A phone answering service for small business shouldn’t be viewed as separate from the business it represents, but rather as intrinsic as a business’ mission statement or logo.
Business owners have a bigger say than they might realize in managing how their calls are handled. When a company first signs up with an answering service, they meet with a Client Services team and, essentially, custom-build their own contact center.
Let’s look at a call from beginning to end, and examine how a company can tailor an answering service to fit its needs.
The call comes in.
The surprising thing about modern answering services is the myriad ways they interact with customers. You’ve got your standard phone call, but there are also web chats. Special alerts instruct agents to place calls to customers requesting assistance or information. Reminders, set at specific intervals, ensure that important messages don’t go unsent.
The call itself.
Actual conversations are the most customizable aspects of calls. Business owners play a large part in writing start-to-finish scripts, giving remote associates the tools necessary to handle countless scenarios (as simple as taking a message; as involved as providing technical support or placing an order). Internal databases let remote operators easily access the company’s website, order forms, appointment books, employee roster or any other important information and applications.
When the call ends.
Once associates handle the call in the manner prescribed, he or she can relay a message through multiple channels. The client—the company—can choose to have it relayed live, sent to an email account, texted to a phone or a combination of all three.
From sign-up and scripting to call completion, a customized answering service can focus a company’s mission as effectively—and have as lasting a result—as its logo.
