Whether you have an entire catalog of items or a single widget, it is worth your time to talk with an Order Taking Answering Service. Technology today has allowed answering service providers to take customer order calls from anywhere around the world at any time of the day. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn how much they can do for you, and how cost effective order taking services can be.
Here are our top 3 questions to ask when talking with a potential Order Taking Answering Service:
Can the Service do more than assist with order entry?
The answer should be simple. Yes! A technically advanced Telephone Answering Service can place orders directly on your website or host your items on their system. Operators should be professional, friendly, and specially trained to assist your customers. Lists of FAQ’s should be available and can be hosted by the answering service or on your website. Payments should be completed using secure credit card handling, and each customer offered an order confirmation number. All of these services combine to make the order taking process customer friendly from start to finish.
How will I/my company know when an order is placed?
This will depend on you and your needs. When an order is placed on your own site you will have that control, but if your items are hosted by the answering service, you will have some options to think about. Look for an order taking service that can email and/or text information to the appropriate people in your company, whether it be one or multiple email addresses and/or cell phone numbers. Services with the latest technology will be able to alert you immediately, allowing you to get the order out ASAP.
How much will all of this cost?
When you start to compare pricing, you must realize that looking only at base rates will not give you a complete picture. You have to get information about of few topics.
- Billing cycles: Does the service bill monthly–giving you 12 base rates per year, or every 28 days, meaning you will have 13 billing cycles and incur an extra base rate every year.
- Extras: Charges for Holidays, text messaging or email delivery of messages can add up if they are not included in your base rate.
- Rate Structure: Services can be flat rate, meaning there is a set cost per call, or the rate can be based on live operator time. Make sure you understand the difference and which will work better for you.
- Contracts: Look to have a signed contract, but take time to understand the terms. Ideally, working with a service that does not require a long term or automatic renewing contract would be best.
Finding a quality, professional Order Taking Answering Service that you can use as a business partner can take some time and effort. However, the benefits of increased sales and customer satisfaction truly are priceless.
