AnswerNow's Call Center Blog

There are several types of businesses that cannot afford to leave their clients hanging. Medical practices are a good example. If patients cannot reach a medical professional with pressing concerns, the result could be disastrous, so medical practices commonly use round-the-clock answering services to ensure that patients in dire need get through, while those that can wait are scheduled for call-back.

Every organization is only as strong as its communication skills. If you can't effectively communicate with your customer base they are going to go down the street and work with your competition instead. When clients are unable to contact you or your business, they can get frustrated and seek out better customer assistance elsewhere. It doesn't matter if your product or service is the best one on the market, if the client can't get satisfaction trying to communicate with your business, you're less likely to keep that client.

Many businesses turn to live receptionist services to improve their business practices and increase revenue. They offer high-quality communication with the customer 24 hours a day, while keeping costs lower than hiring on a full-time reception staff. When you hire a live receptionist service to handle your volume of calls, your customers are treated to a professional and thorough experience that will keep them coming back time and again.

To decide if this service is right for your business, big or small, consider all of the benefits that you can enjoy instantly.

We live in an age of instant meals, on-demand entertainment and same day delivery. People and their expectations have evolved to come to expect this. They have become accustomed to expect fast results, available customer service and are increasingly impatient.

Have you ever realized that an untold number of your clients will only ever have contact with your company through your answering service?

A virtual receptionist is a person who can answer your company's main telephone from a call center or other facility. He or she can respond to questions about your business, redirect calls as necessary, schedule appointments and much more. 

Because these professionals are readily available and completely reliable, this decade has seen more and more companies with empty desks or empty spaces where receptionists once were stationed. Indeed, many clients and investors now prefer offices that lack receptionists. They believe that full-time receptionists are unnecessary luxuries. Thus, a business that doesn't hire one seems shrewd and careful with its funds.

When you utilize the services of virtual receptionists, you can take the money you'd use for a traditional receptionist's salary and invest it in other ways. Or, if you choose, remote receptionists can supplement your full-time receptionist, taking calls whenever he or she is away from the office or on the line with someone else.

Do You Often Miss Calls?

Personal contact matters, especially in business. Consider for a minute that roughly 80 percent of business communications are done by phone, and without someone available to keep up with call volume you are missing out on potential clients. In fact, over 75 percent of callers will hang up if their call goes to voicemail. That's a lot of lost leads! 

You could hire a few representatives to take care of your phone lines, but even then calls may have to be transferred to voicemail from time to time. Not to mention, the cost of paying those employees’ salaries and benefits could be prohibitive, especially for a small business. Instead, you should consider outsourcing this part of your business.

You can partner with an answering service to handle your company’s entire phone needs and get the best of both worlds – prompt service, 24/7 answering support and a budget you can afford. Answering services make sure that there is always someone available to take your customers’ calls any hour of the day. The right answering service can do more than provide customer service to your callers; they can schedule appointments, help troubleshoot, take payments, and much more!

Are You Struggling to Field All Your Calls?

As your medical practice continues to grow, there may come a point where you need to hire additional staff or look at partnering with an answering service to assist your office. Whether this extra support is required to yield your after-hour calls, handle your overflow calls during peak times, or assist with appointment scheduling, it is necessary for the growth of your practice. However, determining what the best option is for your office can be a tough decision. If you decide that a service is the best choice, you will want to ensure it is 100% HIPAA compliant and that it is a perfect extension of your office, displaying the same qualities and values as your practice.

Lead generation is a vital function for any business today. In many industries, generating leads is a necessary first step in the sales process, which
 means that neglecting lead generation can create a sales slump that could spell disaster for your business. If you are not already focusing on capturing leads with your call center service, you could be missing out on a lot of sales.

In 2016 we’ve produced over 35 blog posts. Since you might have missed a few, we’ve decided to gather a list of our
most  viewed blog posts for this year. We feel that it is the perfect way to look back at the year and see what topics our readers enjoyed most.