For small businesses, change can be scary, especially when it comes to outsourcing work. However, there comes a time when using an answering service for your small business simply becomes a smart business move. Whether you’re overworked and need more time to focus on the parts of work that you love or just want to reap the many business benefits of outsourcing, this can be a great option.
What is an Answering Service?
If you’re wondering what answering services can do, you’re not alone. An answering service processes all of your business’s incoming calls. The specifics can vary between providers, but quality service will generally offer appointment scheduling, inbound telemarketing, customer support, and emergency dispatching.
There are many advantages to using an answering service, especially for small businesses. Call center services for small businesses can be customized to your individual needs. For example, if you want certain types of calls forwarded to your team directly, you can have that.
Benefit #1: Provide Convenience for Your Customers
One of the biggest benefits of using a call-center service is switching to 24/7 call availability, as it allows your customers to contact your business more easily.
As a small business owner, you know better than anyone how much a great customer experience can boost revenue. We are all familiar with the struggle of cramming in a phone call during work hours and the relief of seeing that a business is open later than expected. Being able to call a business when it’s most convenient leaves you feeling like you had a good experience.
Providing this convenience is rare for many small businesses and sets you apart from your competition. 24/7 service is a monumental asset and selling point. Your business will grow to a new level when it’s able to stay open after you and your team are done for the day.
Benefit #2: Eliminate Missed Calls
There is nothing customers hate more than not being able to get in contact with you. Unfortunately, answering every call on your own is not always feasible. Whether you’re understaffed or going through a busy season, keeping up with the ebbs and flows of call volume can be challenging.
Eliminating missed calls with an answering service is a massive booster for customer experience. With this switch, you will notice a change in your reputation. When customers are happy, negative reviews become a distant memory, and outstanding recommendations become the norm. There are no shortcuts to providing stellar customer service, starting with being available.
Benefit #3: Deliver Top-Notch Customer Service
When you use a live answering service for your small business, you outsource to communication experts that will handle all calls professionally, reliably, and consistently. If you want your business to be known for fun and friendly conversations, you can still get that when you outsource. Quality call-center service providers will be able to deliver.
Benefit #4: Maximize Productivity
Surprisingly, answering a phone call can significantly impact productivity. Multitasking is not productivity. If your business is all go-go, getting rid of the added stress of receiving customer calls will increase the number of tasks you can do daily.
Benefit #5: Increase Profit
There are also many ways you can maximize profitability when you outsource communications as a small business. That increased productivity is bound to save precious time, and time is money. With an elevated customer experience and reputation as a business, there’s also more potential for bringing in more revenue.
When optimizing profit, companies also need to reduce costs, and staffing is a high cost. Avoid hiring more employees before you’re ready and save the money you would’ve spent on compensation and benefits.
Benefit #6: Lighten Your Load
Being a small business owner can be exhausting. You’ve put in tremendous time and effort to make your business work. Outsourcing is an effective way to lighten your workload, and you won’t regret the extra help when busy seasons arrive.
Even if you don’t need a break, customer service likely isn’t at the top of your list of favorite business tasks to do. Make your business work for you and start having fun again by focusing on doing the things you love most in your business.
Upgrade Your Business with Answering365
Are you starting to see how outsourcing can help your small business? Answering365 offers excellent live answering services. Get ready to upgrade your business with Answering365, and contact us today!