The Secret to Showing Up for Your Clients 24/7 Without Losing Your Mind

Most business owners spend at least some of their time fielding sales inquiries, customer service requests, or helping manage customer emails. That’s fine during the day, but technology has changed customers’ expectations about responses to their communication. Now, customers expect immediate or near immediate responses when they send sales, marketing, or customer service.

You can lose your mind trying to manage those calls and inquiries when you’re off the clock. The other option is a phone answering service.

Not sure what that kind of service can do for you? Keep reading and discover how an answering service can make your life easier.

Answering Service

The first way an answering service makes your life easier is by taking on those off-hours calls that you normally miss. In many cases, those calls are just looking for basic information that an answering service can provide in less than a minute.

You can also use an answering service during the day to help you screen calls.

Customer Service

Some answering services also offer a customer service option. This service goes beyond the basic information level. The call center staff will answer questions about your products or services and even help resolve lower-level customer problems.

This frees up you and your staff for more pressing work.

Appointment Setting

Another common service that a phone answering service will offer is appointment setting. This is another very low-level task that anyone can do with access to your appointment software. Plus, they can offer that service during non-business hours. 

Again, it frees up your time for more valuable work that only can carry out.

Qualify Sales Leads

Qualifying sales leads is an important task, but not necessarily one that takes a lot of skill. In fact, it usually just boils down to a short list of questions about the lead’s needs and finances. You just provide the questions and a list of acceptable answers.

Armed with that information, the answering service forwards the contact information of qualifying leads.

Tech Support

Some higher-end answering services will even offer basic tech support for your customers or your staff. It’s not the same level of support you can get from an IT support service, but it can help resolve mundane problems without soaking up your time.

The ultimate cost for an answering service will depend on your volume of calls and other inquiries, as well as which services you select.

Phone Answering Services and Your Business

Phone answering services can go a long way toward preserving your sanity in terms of customer calls and inquiries. Depending on the service package you choose, they can manage most of your daily calls with no intervention from you.

That leaves you and your employees free to conduct the business of working on and in your business. At the same time, it also leaves customers happy because they get their questions or inquiries dealt with promptly.

Looking for more tips on managing your business more efficiently? Check out the posts over in our Business Resources section.