A Better Answer Blog

Do you have a small business? Many businesses that provide services such as general household repairs, landscaping and lawn maintenance, HVAC maintenance and repairs and other contractors are typically small businesses. These businesses may be a one or two person shop: one to take appointments and handle billing and another to do the actual work. As the business grows there is a tipping point where there are more calls coming in than ever, and that is where an answering service can help you.

Juggling Calls and Existing Work

When the phone rings in a small business, it very well may be an important customer, or prospect. Missing a phone call is not an option, yet we can’t just sit and wait for it to ring. Every call is important to customer retention and growth. So what are the options for a small business? 

Voicemail 

With voicemail, anyone calling will be asked to leave a message, which creates possible barriers to a valuable opportunity.  

• The customer may have found someone else to help them before you can call them back. 
• It can start a frustrating game of phone-tag. 
• Voicemails can take a while to follow-up on, or get lost in the shuffle, leaving a potential customer feeling like they are low priority. 

Answering the Phone from the Field 

You could always interrupt a current service call to take the call as it comes in. Or you could allow it to roll to your voicemail. Answering calls in the field have their own set of obstacles.  

• Trying to listen to the caller may be difficult if you’re in a particularly noisy situation (depending on the service you are providing). 
• Your current customer may be put off by being ignored when they’re right in front of you.  
• It is likely you won’t have as many resources, and may not be able to even take notes in the field to address questions or concerns.  

In any scenario it’s not great for customer service.  

Ask a Friend or Hire a Receptionist to Answer the Phone 

Asking a friend to take the call or hiring a receptionist can help answer the calls when you’re not available. 

• Hiring someone new requires training and management time you may not have. 
• When bringing in a friend or hiring a new employee, there is a risk the quality of customer service they provide is not up to the necessary standards. 

• Hiring someone full-time is costly and may be out of budget. 

Answering Service 

Working with a professional and dedicated answering service staff solves many of the problems the other solutions do not. Here are just a few ways an answering service can help you: 

• A good answering service should be available 24/7, with the infrastructure to make sure that power outages don’t get in their way.  
• They’ll work with you to build a custom plan and gain the expertise to answer questions, handle customer service calls, take appointments and more.  
• Answering services are professional and represent your company in a complimentary way that keeps your customers and prospects feeling engaged and ready to do business with you. 

Answering Services Help Small Businesses 

Small business owners are always on the move, so working with an answering service lets you maintain the schedule needed without sacrificing potential growth and client satisfaction. Learn more about how an answering service can help your small business by downloading the free eBook below.