Well, they hang up and move on to the next company on their list or web-search. Most likely that company is your competitor. Statistics show that 85% of people whose calls aren’t answered will not call back; if you can’t answer your business calls then you’re literally giving business away. How does that feel?
It’s difficult to ensure all inbound calls are answered
Larger companies may run a lean crew meaning multi-tasking staff are pushed to the limit and answering a relentlessly ringing phone can sometimes be the breaking point. Smaller businesses or sole traders can struggle to find the time to answer the telephone, especially if they’re focusing on growing the business. The phone can become the enemy rather than the friend especially if the call is yet another ‘spam’ or unsolicited call. Imagine if you’ve spent the morning batting away sales calls; wrong numbers or general time-wasters and during that time a genuine customer has called in and heard the engaged tone. You’ll probably never hear from them again!
It’s time to get streamlined and efficient and deal with your calls effectively
This might mean employing a receptionist, if you can afford one. If you can afford an employee and all of the cost implications that go with that (salary, NI contributions, pension, sick pay, to name a few) then you need to ensure that your ‘receptionist’ is trained to answer your calls in a professional and effective way (sounds obvious!) Consider enabling them to add further value by helping to develop business growth; undertake adverting or develop business systems during quieter periods.
A more effective solution still, especially if you can’t afford another member of staff, is to pay a call handling company to take your business calls for you – and it’s not as expensive as you may think! Pocket Receptionist is one such company. They can take all (or some) of your inbound calls and take messages on your behalf, forwarding the messages to you in real-time. Your customers will speak to a ‘real’ person rather than hearing the engaged tone or having the call ring out. It’s easy to set up with Pocket Receptionist and is a cost -effective way of increasing productivity.
75% of people will still pick up the phone to do business
You may ask yourself ‘why am I even focusing on the telephone in this day and age? Surely most of my customers will approach my business via my website or social media?’ This is simply not the case.
75% of people will still pick up the phone to do business as it gets instant results and you can get a real feel for customer service talking to ‘a human’.
You simply can’t afford to throw away business and improving efficiency and productivity sometimes requires the ‘speculate to accumulate’ mindset. Imagine enjoying spending time on growing your business and feeling the benefits of that – reduced stress and an improved bottom line!
Your customers need never hear the engaged tone again with Pocket Receptionist. Get started with Pocket Receptionist.
