Having an after-hours answering service ensures responsive service and gives you a competitive advantage when potential customers call at unexpected times. It’s a low-cost solution that allows business owners to be available virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
An after-hours answering service bridges the gap between normal business hours and times when you or your team are unavailable, providing callers with a live person representing your company regardless of when they call.
Reportedly, 56 percent of clients may call you if they believe they need your help with something, and 60 percent of them will hang up rather than leave a message if their call is routed to voicemail.
This broken connection may prompt the customer to contact a competitor or result in a missed opportunity to sell the customer additional products or services. You limit your availability without an after-hours answering service, and your company will receive nothing but missed calls and missed opportunities.
Missed calls at night and on weekends result in lost leads and disgruntled customers for any business. Instead of worrying about keeping your phone lines operational, hire a professional 24-hour answering service.
Maintaining a positive relationship with your customers necessitates being available at all times of day and night. Customers expect businesses to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in today’s connected society, especially during this pandemic era.
Here are several reasons why your business requires after-hours answering services.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
Picking up the phone is the first step toward providing excellent customer service. If your company’s phone rings while you’re asleep or with family, an after-hours answering service ensures that callers are still greeted politely.
A live answering service can assist you in improving customer service during business hours while also monitoring your phones overnight and on weekends. If you spend your days juggling multiple duties, an answering service will free up your time to focus on building your firm.
While the quickness with which you respond to a customer can make or destroy a relationship, you must eventually clock off. A 24-hour answering service assures that you obtain a timely response without the need for you to labor around the clock.
A Personal Touch
If you own a small business and take pride in providing excellent customer service, you understand how important it is to treat your clients like kings. Returning their calls promptly, or at the very least within a fair amount of time, is one of the most effective ways to demonstrate their importance.
On the other hand, your company’s expectations can be scary at times, especially if you are currently overwhelmed with previous activities. Hiring a phone answering service to handle all of your incoming calls professionally and with the greatest care is the best solution for relieving some of the stress on your shoulders without losing the personal touch that your company is known for.
Ability to Respond to Customers Across the World
Clients from all over the world can call at any time to get answers to their inquiries, schedule appointments, or clarify specifics about their orders if the company has 24 hours answering service. This is especially true for global corporations with an internet presence.
As a result, while your main offices may have closed for the evening, a client calling from a different time zone in the morning may still be able to chat with someone at your firm. Having an after-hours answering service in place ensures that all of your clients, no matter what time they contact, receive the assistance they seek. This is one of the major benefits of outbound call center services.
Boost Reputation
Answering services give your clients the idea that you care about meeting their requirements, whereas “leave a message at the beep” does not. Whether you employ an automated or live-to-answer service, callers will believe that their message will be heard and handled rather than being lost on a generic answering machine.
Customers are eager to tell others about their positive buying experiences. When your company goes above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction, your customers will tell their friends and family about it. It might be word of mouth, online reviews, or some other kind of communication.
However, if the word spreads, it becomes a sort of free advertisement and exposure. Every customer interaction has the potential to produce a witness.
Increased Sales
One of the major advantages is that you may accept inbound inquiries 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which allows you to convert more leads into purchases. Since many work during the day, your chances of closing on new business transactions are significantly boosted if your company can serve their demands outside of usual business hours.
Unanswered phone calls equal lost business prospects, which may cost you more than you realize. Missed phone calls are one of the most obvious ways to give poor customer service, costing businesses $75 billion every year.
A professional answering service helps your company to reply to client inquiries quickly and at any time, giving you an advantage when it comes to completing sales. When a live person answers your after-hours phone calls, your customers will feel more valued and appreciated, decreasing their likelihood of seeking out other companies to do business with.
If you can’t afford to miss out on new business prospects, an after-hours answering service assures that callers interact with a live person no matter what time of day or night it is. With fewer leads falling through the cracks, your company can run around the clock and increase income.
Cost-Effective
Hiring a receptionist for a small business can be prohibitively expensive, and you are unlikely to receive enough inbound calls to warrant hiring someone to handle them full-time. Even asking existing employees to handle calls will divert their attention away from their other responsibilities, resulting in revenue loss.
Telephone answering services might save you a lot of money when compared to managing your calls in-house. You can avoid not just paying a wage but also the costs connected with having an employee in the office. Furthermore, many small business teams operate remotely, and phone answering services are an excellent method to coordinate and manage a scattered workforce.
While there is a price for using an after-hours answering service, it is usually less expensive than hiring an after-hours receptionist. An answering service costs you only for the calls it answers, rather than paying someone by the hour to sit around and wait for your phone to ring.
Is It a Good Fit?
An after-hours response service saves you time and boosts your chances of turning more leads into purchases. You may provide your small business with a competitive advantage and enhance its growth potential by having a virtual receptionist available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Customers gain trust and loyalty when they find that your phone lines are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers will always choose your small business when they need help because they know you’ll always be there to give the service they expect.
