Answering services have been used for lots of different industries over the years, with the medical field being the most prevalent, but answering services for small businesses are rapidly growing in popularity. It is a growing trend for start-ups to hire an answering service instead of taking the time, money, and effort to train a receptionist to handle their calls.
Small businesses, and especially start-ups, can have an extremely tight budget. Many of these business owners feel that they Plumber Currens Hill have to answer the phone, which takes way too much valuable time. One of the common characteristics of successful business owners is that they know the value of their time, and they use it wisely. So, smart business owners decide to look at answering services for small businesses early on – and it pays off.
How to use answering services for small businesses
1. The most popular way to use an answering service for a small business is to the service handle all of the incoming calls. This allows a business owner to focus on the important tasks while they know that their calls are being answered by their service. Another added benefit of this is that it makes the business appear like a much larger enterprise. Instead of getting the owner directly when they call, customers and prospects get a professional and friendly representative that answers in the name of the business. So, in the mind of the customer, the start-up is no longer a one man shop, but it has employees, which makes it seem much bigger.
2. For businesses that just need a little extra cover, overflow calling can be very beneficial. Let’s say that your business has one receptionist. That’s great, but what happens when she is sick? Or at lunch? Or on an important call? Or is off for the day? Overflow calling allows you to have an answering service for small businesses answer for you only when your staff cannot take the call. A great way to make sure that your customers are taken care of in every situation.
3. One final way that businesses can use a service is for after hours. Let’s use a plumber in California as an example. They may offer emergency service. By hiring an answering service for small businesses they can get a lot more sleep at night. The service will handle the calls, ascertain whether the call is an emergency (based on the client specifications), and if it is an emergency, they will call or text the on call plumber. That way the plumber only has to be awake if there is an emergency.