From social media to chatbots, the number of ways in which customers communicate with businesses is becoming more and more common.
Despite this, 60% of customers still prefer to contact businesses via phone. This reveals that phone calls remain one of the most valued channels of communication, especially in times of crisis.
This is why your business needs to provide a high-quality 24/7 call answering service.
To learn more about telephone answering services and how they can provide value to your business, read on. We’ve pulled together some of the main advantages of call answering services and how they could benefit your business.
What is a telephone answering service?
A phone answering service acts on behalf of your business to professionally answer calls and take messages.
Depending on the agreement in place a virtual answering service can vary a fair amount. It may deal with basic customer inquiries, forward calls to the necessary contact, or take messages to pass on to you when you are available.
Live answering services are usually made up of a team of virtual receptionists who work across several businesses. This means you can reap the benefits of having a full-time receptionist at a fraction of the cost.
Why would a business use a phone answering service?
Different businesses will use a telephone answering service for different purposes.
Take for example, a startup. It may consist of staff members whose main focuses are generating revenue and growing the business. This could mean staff are travelling frequently to attend meetings and conduct pitches. Because of this, someone might not be available to answer the phone.
This is where a virtual answering service would be beneficial. The service ensures that a message is taken and passed onto staff members when they are available.
Another example is with SMEs. They may not have enough resources to hire a dedicated member of staff to answer calls. However, a telephone answering service costs less than hiring a dedicated receptionist.
Instead, opting for a call-handling service allows businesses to never miss a call, all while working within their budgets.
Below, we explore even more reasons why a business would use a phone answering service.
1. Increases productivity
As a business owner, you’re responsible for completing a wide range of tasks at any one time. From reporting to marketing, arranging meetings, and sales, the list of responsibilities is endless.
The problem with multitasking is that it can harm your productivity. This is because there’s something known as ‘ramp-down and ramp-up effect’. This is the time you spend getting back into a flow state after switching between tasks.
By having a virtual receptionist deal with your calls they can filter unimportant calls, deal with customer enquiries, and notify you of any important messages. This way, you can maintain your concentration and work more efficiently.
2. Provides 24/7 customer service
24/7 call answering comes with a multitude of benefits. The clearest benefit is that 24/7 call answering services showcase that you are truly committed to helping your customers.
An around-the-clock point of contact allows you to be geographically flexible. This is increasingly important, as the development of e-commerce means that customer expectations continue to grow.
The blurring borders between geographies also means that many businesses now start out targeting international customers. That makes being geographically flexible with 24/7 availability is essential.
Phone calls don’t stop after business hours, having an after-hours answering service can make sure you don’t miss any important messages.
3. Reduces overheads
The average salary for a receptionist is approximately $34k per year in the United States. If a business were to hire a full-time member of staff to answer phone calls, this would incur a variety of costs. There’s the salary costs, upgrading a phone system, and everything else the receptionist would need for their job.
For many businesses, especially startups, and SMEs, managing rising costs and hiring suitable candidates are two of the largest challenges they face. Taking on the additional cost associated with hiring extra employees may not be an option.
A business phone answering service offers you the flexibility to cater to any fluctuations your business may see in demand for phone calls.
You can easily scale up capacity to cater to busier periods and scale down in quieter periods. This is something that would be a challenge to do with a full-time employee.
4. Establishes a professional brand image
When a client or prospective customer calls your business, it’s unlikely they’ll know they’re speaking to a business handling service. After all, virtual receptionists are trained to act as an extension of your internal team.
Thanks to this, your brand image will be maintained at all times.
Business answering services also provides you with a landline number. This helps your business look more professional and enhances credibility.
5. Helps build customer relationships
Satisfying customer expectations and preferences is the foundation for building solid customer relationships. Businesses that offer a phone answering service can provide customers with the personal service they desire.
A personalized service is something that again helps develop customer relationships. Customers are more likely to purchase from businesses that provide personalized services.
6. Offers customizable plans and services
Our professional answering services are available as part of our Virtual Office and Virtual Office Plus plans. These offer services ranging from basic phone answering services to transferring calls and message taking.
Telephone answering services are just one of the benefits of our virtual office plans. Our virtual office services also include the use of a professional business address, mail forwarding services, administrative support, and access to global business lounges. These can help you build a credible presence anywhere in the world.
If you’re interested in learning more about virtual offices, you can read our guide to virtual offices to find out how a virtual office can support your business.
Choosing an answering service for small businesses
Call handling can help you to balance your workload, all at a competitive price.
These services can help prevent burnout, all while ensuring your customers receive a consistently high level of customer service. Naturally, this can help to give you a competitive advantage against your competitors.
Whether you want a telephone answering service to increase productivity or to give your business a competitive edge, our dedicated team can help you find the best virtual office solution.
By talking through your business needs with us, we can make sure that your virtual package is giving you all the support you need. That way, you can focus on taking your team and work to the next level. Contact us today and find the right solution for you.
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Regus offers telephone answering services for businesses in both the US and abroad There are also office spaces all across America, ranging from small and private offices to large coworking spaces.