6 Reasons An After Hours Answering Service Builds Your Business
It’s a different day, but the story remains the same: you have just finished up work for the day, your receptionist has headed home and you’re daydreaming of unwinding over dinner. And just as you go to lock the door, your phone rings.
You sigh, but you answer anyway. It’s a customer. And they need to talk.
As much as you’ve been pining for a little relaxation, you understand it would be a disservice to ask your customer to call back or to offer to call them in the morning.
It’s true – those customer calls are extremely important. Another thing that’s important: your downtime.
If you want to ramp up your business and still maintain some semblance of a life, it’s time to consider hiring an after-hours answering service. Check out our list of six reasons using a live answering service after 5 PM can grow your business.
Customers Don’t Want to Wait
The modern customer is essentially a researcher; give a potential customer a laptop and they will dig up dirt on your business like they were preparing to write an 80-page thesis.
In fact, a whopping 69 percent seek out advice on goods and services before buying. Of those researching, shoppers are just as likely to visit user review sites or independent review sites before making a purchase.
Once a customer is compelled to reach out, you better be there to take the call. According to New Voice Media, 53% of consumers are irritated if they don’t speak to a real person right away.
Using an after-hours answering service ensures your customers will be taken care of immediately and won’t have to reach out within the confines of the typical business hours.
Leads Don’t Always Leave Voicemail Messages
Imagine coming into work with a list of detailed leads right at your fingertips. It’s not just a collection of names and numbers, but exactly what your potential customers need. That sort of lead collection isn’t as possible when customer calls aren’t answered at night. When partnering with an after-hours live answer service, the information you receive from those customer calls is priceless intel that allows you to provide a stellar experience; you know exactly what the lead or customer needs and how you can help from the beginning.
Customers Handle Issues After Work
Your customers can’t always pick up the phone to ask a question or resolve a problem while they’re busy at work. Some companies even have policies against making personal calls while on the clock. Did you know there’s an Internet Rush Hour? This surge in online traffic happens between the hours of 7 and 11 PM, when people are online shopping or posting on social media.
If a customer has a question about your business or an issue with your site, how can they resolve it if no one is there to help? When you incorporate after-hours answering service into your customer service strategy, you are guaranteeing problems are being resolved and removing the worry of losing valuable customers.
Not All Customers Live In Your Time Zone
Want to expand your business beyond the borders of your town or state? A business can easily gain a national presence by simply providing service and support around the clock. Time-zones, be damned. However, hiring on-site support is expensive and a huge undertaking.
Instead of attempting to build a support team from scratch, hiring an after-hours answering service will save you heaps of money and give you access to a full staff of knowledgeable agents who are ready to answer calls 24/7/365.
No matter which time zone your customers call home, they will know they can connect with your business at any time.
Not All Customers Are Online
There is a faction of people who refuse to shop or sign up for services online. My mom is one of them; she refused to purchase clothes from a website because she can’t feel the material. If you are an eCommerce site that doesn’t have phone support, my mom will never buy your clothes.
Not all of your potential customers are using the internet. If you fail to provide phone support, you will miss out on new business and will lose loyal patrons.
An after-hours call service helps your business to provide that top-notch support to those customers who either hate using the Internet or have a question about your site. All bases are covered.
People Want to Talk to People
The amount of time we spend talking to machines is staggering. From ATMs to online shopping to social media to our smartphones, the majority of conversations are not being held with actual people.
Businesses like to use automated menus to manage calls, but customers would rather chat with a human than with another machine and the facts prove it.
According to Harvard Business Review, 57 percent of customers have to switch from online to phone. American Express found that 46 percent of customers prefer to chat with customer service on the phone for complex issues.
Your customers want to connect with an actual person. After-hours live answer sets you apart from your competitors and adds that personal touch to your service that we all need.
There are all types of actions you can take to grow your business. One way to skyrocket growth is by providing personalized service to your customers. Make it easy for them to connect with a person by integrating an after-hours answering service into your business.
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