If you’ve never used one, you may ask, “Are telephone answering services worth it?” That all depends. If you don’t care about your customers, making money, or the long-term viability of your business, the answer is no.
However, if your business and customers are important to you, then a professional answering service should be worth it to you. Consider these items that demonstrate a telephone answering service’s worth.
Customer Retention: The Lifeblood of Business
Why Answering Services are Integral to Customer Retention
Customers are the backbone of any business, and their retention should be a top priority. In an age where customers have abundant options, customer loyalty can be ephemeral. One missed call can spell the difference between retaining a customer and losing one to a competitor. So, when considering whether answering services are worth it, think about the potential cost of not having one.
By ensuring that there is always someone available to take your customer’s calls, an answering service helps to build trust and create a perception of reliability around your brand. Happy customers don’t just bring in immediate business; they also provide invaluable word-of-mouth referrals. Therefore, a good answering service is not an expense; it’s an investment in customer satisfaction and retention.
Your customers will call you whenever they perceive a need. And they expect a response. If you don’t react, they’ll call someone else. It doesn’t matter how long they’ve done business with your company, if you’re not there when they need you, they’ll jump ship.
Regardless of when they call—day, evening, weekends, or holidays—if you don’t answer your telephone, you’re apt to lose them. Thankfully, for only a few dollars a day, your trusty answering service will cover your phone when you can’t.
They’ll answer your phone and help you retain customers. It’s that simple.
Meet Expectations
Have you ever called a business looking for a response to a question or resolution to a problem and hoped you’d end up in someone’s voicemail? Or that no one would answer at all? Of course not.
Whenever a customer or prospect phones a business, they assume someone will answer. If they didn’t have that expectation, why would they call in the first place?
Who answers the phone isn’t as important as the fact that someone—a real person—answers. And this is precisely what a cost-effective telephone answering service can do for you.
Provide Customer Service
A 24/7 telephone answering service is an ideal around-the-clock customer service tool. The key is that an empathetic human being offers an immediate response to the caller.
When a customer service issue arises, they have little patience and expect quick action. They’re not demanding that your telephone answering service resolve the problem right away, but they do want to know that a real person has set in motion a plan to resolve their concern.
A clunky answering machine can’t do that. A frustrating voicemail system can’t do that either. Only a personal representative from a professional answering service can provide the customer service response that your callers desire.
Don’t leave customer retention to chance. Contact us to ensure you never miss a call again.
Gaining New Business: Capture Every Opportunity
Making the First Impression Count
While customer retention is vital, let’s not forget the importance of gaining new business. A missed call could mean a missed opportunity to grow your client base. Remember, the first impression is often the lasting one. When potential customers call and a professional answers the phone promptly, you’re already a step ahead of your competitors who don’t offer the same courtesy.
In other words, an answering service acts like a dedicated sales assistant, capable of capturing leads, even when your sales team is occupied or out of the office.
Call to Action: Want to ensure that you never miss a new business opportunity? Sign Up today and let our answering service be your competitive edge.
The Importance of a Professional Answering Service
Meet Expectations and Build Trust
Customers and prospects often equate the quality of your customer service with the quality of your products or services. When their calls are answered promptly by a trained professional, it reflects positively on your entire organization. The benefit of a 24/7 answering service is that it can manage customer expectations consistently, ensuring that they always have a point of contact.
Features to Look For
Picking the Right Answering Service
Choosing an answering service is an important decision that requires careful consideration. Some key features to look for include:
- 24/7 availability
- Bilingual services
- Call recording
- Scripted responses
- Customizable plans
Make sure that the answering service can integrate with your existing customer relationship management (CRM) software to maintain consistency and quality in customer interactions.
Not sure what features will best serve your business? Contact Us for a customized solution.
Cost Considerations
Understanding the ROI
While cost is an important factor in any business decision, it’s crucial to evaluate the potential return on investment (ROI) when considering an answering service. In most cases, the financial benefits gained through customer retention and acquisition will significantly outweigh the costs of the service.
Evaluating Different Providers
How to Choose the Right Partner
When evaluating different providers, consider factors such as experience, customer reviews, and the technology they use. Requesting a free trial or a demo can also provide insights into their service quality.
How to Implement the Service
Seamless Integration for Immediate Benefits
Once you’ve chosen a provider, implementation is the next step. Many answering services offer easy setup processes and can integrate with your existing systems. Training sessions can help your team to get familiar with the new setup, ensuring a smooth transition.
Call to Action: Ready for a seamless transition to professional call answering? Sign Up today and experience the benefits from day one.
FAQs
Your Questions Answered
Are answering services worth it?
Absolutely, the ROI generated from retaining and gaining customers makes it a worthy investment.
What services can I expect?
Services range from message taking to appointment setting and emergency dispatch.
How quickly can I set it up?
Most services offer quick setup, often within 24 to 48 hours.
Enjoy a Huge ROI
What’s all this cost? Isn’t this the underlying question that’s implied when you ask, “Are telephone answering services worth it?”
Unless you’re a large company, expect your telephone answering service to only cost you a couple dollars a day. That’s far less than a cup of premium coffee. And unlike your favorite brew that you drink in a few hours and then is gone, your telephone answering service works for you all day long—and all night.
Given this modest cost of a telephone answering service, retaining one customer a month will more than cover the cost of the service. And when you factor in the lifetime value of that customer, it will offset your telephone answering service bill for months or even years.
What’s the lifetime value of a customer for you? Is it $250? A thousand dollars? Even more? Now, let’s assume your answering service costs you $79 a billing cycle.
Retaining or gaining a customer that represents a lifetime value of $250 produces an amazing return on investment (ROI) of 216 percent. You’d be hard-pressed to get that type of return anywhere else. And if their lifetime value is $1,000 then your ROI is an astronomical 1,165 percent.
Conclusion
Are answering services worth it? They most assuredly are. A quality telephone answering service can help you retain customers, meet their expectations, and provide customer service. As a bonus the small payment you make to your answering service provides a huge ROI month after month, year after year.
Contact us today to learn more about what an answering service is worth and can offer to you and your business. Or if you’re ready to start now, sign up online any time.
