As business owners we often claim to be available round-the-clock for our customers, but are we? How would that even look? You might be thinking about that one overly demanding client, you know, the one with all the questions, calling you right in the middle of a dinner date on a Friday night. For that reason, we make sure customers can get a hold of us through other channels such as email. “Now I’m safe,” you think to yourself, “they can reach me anytime if they need to.” But are you?
Will email make a customer feel like they’re being taken care of? It doesn’t always, but what’s the alternative? Giving up your personal life? It might seem as though you’re out of options, but let’s challenge that. Have you considered hiring an answering service? It doesn’t matter whether you’re a business owner or a customer. We might even think of an answering service as robotic and cold. But is that kind of thinking dated? Not all answering services are created equal. For example, think about the instances where an answering service can improve your own daily life.
Your 6-year-old wakes you up in the middle of the night, broken out in hives. Worried, you decide it’s a good idea to call your doctor to avoid an unnecessary trip to the emergency room. So what do you do? You call your doctor’s office. You know they aren’t open, but who’ll pick up? Their answering service, that’s who. An actual person is always there to field your questions and take care of you so you can feel at ease. You just want to speak to a person about getting some instant relief for your child. An email just wouldn’t provide the same assurance.
In this scenario, the physician hired an answering service to avoid giving up his or her personal time while you, the patient, still got the care you needed during their off hours.
Now let’s say that you like to tackle home improvement projects, you can do the small things, but hire a pro for bigger projects…. it’s a Saturday and you figure you can replace the faucet in your bathroom sink. You tinker and crack the water supply line, far more advanced work now needs done. So what do you? The plumbing company has hired an answering service, and a specialist can be dispatched and at your home in an hour. Starting to get the picture?
It’s time to put your business owner hat back on. We live in a time where people need instantaneous relief no matter the issue. Calls are pouring into your business, and since you’re a savvy business owner, you want callers to get the information they need. You just can’t be available at all times. No one can, no one should.
Each of these issues can be solved by hiring a 24/7 answering service. Shop around and talk to different answering service companies. Find out if they use live operators or if they’re able to give instructional information, tech support, or capture leads for you. Do they offer a best rate guarantee? Answering services by PCMSI can do all that so and much more. At the end of the day, you get to keep your personal time, and your customer satisfaction level goes through the roof!
