it’s possible you’ll need to train them in customer service, and the phone system, too. This accounts for extra time away from your normal duties, particularly when you hire more people on.
When you choose a professional answering service, you don’t need to worry about these types of problems. A professional company already has customer service skills and knows how to answer questions.
Do you believe that having help with incoming phone calls will benefit your company but don’t want to spend a lot of time training people? See how a call service for business can help make a long-lasting difference in customer satisfaction.
Offer Brand Recognition With a Call Answering Service
Building your brand is an important part of any company. You want callers to know who they’re dealing with and feel confident they’ll get a solution when they call.
Business with a purpose is one the key points that can set your company aside from competitors. You want everyone who deals with your business to know you care, and they’re in good hands.
Using special phone tags, or having a specific greeting that mentions your company’s name helps customers get to know you. Those that have a good experience will feel impressed and want to do business with your company again in the future.
A call service can customize the greeting in whatever way works best for your company. This could mean including the company tag in the greeting, before they sign off with the customer, or both, to increase brand recognition.
If you’ve held back from using a professional answering service because of this factor, there’s no reason to. A qualified service that cares about your customer’s needs can meet any needs your company has.
Handle Calls After Hours
In today’s customer service driven climate, it’s important to be available as often as possible to meet client needs. Customers call all hours of the day, often with different questions.
Perhaps you need someone to handle calls late at night, early in the morning, or anywhere in-between. You can’t imagine spending this much time away from work, but you don’t want to leave folks high and dry.
Instead of hiring staff or trying to do it all yourself, save time and let an answering service pick up the phone for you. Most answering services operate all different hours and even work on holidays.
That means even if your company isn’t open, there’s someone who can help your callers with their needs. Consider this an opportunity to delegate and take a step back–without losing business regardless of the time of day.
Discover More
If you’ve never considered an answering service before, you’re missing out on a lot of benefits. From working with customers and managing their needs after hours to customizing your phone menu to fit your image, there’s no shortage of benefits an answering service can provide.
Consider working with one today, and see how you can continue to grow your customer base without sacrificing time or hiring on a lot of employees.