Receiving calls and answering queries is a chore that most business entities have to contend with. Unfortunately, the smaller companies cannot afford to employ full-time receptionists and customer care personnel to do the needful. You, as a business owner, are sure to find it extremely challenging when you have to interrupt your work to attend to telephone calls. No worries! You may go ahead and contact a third party adept at providing business answering service thus shouldering the burden that you have been dealing with so far.
You are certainly not alone here. It is interesting to note that varied industries and professionals feel identical needs that enable them to consider hiring such services.
Purpose of using a business answering service
First things first though. You have to be convinced that this type of service would be beneficial for you in the long run. To put it simply, an answering service will take on the responsibility of answering inbound calls on your behalf. It is important to know that such services are not identical. Instead, you would be well advised to pick and choose the company depending on your requirements.
You would be offered a plethora of choices when contacting the service provider for the first time. You may be interested in paying for call answering when your company lacks adequate staff to handle the required tasks:
- Receiving inbound calls
- Receiving calls at late nights and/or on weekends & national holidays
- Call forwarding
- Scheduling appointments on your behalf
- Making outbound promotional calls on your behalf
Types Of Answering Services
The services are devised on the type of requirements. However, they are usually divided into the following categories:
- Interactive voice response (IVR) systems: This is an automated answering service that requires the customer to press a certain number to obtain the necessary information
- Call centers: This is meant for big business entities that need to provide customer care to hundreds of people simultaneously. Moreover, the call centers frequently make sales calls to ensure lead generation and conversion of the leads to customers
- Virtual receptionists: This service involves answering calls by a human being who deals with incoming calls in the same manner as a full-time receptionist does
Best Qualities of an answering service company
You are likely to require quick and prompt answering of all incoming calls that are directed to your company. The top qualities that make such services incomparable include the following:-
- Instant answering
- Personal, emphatic answers that enhance customer experience
- Forwarding of essential calls to the right person at all times
- Generation of leads for your business
- Conversion of leads to loyal customers
- Resolution of customer issues
- Ensure growth and scaling up of business
- Handle the calls on weekends & national holidays
- 24X7 hours of service
- Filter all inbound calls by identifying the genuine calls after eliminating spam, robocalls, and/or non-emergency calls
The need for using a business answering service has become essential as you have to keep up with your competitors at all levels without exceeding your budget.
