Some business owners think hiring a live answering service is an expense that they either can’t afford or they don’t necessarily need. However, partnering with a live answering service is an investment that quickly pays for itself over and over. In fact, having an answering service actually puts money back in your pocket in 5 key ways:

1> No Employee Expenses: Many businesses hire an in-house receptionist to answer incoming calls. To start, this requires the time and expense of recruiting, interviewing, and hiring the receptionist. Then there’s a significant amount of time and energy invested in training the new receptionist. Beyond that, the expense of having that employee on staff also includes paid time off, sick days, and overtime pay.

Meanwhile, a live answering service provides a team of receptionists every day of the year, with no paid holiday time, overtime, or sick days.

2> No Technology Expenses: When your calls are managed by a live answering service, you significantly reduce equipment and technology costs. There’s no need to pay for new phone systems or equipment to store and distribute messages to your team. Plus, if you choose, answering services have the advanced technology to be able to integrate the software you use for scheduling or data management. Another added bonus is that an answering service has systems in place so that their phone lines never go down, even in the case of a disaster.

3> No More Missed Business Opportunities: Answering services are available 24/7, 365 days of the year. This means that you’ll never have to miss a single phone call again, which is good news considering missed phone calls mean missed business opportunities. You’ll be much more likely to capture new leads and nurture potential customer relationships.

4> Improved Productivity: While every phone call is a potential business opportunity, each call is also a distraction for the staff member answering the call, and that’s no small matter. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that the typical office worker is interrupted or switches tasks on an average of every three minutes and five seconds. They also found that it can take an average of 23 minutes just to get back to where they left off. That adds up to a lot of time!

When an answering service handles your calls, you and your employees are free to focus on your tasks at hand, which leads to a spike in productivity.

5> Fewer Routine Customer Service Tasks: When you partner with a live answering service, you could actually downsize your in-house customer service department because answering services handle many basic customer care needs. The answering service receptionists can answer frequently asked questions, provide help desk support, schedule appointments and reservations, take orders, and assist with your CRM management. Answering services will use custom scripts based on your guidelines so that the agents consistently represent your business and your brand.

The bottom line is that hiring a live answering service is a smart investment in the growth of your business’s bottom line. Your customers will be cared for by professional, friendly receptionists 24/7, and the amount of time and money you’ll save will far outweigh the cost of an answering service.

Voice Link of Columbus, Inc. provides live answering services that exceed your expectations with no hidden fees and flat rate month-to-month service agreements. Customized communication solutions, appointment scheduling, and secure messaging save you time and money while increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Request information online or call us at (800) 262-2799.