Running a small business can be tasking. One minute you are sorting something out for a client and then the next you are chasing something up with a supplier. In the meantime there are phone calls coming in every few minutes. If things are going slowly then you don’t mind spending a few minutes talking on the phone however if you are in crisis mode then the last thing that you need is a distraction to take you away from your current focus.
A great alternative to trying to field all of those calls yourself is to make use of a professional telephone answering service. A good telephone answering service will answer your calls within 10 seconds, greet your callers with a customised greeting, weed out all of the annoying telemarketing and nuisance callers and get a message to you within a couple of minutes.
We have been using a telephone answering service for our businesses for a couple of years now and it has made a huge difference. We know when we are busy and a call comes through that we are able to leave that call to our professional receptionists and they will take care of that customer or potential customer.
By having a professional answering service take our overflow calls we find that we have around 10% more time each day to focus on the strategic aspects of our business. This has made a huge impact.
If you would like to try a receptionist service for your business then in Australia you may want to look at Virtualreception.com.au or virtualheadquarters.com.au while in the USA you might try a USA receptionist service like Virtualheadquarters.com. All of them offer a 7 day free trial and have generous settling in bonuses as well.
6 Comments
Getting a telephone answering service makes a lot of sense. As a small business owner you get get back a lot of time that can be used to focus on strategy.
I think it makes a lot of sense for a small business. Focus your attention on the revenue generating activities.
I’m sure that the receptionists would answer the calls in a far more professional way than a stressed out small business owner.
In these difficult times it is good to have all of that time back to focus on strategy.
A great thing to combine with a telephone answering service is a virtual office. This way you can have many of the benefits of a larger physical business without a lot of the costs.
One important factor that you should check before getting a virtual receptionist is to ensure that they can answer calls 24/7. It lets you get on with life while they take your calls.