Every growing business, whether it’s a start-up or SMB, needs some additional support in handling customer interactions from time to time. Professional answering and virtual receptionist services can help you better manage your customer interactions, so you never have to deal with high call volumes or complaints about dropped calls again.
High call volumes are actually a good sign for any growing business. It means that more people know about your business and the products and services you offer. However, it also means that you need a little extra back-end support to effectively manage all of those customer interactions, answer questions, and resolve issues.
A professional 24-hour call answering service enables you to effectively respond to all customer queries any time of the day or night regardless of where people are calling from, so you can expand into international markets as well.
What Is a Professional Call Answering Service?
Professional phone answering services are remote third-party call centers that answer the phone on behalf of your business. Every interaction starts with a formal company-branded greeting and asking the customer what the reason for their call is. You have the option of directing all incoming customer phone calls to a call center or using them as a backup for times when your company phone lines are occupied.
Customized live call answering services for businesses reduce wait times and the rate of dropped calls significantly. Call center agents are trained to take messages, forward calls, provide help desk answering service, process transactions, and offer pretty much any other services required over the phone.
What Are the Different Types of Answering Services?
Every business has unique needs when it comes to call answering services. Depending on the size and manpower of your enterprise, you may need more or less hands-on call answering services to offer support. There’s no one-size-fits-all universal call-answering service solution that works for everyone. That’s why it’s important to carefully evaluate your current remote customer service infrastructure and choose the appropriate setup for your business.
Keep in mind that call centers are fully capable of accommodating any changes or modifications you need to make as your business continues to grow and expand its customer outreach. Here are some of the most common options that answering services offer.
Virtual Receptionist Services
Virtual receptionists handle all of the same tasks and duties as office receptionists. The only difference is that they work remotely. Their responsibilities include answering the phone, answering customer queries, qualifying leads, directing or forwarding calls, taking messages, providing general customer service, and scheduling appointments.
Call Center Services
Call centers are commonly commissioned by SMBs and large enterprises to handle high call volumes and overflow in addition to other customer-related tasks. Live customer service agents answer calls, place orders, process transactions, offer technical assistance, track orders, answer customer queries, update customer information, qualify leads, and offer compassionate and professional customer response services. They’re also trained to eloquently handle customer complaints and actively diffuse potentially hostile situations from angry customers. All in all, customer service agents are expected to wear many different hats and they’re usually very good at managing all of their tasks efficiently often while working under pressure and providing personalized customer service.
Automated Answering Services
Automated answering services typically don’t involve speaking to a live agent unless the caller specifically requests it. These are machine-operated answering services that lead the caller through a detailed menu of call options to complete their transaction or get the information they need. Banking systems, for instance, often use automated answering services that allow callers to check their account balances, make bill payments, and check past transactions. If they need additional assistance from a live agent, they can press 0 or enter the extension of the person they’re trying to reach if they know it. This is a quick and convenient way to filter simple calls that don’t require the help of a live agent.
Internet Answering Services
Internet answering services don’t answer customer inquiries in the traditional sense of doing it over the phone. Instead, they offer online management in the form of email, live chat, and social media response support.
While some companies offer a combination of online and phone answering services, others might specialize in one medium or the other. Before choosing a specific answering service, take the time to carefully evaluate your company’s current and evolving customer service and answering service needs.
How Do Answering Services Work?
Regardless of which model you choose, answering services act as an affordable and convenient extension of your business. Live agents and virtual receptionists learn about your business policies so that they can easily repeat them back to customers and answer their questions correctly. Remote answering services are designed to provide your customers with first-rate assistance as if they were calling your company directly.
Because they eliminate the need to hire an expensive in-house customer service department, hiring a professional answering service saves you a great deal of money on infrastructure redesigns so that you can better scale your business and ensure a high ROI.
What Are the Benefits of Answering Services?
- Tremendous cost savings on infrastructure
- No need to hire an in-house customer service team
- Third-party answering services train their employees, so you don’t have to
- Reduce rate of dropped or missed calls
- Ensure all phone and online customer queries are answered accurately and in a timely manner
- Convenient full-scale customer service
Get Top-Notch Answering Services from 3C Contact Services in Toronto
For over 30 years, 3C Contact Services has been the go-to company for outsourced live call answering services for businesses of all sizes. We also offer extensive and customized virtual receptionist services for remote businesses. Contact us today to find out how we can help you scale your business and improve your customer interactions.
Also Read: Inquiry Handling Services: The Secret To Great Customer Experience
