Just because you’re a financial planner doesn’t mean you have the budget for a full staff.
It takes time to build up a profitable client base and to get the word out about your company’s success. Unfortunately, you don’t have time to wait for the help you need in order to make all your financial planning dreams a reality. Luckily, an answering service can act as a liaison between you and your clients, helping your business grow for less than you might expect.
Benefits of an Answering Service
Everyone knows that an answering service can be used to answer client calls when the phone rings after hours, but an answering service is a lot more than a glorified answering machine.
When clients call with questions about financial planning, your call service can either take a message, forward the call to your cell phone or handle the problem, if they have all the proper information at hand.
That’s just the beginning of what your answering service partner can do for your financial planning business. Here are a few other great services they can provide:
Virtual office support. You don’t necessarily need a physical office to run a financial planning service. With a virtual office, you’ll get a phone number, a virtual receptionist service and all the tools it takes to give the appearance of a local office, no matter where you are. Be local at home, even for a desired market elsewhere, with a custom local telephone number—or go toll-free and be available nationwide from the comfort of your home office.
Overflow answering services. Physical offices can stand a helping hand, too. When certain times of the day are too busy for your regular staff, but the rest of the day is too slow to justify hiring another employee, overflow answering services may be the answer. If no one picks up the phone locally, it’ll ring in your partner answering service’s office and they’ll take the call from there.
Appointment setting. Financial planners usually work on an appointment-only basis, so everyone who answers the phone should be prepared to make an appointment with the caller. An answering service that provides appointment scheduling makes the process easy by providing software that integrates with the tools you already use to avoid any double-booking and keeping clients from falling through the cracks.
Bilingual answering services. In many markets, it’s going to behoove you to diversify your staff and your answering service by providing support for Spanish-speaking clients. Not all answering services can provide bilingual operators, but when you partner with one that can, you know your client’s message is being heard loud and clear. Your callers also realize that you care about them and will cater to their needs above and beyond financial planning.
Running a financial planning company can require a great deal of time and effort, but you don’t have to go it alone. With the help of strategic team members like an answering service, you’ll be well on your way to success without the overhead of full time employees. Controlling your own costs is a great example to set for your financial planning clients, after all!
