Pros And Cons Of Hiring A 24/7 Business Answering Service
Your business gets a lot of incoming calls, and you are considering hiring a 24/7 business answering service for help. Take a look at the pros and cons to help you decide.
Pro: You get trained professionals for phone service.
If you have to go out and hire a set of professionals simply to answer all incoming calls, you have yourself quite the challenge. When you pair this with everything else your operation requires, it can make taking time to properly track down, vet, and train phone service professionals implausible. With a professional phone answering service, you get professionals answering calls who know what they are doing and have already been trained.
Con: Hiring a business answering service will be an added operational cost.
Naturally, any time you have to bring in the aid of a service provider, you are going to be paying for that service. Hiring an answering service is going to mean you have an extra operational expense, but it is an expense that pays off. With professionals answering calls around the clock, you are going to better serve your customers and you may see a positive ROI (return on investment) in a short time frame because of it.
Pro: Answering services around the clock opens up service windows to include everyone.
Think about the average day in the life of a consumer. They likely have an 8- to 12-hour workday, a period of time at home for sleep, and possibly a few days off per week. Setting up your available call hours around this format is what a lot of business owners do. However, what about the rest of the population? Maybe some consumers are only available to make calls when they come home from work at 11 p.m., for example. Having an answering service available 24 hours per day gives you a service window that does not disregard anyone.
Con: Having a 24-hour answering service does require an ongoing commitment.
When you initially bring in the help of a 24-hour answering service, you may not have the long term in mind, but you really should. Once your clients or customers learn that they can reach someone around the clock, they will start to rely on it. Therefore, if you take the service away, it can actually have a negative impact on your company. Of course, most companies who start using an around-the-clock answering service will keep this as a part of their business for the long term.
For more information, contact companies such as AnSer.
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