How much time would you say you spend answering the phone? 5-10 minutes an hour, depending on whether the call is genuine or a cold call? That adds up to 1 hour and 20 minutes every working day just answering the phone – but for many businesses the real number is much higher. This is just one of the reasons hiring a call answering service is becoming more common, as companies try to gain control of their time and keep their customers happy. If you’re still on the fence about a call answering service, here are a few reasons why you and your business should consider outsourcing your call handling today:
Take Control Of Your Resources
Let’s say you limit your phone answering capabilities to the resources you have in-house, leaving a great deal of communication with customers to chance. If they need urgent assistance and you are unable to answer their calls what will happen then? You will be left with a lot of unhappy customers or no customers at all. By employing a telephone answering service for your business, you do not miss out on the chance to communicate with your customers. Not only does this potentially leave your customers happier, but it also helps you build a good business reputation.
Improve Brand Reception
How your brand is perceived is very important in the marketplace. If you can develop a good reputation for customer service, you will build up a level of trust between you and your clients, and any prospects that come along on the back of them. Answering your phones consistently and quickly not only presents your business as being active and on the ball, but it gives your brand a level of professionalism others may be missing.
Keep Customer Loyalty Intact
We are in an era where people buy people, not businesses, and nothing is more personal than hearing someone’s voice on the end of the phone. While emails still very much have their place, phone calls are seeing a resurgence in popularity when it comes to business-customer communication. When you’re speaking on the telephone, the customer can hear your tone of voice and engage with you, and your message, on a much deeper level. This is a simple hospitality tactic that can help you improve customer loyalty.
Manage Expectations
If you handle all of your calls in house, you may have been able to handle the volume in the beginning. But as you grow, there are more demands on your time, which makes it even more difficult to consistently answer the phone and have time to handle the queries. A call answering service can help you manage the expectations your customers have of your business, keep customer service levels high and relieve the pressure on your employees to be ‘always available’.
At Verbatim, we live and breathe phone calls. While some businesses shy away from answering the phone, we can’t wait for that tell-tale ringing, and to see who’s waiting for us on the other side. That’s why we offer an outsourced call handling service, which can be tailored specifically to your business needs. We can handle calls for you when you are unavailable, provide holiday cover, or answer every call you receive, freeing you up to focus on running your business. To find out more, just get in touch with the team today.
