By Garth Bevan
Like Jennifer, as a business owner, there are always a million things to do at once. When your business is expanding, it gets harder to keep control of customer relationships. For many entrepreneurs, the challenge is how they can keep up with their call volume in relation to running a business. This is where an answering service for professionals can be a game-changer. The trained agents from Signpost who answer your calls allow you to concentrate on your work while continually providing your clients with a knowledgeable, friendly voice and a positive first impression of your business.
Ninety percent of customers consider an “immediate” response as important or very important when they have a customer service question, according to a HubSpot survey. Then there is another report, which also tells us that businesses lose something in the order of $75 billion a year through poor customer service, most of it driven by missed calls.
Let us take a look at the seven unmistakable signs that you should be using a live phone answering service for your business.
Signs Your Business Needs Live Answering Services
1. You are Missing Calls
If your logs are replete with missed calls or your mailbox is consistently full, that is a good indication that you probably need help. A missed call could mean that a sale or a customer’s goodwill has been lost. A live answering service guarantees a voice on the phone no matter what, and retains calls that may otherwise have gone to waste.
2. Your Phone Team Is Drowning in Work
When your employees are answering phones all of the time, they cannot get any work done, at least not on your key business operations. If your staff bitches about not having enough time to get the work done that they REALLY need to do, then perhaps it is time for call-handling outsourcing.
3. Slowness in responding to customers
If you are told that people have been waiting on hold forever or that it is been super difficult to reach your business, this should be a red flag. Today’s consumers are used to immediate answers, and if they are not getting them from you, chances are your competitors are receiving their business. Live answering services lead to a quick and knowledgeable response, which results in great customer retention and satisfaction.
4. You Have An After-Hours Business
If your customers require out-of-hours support, an in-house coverage of longer hours can be costly. Answering live can be there 24/7, for less than the cost of an extra employee—your customers will always be able to reach help.
5. Seasonal or irregular spikes in call volume
Businesses that have calls that vary throughout the day can have a tough time staffing the phones. During busy times, your calls may not be answered, while during slower hours, you are paying for downtime. Answering services grow with your business, offering the kind of flexibility an in-house staff cannot.
6. Does your reception staff frequently take leave?
There is no way to avoid adding new receptionists and customer service representatives if you’re dealing with a high turnover business, and constantly having to train new ones costs both time and consistency in your customer interactions. You have trained staff who follow your protocols, without the interruptions of staff turnover that haunt many businesses.
7. You Need Multilingual Support
With companies proliferating across multiple territories, the capacity to talk to your customer in their desired tongue is becoming more and more critical. Most SMBs are not in a position to employ multilingual staff, but the majority of answering services grant support in multiple languages, allowing you to better serve a diversified clientele.
Cases That May Not Require a Live Answering Service
Your business has low call volume (less than 5-10 per day)
- You have a live answerer that is not having to deal with five of you at a time.
- Your business model is almost entirely digital, and you have very little phone contact.
- You work in a niche industry that requires unique knowledge for every call.
