Answering Service For Small Businesses

If you ask most small businesses if they feel like they need the help of a call center, they’d probably dismiss it pretty quickly. Most like the sound of having someone reduce the flow of incoming calls, but think that this isn’t something that they either need or can afford.

In most cases, this couldn’t be further from the truth. All types of companies can benefit from a call center, regardless of industry or even the size of your business. If you’ve got a steady stream of calls that are pulling you away from business-critical tasks, then it’s at least worth considering finding a quality agency that can help you answer them.

In this post, we’re going to look at the qualifications your company may have indicating that you could benefit strongly from a call center, as well as discuss the key business sectors that practically require it.

When some people think of small businesses, they think of quaint, family-run operations that work out of a cozy brick-and-mortar while answering landline-based phones. The term “small business,” however, doesn’t mean “antiquated,” and even the most traditional offices can see incredible changes when they fully embrace the latest technology available to them.

Technology has advanced incredibly quickly over the last decade, and in many cases, there are tools and resources available to traditional offices that they don’t even realize exist but could revolutionize their businesses. Today’s business-oriented technologies have adapted both worker and consumer behavior, and allow for automation, improved efficiency, and increased efficacy of the work that you’re doing, and in this post, we’ll look at why that’s the case.

When small businesses are determining how they should reinvest into their businesses, they typically look at what would help them most. Some opt to go all-in on marketing, while others upgrade equipment or move to a new office.

Live answering services may not be the first thing you think of when deciding how to best invest in your business, but they should be.

Quality answering services offer numerous benefits that will improve the flow of your workday (and your entire team’s workday!) while keeping your customers happier than ever before. These are big claims, but we can back them up. Let’s take a look at 6 ways that live answering services can improve your business and your personal life all at once.

As a live answering service for thousands of businesses nationwide, small businesses have a special place in our hearts. Making up 99.9% of U.S. businesses and 47.5% of the workforce, small businesses play a critical role in the economy.

That’s why American Express created a holiday just for small businesses in 2010, and it’s paying off. On SBS in 2018, 104 million shoppers spent a new record of nearly $18 billion at small businesses.

This November 30, take advantage of Small Business Saturday to promote your small or local business. Whether you’re online or brick & mortar (or both), there are numerous tactics you can use to encourage shoppers to support small businesses this season.

Answering services can benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes. You’ll have a team of virtual receptionists take as many incoming calls off your plate as you choose, whether you only want to use the service for overflow or after hours, or as your first line of defense for every incoming call your office gets, allowing you to focus on the critical tasks your business needs you to prioritize.

It’s easy to come to the conclusion that you could scale more efficiently (and painlessly) with an answering service than without one, but finding the right service for you is a little trickier.

Where do you start? In this post, we’re going to take you through the process you should follow when you’re searching for the right answering service for your individual business.

Landing new clients is exciting. It’s like a rush — you see your profit margin increase, and your business scaling right in front of your eyes. Your business can’t really scale, however, unless you’re able to keep your clients in addition to landing new ones.

Repeat customers are essential for retention rates and long term success. It’s also worth pointing out that it’s much cheaper and easier to keep your customers on than it is to acquire new ones. And when we say cheaper, we mean it; it’s about 5x more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep an existing one.

In this post, we’re going to go over four proven ways to increase your repeat customer base long-term.

Customer service departments don’t just exist to address issues after they’ve already happened; they’re meant to be proactive parts of your overall business strategy.

The level of competition in almost every field is so high that customer service has become a key decision making factor for most buyers today. 96% of consumers, for example, stated that customer service is an influential factor in their choice of brands, and 93% are more likely to make repeat purchases with customers who have strong customer service.

According to Salesforce, 88% of high-performing service decision makers are making significant investments in agent training, versus only 57% of decision makers with low-performing service. There are certain customer service skills that are particularly valuable when it comes to driving your business forward, helping you to attract and retain clients both immediately and long-term while improving your overall brand reputation. So let’s take a close look at the five most important skills you need your staff to develop.

As a busy business owner, you know the importance of the ringing phone but that doesn’t mean you have the time or resources to answer every call. Enter call answering services, the business solution that does so much more than message taking. With service packages now starting at just $39/month, you can rest easy knowing your business calls are being answered by friendly and professional virtual receptionists. Read on to learn the benefits of a call answering service for your business.

Quality customer service is crucial in every industry. However, compared to a brick and mortar retail store, eCommerce customer service is significantly different.

The lack of physical interaction before a purchase can lead to more uncertainty before committing to the purchase. Combine this with unhappy customers taking to social media to vent their frustrations, and that your eCommerce store is open 24/7, and you can see how eCommerce customer service can be tricky. But luckily, it’s not difficult to turn a curious browser or unhappy customer into a returning patron using a few tried and true best practices.

Delivering excellent customer service relies on your ability to understand your customers, their relationship with you and your brand, and what they need from you.

You can’t do this without understanding how customer service fits into the customer’s lifecycle and buying process. A customer who has a few questions about your return policy prior to purchasing, for example, will have very different customer service needs than a long-term anchor client who had a uniquely horrible experience with your company.

Understanding the customer service lifecycle – because it’s not just about driving new sales, but delivering outstanding service on an ongoing basis – is key, and it’s important to have a good idea of how different mediums play into what your clients need.

And when it comes to customer service, there’s no medium quite as effective or commonly-used as phone service, so let’s take a look at the role of phone support when it comes to the customer service lifecycle.

PATLive Answering Services Blog

What Types of Companies Need a Call Center?

How Technology Transforms Traditional Offices

6 Ways a Live Answering Service Will Improve Your Business & Life

7 Ways to Promote Your Business This Small Business Saturday

How to Find the Right Answering Service that Fits Your Business

4 Proven Ways to Increase Your Repeat Customer Base

5 Customer Service Skills that Drive Every Business

The Benefits of Call Answering Services: An Infographic

Why eCommerce Customer Service is the Difference Your Brand Needs

The Role of the Phone in the Customer Service Lifecycle