Answering Service for Small Business

Is your business missing calls left and right? It might be time to hire a call answering service.

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Answering Service for Small Businesses

As a small business owner, you understand that client satisfaction and brand reputation depend on your ability to interact with clients. Because of this, many small businesses benefit from answering services. If you want customers to have confidence that they can reach you, you need to have someone available to answer calls at any time, 24/7. Unfortunately, many modern businesses are too busy to respond to each call or voicemail.

The good news is that third-party companies offer solutions in the form of call answering, automated call services, and live chats. If your team is overwhelmed, the answering service industry can help your customers contact your business without the distractions. Ultimately, call answering services cost much less than full-time receptionists, and you’ll have trained operators following your script and guidelines. Companies like Answering Service Care have operators that help book appointments, answer common questions, and take messages.

What Is an Answering Service? And How Does It Help Small Businesses?

Answering services handle telephone calls and other communications for multiple companies. These third-party providers answer your phones and manage consumer inquiries, even after hours on weekends. In addition to taking and making calls, modern answering services also deal with emails, and texts which are valuable features for any business.

There are three different types of answering services a business can hire to manage their calls:

Live answering services answer calls without the need for human interaction, which typically takes place during high-volume times or after hours. Combining an automated answering service with a live operator allows callers to leave a message and receive a response at a more convenient time.
Automated answering services involve live operators who help customers navigate through their questions and concerns using your specific guidelines. They generally provide services like message taking, appointment scheduling, and offering customer support to callers.
Call centers are live answering services for businesses with a large call volume. Companies that spend a lot of time on the phone qualifying leads, processing orders, or assisting customers can benefit greatly from using call center services.

Even though there are a number of different choices for answering services, they are all going to share a few key qualities. When you use an answering service, a third party will answer the phone under your company’s name, greet customers, and help by addressing their needs on your behalf.

Why Are Live Answering Services Important for Small Businesses In Particular?

Live phone answering services can help bridge the communication gap between your business and customers when you can’t afford a full-time receptionist or other dedicated staff. A high-quality answering service can make a good first impression on potential and current customers, which can boost your business’s reputation, customer satisfaction and retention rates. The best answering service providers also establish personal connections with each caller, making your business especially friendly and customer-oriented. Ultimately, answering services help businesses connect with their customers in a welcoming and helpful way through three crucial factors: time, money, and reputation.

Even if your business isn’t receiving a high volume of calls, small businesses can still profit from using an answering service. You can commit your time and energy to managing your business instead of fielding calls and taking messages. If you’d like a live answering service, live chat, or automated answering service for your small business, Answering Service Care offers solutions to businesses of all sizes. With our small business plan, you’ll have access to 24/7 coverage, bilingual agents, and even disaster recovery.

What Is the Difference Between an Answering Service and an Answering Machine?

An answering service uses live operators to handle calls for a business, while a traditional answering machine records and plays back messages left by callers. Both serve unique purposes depending on the needs of the business.

Customers who would rather speak with a live person find assurance knowing their calls are being answered by a professional. Live answering services also include the capability to make outbound calls in addition to fielding incoming calls, as well as the ability to capture and convert leads. Similarly to machines, answering services can be reached at any time, but instead of a frustrating computer program, you get an empathetic human.

It’s also common for many businesses to have an answering machine—or voicemail—to handle customer service calls after hours or when you’re too busy to come to the phone. But the standard answering machine has become quite outdated. Modern voicemail services, however, give you many options beyond taking a message—like caller ID and transcripts. In addition, even if you are unable to respond to calls right away, a voicemail system will always be available for your callers.

What Is the Difference Between a Call Center and an Answering Service?

Your business can partner with a third-party live answering service to receive and forward calls and messages. There are several functions an answering service (TAS), which include:

There are several functions of an answering service (TAS), which include:

Serve primarily SMBs (Legal, Medical, Real Estate, Home Services, etc, typically under 500 agents
Bill in several increments but at micro-scale (by the minute, by 30 seconds, by 6 seconds)
Operate in own system and serve thousands of clients
Agents are shared by all clients but ASC USP is that segment agents into industry groups.
TAS provides a higher quality service typically and are often US based
Limited on the fact that they support many clients, so it would not make sense to operate in every clients system

A call center serves a similar purpose, but it employs different techniques. For example, call centers:

Typically thousands of agents, often overseas
Work for big name brands like Zara, Macy's, etc.
Operate in client's systems typically, very cheap service
Bill by the hour
Average client is 10k+ in monthly billing, much less clients
Agents are dedicated to individual clients
More customization per client because they work in their system
Less margins = cheaper labor with automation and low wage, international employees

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How Does an Answering Service Work?

