First impressions are everything.
Do you greet your customers with a smile and a friendly voice? Are you always sure to put your best effort into ensuring your visitors leave with exactly what they need? These are important goals for any business, but they can get lost in the shuffle as you expand and enlist the help of an answering service.
You don’t want just any answering service, though, you need a “good” one. What does that really mean, though?
The Definition of a Good Answering Service
If you’ve been looking for an answering service partner for any amount of time, you’ve probably seen a lot of articles alluding to “good” answering services. Of course you want to work with a good service, who wouldn’t? It’s a nebulous term that makes it hard for you to really know what to look for. Here are some concrete ways to judge if your answering service is a good one:- They’re data-driven. Data is more important than ever in the modern world.It’s used in every conceivable way, from improving customer service by streamlining processes to identifying the most common types of calls that could be handled with self-service options. Data-driven answering services are constantly striving for improvement, in both customer service and efficiency, giving you better customer care with less cost involved.
- You have lots of options. There are some answering services that will give you one type of service and that’s all you can have.If you don’t like it, there’s nothing else available. Good answering services, on the other hand, have a wide range of options, including offerings like virtual receptionists and call centers with customer service representatives. You can do more over the phone with an answering service with some options.
- Your company’s unique needs are being addressed. Your company isn’t like any other business out there, so why are you settling for an answering service package that’s inflexible?A good answering service will spend the time it takes to help identify your exact needs and match you to the services that will best fit your unique needs, no matter how big or small they may be. Your business doesn’t fit in a box, your answering service needs won’t either.
- Customization is no problem. Does your brand have a specific message you want your customers to hear each and every time they call?Is there a particular way each caller should be addressed or a specific script you prefer to use when taking an order? When canned responses just won’t do, a good answering service will give you the opportunity to fully customize your answering service scripts to make your service sound just like your in-house team would. Even your on-hold music can include custom messages from you and your team!
