Technology has changed the way we work. We aren’t hemmed in my business hours or even by geography and time zones when it comes to doing business. Often, businesses will have employees who work offsite, sometimes halfway around the world from the actual physical office. Because of that, customers have also come to demand more from the companies they deal with. Part of that is the expectation that, no matter when they call a company (either to make a purchase, to receive support or to ask a question) their call will be answered. That expectation of 24-hour, around-the-clock attention doesn’t translate when you think of the old-school model of the office, where a 9-to-5 workday ruled the day. These days, business owners need a way to ensure that they can do business around the clock. Otherwise, you could lose business to a competitor who has solved that issue. An answering service can actually benefit your business in several ways.
It can save you money
If you didn’t hire a dedicated answering service, you could employ call center agents to work onsite, as employees of your company. When you do that, however, you are also responsible for paying for their wages, bonuses, benefits and also for finding physical office space for them within your building. By contrast, when you outsource to an answering service, all you have to pay is a set rate for the service. They incur the costs of recruiting, hiring and paying the actual call agents.
It can fill a gap in your customer service needs
Particularly if you are a new or smaller business, you may not have the manpower you need to handle the demands of your incoming customer service inquiries. By outsourcing that job, you can keep up with customer demands over the phone, whether it is to answer questions, schedule appointments, provide tech support, or whatever. You can focus your energies elsewhere while leaving the customer service tasks to the experts.
It can help you handle fluctuations in call volume
Every business will experience variances in call volume from one time to another. During busy retail seasons or when you have a sale going on, for example, it can be a challenge to keep up with the increase call volume. Yes, you could hire more in-house staff to deal with the additional calls, but what happens when the call volume slows down? You will essentially be paying those employees to sit idle. Instead, consider higher an answering service. They can manage high volume times and, when things slow down, you can opt to pay only for the actual number of calls answered. That can help to ensure both that your calls are always answered and that when there are fewer-than-average calls you can save a few dollars by not paying employees to do nothing.
It can help a small business seem bigger
One of the biggest giveaways that a company is a small upstart is an unanswered phone when a customer calls. That can make your reputation take a hit, and can encourage other customers to give their money to a bigger company with the resources to ensure that their calls are always answered. An answering service can do that for you, no matter how small your business is. Never lose a potential sale to the other guys simply because your phone went unanswered.
