In the age of smartphones, email, and instant messaging, you might wonder whether a traditional answering service is still relevant. The answer is yes! Answering services are still widely used by businesses and professionals for efficient call management, despite the widespread adoption of online communication.
When it comes to who needs an answering service, almost all businesses—like legal, medical, and real estate—would benefit. You might be surprised to learn that most customers prefer answering services too. Customers overwhelmingly want to speak directly to a person and not navigate through a menu or chat online. In fact, by adding a phone number to a website it becomes more trustworthy, with research showing that when a visitor sees a phone number they are more likely to engage. Plus, many businesses would like to cut costs by using an answering service instead of an in-house receptionist.
So what is the point of an answering service if you’re a small business? In this blog, we explain who is using answering services and why.
What Does a Live Answering Service Do?
A live answering service is provided by a third-party company that helps your business answer calls without the need for an in-house receptionist. With the support of a phone answering service, you can focus on running your business while trained professionals answer calls from customers on your behalf. The best answering services for small business can make a great first impression on your customers, certainly better than sending them to automated messages or directly to voicemail. Using a live answering service ensures that customers who call your business will be connected with an actual person and not find themselves lost in a maze of frustrating automated menus.
Reducing the time a consumer must wait to speak to a representative is one way in which a live answering service helps both the company and the customer. With a live agent, customers can get the answers they need or be directed to the appropriate department much faster.
So what features do answering services offer to you?
- Screening calls
- Setting appointments
- Providing customer service
- Responding to text and email communications
- Answering after hours or on weekends
- Offering 24/7 availability
- Managing high call volumes
A live answering service operator is a highly skilled expert who is equipped to manage a wide variety of customer questions, concerns, and other situations while remaining friendly and personable. Your company’s reputation—as well as your customer satisfaction and retention rates—can benefit greatly from the use of a high-quality professional answering service. Ultimately, answering services like Answering Service Care, attentive and supportive professional operators provide the complete support your customers deserve.
Who Uses an Answering Service?
Answering services are typically most useful for small- and medium-sized businesses that don’t have the funds to hire internal staff to handle their high call volumes. Using an answering service can immediately scale in sync with your company—as your business grows, so does your call volume, and these services can help. They boost efficiency and cut down on payroll expenses, which is why it’s so beneficial to smaller businesses.
Some businesses that use answering services include:
- Small Businesses: Startups and small businesses often have to make do with limited finances and can’t afford to have a dedicated employee handle incoming calls and messages. Answering services help small companies since they can easily scale up (or down) and invest in new and comprehensive services as the company’s needs change.
- Law Firms: Attorneys and law firms must use all available resources to resolve their clients’ legal problems—while remaining confidential. Lawyers who use answering services can concentrate on client matters without being interrupted.
- Medical Facilities: HIPAA-compliant services, like those at Answering Service Care, are widely used by healthcare professionals to handle patient intake, appointment scheduling, and after-hours calls and texts.
- Financial Services: Financial planners are too busy with meetings, following leads, and making clients feel valued to continuously answer phones. By ensuring that clients can always get in touch with you, an answering service can increase your company’s reputation and connect them with a helpful operator.
- Insurance Agencies: Leads, phone calls, and later conversations can be time-consuming and overwhelming, but they are crucial for insurance companies. A 24/7 service can assist agents in personalizing and handling your communication needs. This assistance is especially useful given the volume of emails that need to be responded to, leads that need to be verified, and sales that need to be made each month.
- Real Estate Agencies: Keeping track of potential clients in the exploding housing market can be difficult—but staying connected is essential. Without being able to receive new leads, stay in contact with clients, and set new appointments, handling communication can get overwhelming. With an answering service, agents will have the assistance of a professional operator who can take messages, call forward, and set up appointments—all while agents can continue to show homes!
Answering services can be used in any industry—with the confidence that your customers’ and clients’ information will be kept safe. Our team at Answering Service Care will always be friendly and professional, and you can trust us to keep your data secure.
Why Should I Use an Answering Service?
If you own a small business, it’s crucial to provide the best customer service available for your customers. Plus, customers would rather speak with a live person than a chatbot or automated message. With answering services, you’ll be able to offer 24/7 client support at a reduced cost. Not only that, but you can provide a quality experience for your customers, so your team can focus on the business. But what are other benefits of an answering service you should consider?
What Are the Advantages of Answering Services?
Answering services provide several advantages for businesses looking to increase their ability to answer phone calls and maintain exceptional customer service. While there are many advantages, the top five include the ability to:
- Provide 24/7 support: Never miss a call, even if it’s after hours or on the weekends.
- Focus on running your business: Concentrate on business operations, not the phones, and increase productivity.
- Save time and money: Hiring an in-house receptionist can get expensive, but answering services cut the need for salary, benefits, and training.
- Improve your business’s image: Provide professional assistance to your customers and see an increase in engagement and retention.
- Customize your customer experience: Tailor your answering service specifically for your business and your customers.
What Is Important to Ask for Before Signing a Contract with an Answering Service?
It can be hard to tell which services you actually need for your company without thorough research. So what things should you consider before hiring an answering service? Before signing a contract with an answering service it is important to ask for:
One of the most important factors in using an answering service is the price. What is the pricing structure the companies you’re considering use? Is it per call, per minute, or on a monthly basis? What about any fees or hidden charges? While most answering services have their own approach, you can find a service with reasonable pricing, like those at Answering Service Care. With plans starting at just $25 (at the time of publication) and options for additional per-minute pricing. For example, our Pro pricing plan offers 250 minutes—along with a wealth of benefits—of service for $289 a month, with the option to add minutes at $1.43 per additional minute.
Other things to consider include whether they offer message taking or appointment scheduling, quality assurance, integrations, and scalability. How well are the operators trained and how can an answering service ensure the quality of their services? What technology platforms do you use and is there seamless integration? Before you sign the contract, you should make sure an answering service meets all of your requirements.
Here is a brief list of other concerns you should be aware of—and ask about:
- Customer support—how does the company help you and your customers?
- Contract terms—like what happens if there are any issues with the service.
- Trial period—can you try out the service before committing to a long-term contract?
- Compliance—does the company meet all legal and regulatory requirements?
- Backup and redundancy—what is the backup plan in case of technical failure?
The answers to these questions will help you determine which answering service is the best option for your business. It’s key to find a service provider that works within your financial constraints, meets your operational needs, and lives up to your standards for quality.
What Is the Best Answering Service for Small Business? Answering Service Care.
At Answering Service Care, we are a part of your team. As one of the premier answering service companies, our operators are professional, flexible, and responsive, so you know your customers are taken care of. We can schedule appointments and answer frequently asked questions regarding the services you provide with the script that best fits your company’s voice and strategies. If you want to take advantage of live answering services, give us a call at (800) 430-6511, or click to get started now!
