Within the small business world exists a push and pull consisting of setting and working typical business hours or managing all aspects of the company. While some business owners are content with working 100 hours per week, others seek the work-life balance that drove them to own a business. Regardless of which approach you take, offering 24/7 support yourself is impossible. You could use voicemail, but it is incredibly impersonal and could impact gaining new customers. Alas, there is a solution – hire a 24×7 answering service!
Using an Answering Service to Increase Conversion Rates
There are multiple opportunities for a 24×7 answering service to help grow your business after normal business hours, including:
Lead Capture
One of the most obvious ways to use a 24×7 answering service is to capture leads and critical customer information outside of regular hours. Many customers are unable to call during the workday, due to their careers, so having a connection outside of regular business hours is a huge feather in your cap. Since answering services are available 24/7/365, a customer may need clarification about a product or service offered on your website on the weekend while you are enjoying time with your family. The answering service can easily field this question and potentially convert the newly informed into a lead!
Making a Connection
With a voicemail box or even robot calling service, you risk driving customers away due to the lack of human touch. Most customers are calling for a specific reason and do not want to leave a message on a machine and wait for you to call return their call. One of the greatest aspects of a small business is the personality and humanity of the brand, so impersonal machines remove that critical element.
Resource Allocation
Since you will have a professional answering service receiving and responding to all incoming calls, this allows you to better dedicate your time to work on contracts, app development, building assets, generating new leads, or even simply finding that work-life balance. This also relieves your staff of the burden of customer calls allowing them to help further grow the business. Best of all, you do not need to hire a customer service representative or receptionist to field these calls which saves money.
With a world that is always on due to the Internet, customers expect fast answers to their questions and concerns. A voicemail or robotic answering machine is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of your customers. They are inevitably going to call you outside of the standard 9-5 workday so it is up to you to determine how you wish to handle these calls: work around the clock or hire a 24×7 answering service to help with the extra work!
