Customer service is a major issue for businesses both big and small — in fact, a 2016 report from Forbes indicated that businesses are losing an average of $62 billion each year due to bad customer service. Consumers now have virtually endless options to choose from for most products and services; if they dislike how one business is handling customer service, it’s easier now than it ever has been before for them to simply find another business rather than waiting for the issue to be resolved. Perhaps one of the largest problems that businesses have regarding customer service is simply being there as much as possible. Customers now expect businesses to be available to answer questions and handle problems at all hours of the day, with most businesses instituting after hours call times. This is especially important for businesses that want to expand on a global level, as their customers will likely be calling from different time zones. Customers expect to be able to get quick and accurate answers in a professional manner, but unfortunately it can be difficult for businesses to provide this using regular employees. This is why many business owners now turn to professional answering services to provide after hours responses for customers. Below, we’ll look into some of the advantages of using professional answering services, and why it’s a better move than using internal employees for the same purpose.
What Are Professional Answering Services?
Essentially, answering services for small businesses — and large ones — are forms of outsourcing. Rather than delegate after hours answering times to internal employees, or hiring permanent employees to do the job, businesses use call answering services that specifically provide professionally trained employees for the task. These people are trained to answer a variety of different questions, and can be trained to handle a business’s specific needs. A professional answering service means that you won’t always be dealing with the same employees, but they will always be there to answer your customers’ questions. In this day and age, a number of different types of businesses use professional answering services. Doctor answering services are particularly popular, as many doctors want to have people available to respond to minor questions and concerns patients may have after hours. For that matter, using a professional answering service is seen as a means through which companies can step up their professionalism and take care of customers on an entirely different level.
Why Use A Professional Answering Service?
For one thing, outsourcing to a cheap answering service is usually less expensive for a business than hiring permanent employees to handle calls. This also means that the business owners themselves don’t have to worry about training employees to answer calls — this has already been handled by the answering service company. A major advantage of having people answer phones after hours in general is simply that it’s considered better customer service. After all, 80% of people will hang up on a business if they’re transferred to a voicemail, indicating that most people would rather give up than leave a message. People like a more personalized experience, and appreciate talking to actual people rather than an automated machine. The better people feel about a company’s customer service, the more likely they are to be loyal to the company in question. As it is, two-thirds of consumers would be willing to spend more money on a particular company — on average, 13% more — after a good customer service experience.
What Should You Expect From A Professional Answering Service?
Not all professional answering services are created equal, and it’s important to know what you’re looking for before selecting a service to work with. For one thing, you want to make sure that the service you use doesn’t rely overmuch on scripts. While some level of scripting is expected from most answering services, heavily scripted calls can eliminate empathy and emotion, both of which are key to good customer service experiences. By being selective, you’re sure to find the answering service that is right for your business.