An answering service is how businesses typically navigate their call management, by hiring a third-party service provider who offers live customer support. Here’s a breakdown of how it all works.

A live answering service agent answers calls with the company’s name and a personalized greeting. Depending on the needs of the customer, answering service representatives have a number of options for handling incoming calls. Typically, with inbound calls, they will answer the phone, take a message, transfer the call to the appropriate department, or provide the customer with general information. If they take a customer’s message, they will forward it to the appropriate departments so they can get a reply as soon as possible.

Do People Still Use Answering Services for Small Business?

Yes, many small businesses still use answering services to help with taking calls—whether it’s for answering questions or taking messages. The capabilities of answering services have grown significantly as a result of advances in technology. This can be really attractive as a business owner, because these services offer more efficiency and cost-effectiveness than investing in more technology. In today’s world of connectivity and easily accessible information, small businesses need to keep up with modern technology and provide customers with the solutions they expect.

A few reasons why many businesses still use live answering services include…

Offer 24/7 availability for your customers, so they don’t have to leave a message outside of normal office hours.
Boost reliability and consistency with service professionals who follow your business procedures, no matter who takes the call.
Focus on customer service so you can run your business more efficiently and concentrate on successful operations.
Increase staff productivity by eliminating distracting phone calls and keeping employees on task.
Reduce overall costs by removing the expense of hiring and training a full-time receptionist or administrative assistant.

These advantages can help your small business put energy toward operations, rather than picking up the phone and setting up appointments—which can be rather distracting for you and your employees. With a call answering service like those offered at Answering Service Care, you can trust the quality of your customer service and leave tedious phone work to highly qualified professionals.

What Are 5 Advantages of an Answering Service?

An answering service will provide a professional representative who will learn your company’s policies and provide excellent customer service. Implementing this service can enhance the professionalism and consistency of your business for anyone who calls in. It’s also a cost-effective and quick way to give your customers the best experience with your brand, without worrying about how a call is handled. Not only that, but if you’re searching for “answering service for small business near me,” many of them are available to you no matter where you’re located.

These services have five main advantages for small businesses:

Ability to extend “office hours” to 24/7
Certainty of never missing a call
Confidence in prompt, high-quality service
Budget-friendly assistance
Elimination of automated systems and menus
Skilled and memorable customer experiences
Positive brand image

Despite all of this, one of the main reasons small businesses use answering services is because customers get to talk with real people who can sympathize, share information, and relay messages. Not only that, but having a phone number on your website increases credibility and trust, as well as conversion rates, because customers know they are able to call if necessary. Answering Service Care gives you all of these benefits, plus a 24/7 live chat solution, two-way SMS, and appointment scheduling to help you reach more people and grow your business.

What Are the Disadvantages of Answering Services?

Partnering with an answering services provider increases the level of cooperation needed to encourage and maintain the connection between your company and its customers. However, there are a few challenges to watch out for when shopping around for an answering service.

One disadvantage of answering services is that you might feel less in control of how your business looks, despite the fact that the provider should be following your established guidelines and script. Most answering services are dependable, but misunderstandings between your business and the service are always a possibility.

Even if the answering service you use is staffed by highly trained professionals, some cannot guarantee that every single one of your calls will be handled immediately. This can happen when timely and correct replies are necessary, but sometimes call volume is higher than answering services can handle.

However, you don’t have to worry about these disadvantages with Answering Service Care. Rather than worry about whether or not your calls are being answered, you can rest assured that Answering Service Care will provide the best experience for your customers. We treat all customers with a genuine human touch and our operators are professional, flexible, responsive, and always friendly.

How Do I Choose an Answering Service?

If you’re looking for the best answering service for small business, you should be asking these questions:

Answering Service Provider Evaluation Checklist

Are they professional?

Do they provide high-quality service?

How proficient are the operators in dealing with customers?

Do they understand the nature of the business you own?

However, the most important factor in choosing a service is the people. Believe it or not, customers, clients, and partners still like it when a real person answers the phone when they call with questions or to schedule an appointment. And while there are options for automated services—and other technologies—a live answering service will go a long way with your customers. A real person can empathize, ask clarifying questions, provide further information, and relay messages when they answer the phone. Whether they do this through a phone call or a live chat, it’s always helpful to have a person at the other end of the line.

So what is the best virtual assistant phone answering service? With Answering Service Care, you will receive supportive and compassionate service for your business and your customers. We know that people matter and we make sure all of our operators are highly trained to answer your business’s calls. We offer live call answering, live chat, and automated services—with IVR, call forwarding, and voicemail. All of these options are available for your small business to choose the best service that meets your needs. Take the guesswork out of finding the best answering service: visit our website today, call us at (800) 430-6511 for more information, or get started for as little as $25 per-month.

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