Most business owners know the critical importance of maintaining strong relationships with customers. Being available for your clients whenever they have a need, or a question is a great way to cultivate these key relationships. Keeping your customers satisfied and engaged is the cornerstone of any successful, long-term business enterprise.
Unfortunately, this deep level of customer engagement often comes at a price. Many business owners have to sacrifice valuable family and leisure time to deal with workplace issues.
Given the shift in the way business is done today — with customers expecting round the clock accessibility and near-instant response times — it’s likely that work and family pressures will become even more acute in the years ahead.
That’s one reason why using a small business answering service to help balance work and family time is such a smart idea.
Why an answering service could profoundly improve your work/life balance
When you’re a small business owner, losing even one valued customer can be a significant blow. If you don’t have a dedicated, efficient solution for answering incoming calls, then it is quite possible that you might miss a critical call or fail to respond to your customer in time.
Additionally, failing to generate enough new business is something that keeps many small business owners up at night. Business calls that come in after hours can be handled by voicemail, but this is a poor solution. According to research published in the Harvard Business Review, the number of people who bother to leave a message when reaching voicemail is dropping significantly.
Given these trends, it’s no wonder that small business owners often scramble to address the needs of customers when they should be relaxing at home. There is, however, an easy solution to this problem.
A 24/7 answering service offers business owners the assurance that they can leave work without worrying they will miss critical client communication. They can relax and spend time with friends and loved ones rather than fielding calls at home, in the car or at other inopportune times.
A professional answering service also provides greater accuracy and efficiency. You don’t have to worry about lines getting crossed or calls going unanswered. Just as importantly, an answering service offers a human touch. Instead of dealing with an endlessly ringing phone and an uninviting voicemail message, customers and potential new clients are addressed warmly and professionally by a person on the other end of the line.
This personal touch not only helps keep relationships stronger, it also makes a small business appear far more professional. An answering service sends a much better signal than a phone that simply rings without being answered.
The takeaway
If you’re a small business owner struggling to strike the right balance between the demands of the workplace and your responsibilities at home, consider using a small business answering service. The right service can make your call answering protocol more effective and efficient, help you generate new business, and keep your existing clients satisfied and coming back for years to come. Contact MAP Communications to start your free 7-day trial.
Source: https://hbr.org/2013/09/time-to-hang-up-on-voice-mail
Here’s some related articles you might be interested in:
Why an Answering Service is a Smart Investment for a Startup Business
