Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Using Answering Services For Small Businesses

By Essie Osborn


In order for a business to become a success, they must know how to communicate with the buying public. This goes beyond greetings or giving information about an upcoming sale but knowing how and when to say something. And this must be continuous in order for a business to grow. This is why some feel that the use of answering services for small businesses is ideal to reach customers.

Building a brand often has it challenges with each milestone making it sometimes difficult to transition. Knowing when and how to invest in a business is crucial to its growth. A common situation is when a small business takes on a large order that will greatly increase profits. Oftentimes, they may not have the resources to continue as normal or complete the order in a timely fashion.

A small business that operates online may be comfortable with just having email or a voice mail system to handle inquiries. Yet, being able to give answers directly makes a big difference as opposed to having callers use a phone menu during off hours. This is especially true when a company cannot afford to hire an in house staff to answer phones or respond immediately to emails.

These days, answering services offer more than a human to answer a phone and take a message. Some have call center features where representatives can help customers in the off hours. This involves training so that operators will become familiar with the business itself and be able to answer most questions in the absence of regular staff.

Choosing this is an alternative to having a voice mail, or the company can use voice mail as a screener to speaking with a live person. For instance, if a company gives away free catalogs to its customers, the company may offer either option from which the customer may choose. If there are additional questions about a product, the business can decide what inquiries the service can answer and what is best handled by a staff person who has more knowledge as well as the ability to close a sale.

With the Web being as popular as it is for commerce, any business can reach those from around the world. For this reason, it may be a wise idea to go with an answering service that employs bilingual operators. Though most services have emergency calling services it is best to choose one that will screen calls before dispatching them to the owner or management.

While there are virtual answering services that offer great features and excellent prices compared to a local operation, keeping quality in mind should be priority. Reading online testimonials is a good way to choose the best that will meet the needs of the company. Often these can be found on the company website or social media sites that review businesses. Most of the accounts are in the first person and unpaid so they are likely to be honest.

When profits are up, this is the ideal time to place money into a business for an even better return. Being more available for customers may increase clientele and being able to hear a human voice on the other end of a line can make them feel more secure about doing business. Having contact information is great in the case of future promotions.




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