Avoid Phone Answering Service Hiring Mistakes: 5 Essential Tips
Congratulations on your growing business! As your office phone starts to ring off the hook, you may be considering hiring an answering service to help you manage your inbound calls. While this is definitely a great decision, finding the best-answering service for your business is something that requires careful thought and consideration. Not all phone answering services are created equal, and there are a few mistakes you need to avoid if you want to get the most out of your investment.
Look Out For These Pitfalls When Hiring a Professional Answering Service
Providing excellent customer service is critical to the success of any business, and hiring an answering service is one of the best ways to ensure that your customers always have a positive experience when interacting with your company. However, you need to avoid the following mistakes to avoid wasting valuable time and resources:
Undefined Goals and Objectives
Before you start shopping around for a virtual answering service, it’s important that you take the time to sit down and define the specific needs of your business. What exactly do you hope to achieve by outsourcing your telephone calls? Are you looking for a way to improve customer satisfaction levels? Do you need help answering phone calls after regular business hours? When you know what your goals and objectives are, it will be much easier to find a telephone answering service that can help you achieve them.
Hiring Answering Service Without Doing Research
It’s important to do your research before hiring an answering service. You need to make sure that you’re choosing a company that has the experience and capabilities to meet your specific needs. Ask for references, take a look at their website, and read reviews from past clients to get a sense of what kind of experience you can expect. You want a service that does not only answer calls but can also help you with other administrative tasks such as taking messages, scheduling appointments, and handling difficult customer service inquiries.
No After Hours Support
One of the worst mistakes you can do for your business is to retain an answering service that does not provide 24/7 support, or if they do, they charge extra. Your business needs a live virtual receptionist who is always on standby to answer questions and resolve issues when you are not available. When your business contact hours are limited, potential customers will be forced to wait until the next day to speak with someone, and this can result in lost sales and opportunities. If you want to provide exceptional service to your customers, your phone answering service needs to have round-the-clock coverage.
Lack of Bilingual Agents
Spanish is the second most spoken language in America and you want to make sure that you’re hiring an answering service that can accommodate the needs of your Spanish-speaking customers. Look for a company that employs bilingual agents who are fluent in both English and Spanish. This will allow you to serve your entire customer base without having to worry about language barriers. The good news is, all of AnswerHero’s agents are fluent in both English and Spanish, so you can be confident that your Hispanic customers will always receive superior customer service. Plus, AnswerHero doesn’t charge extra for bilingual support, which is something to keep in mind when comparing phone answering service providers.
Hidden Unexplained Costs
At AnswerHero, we pride ourselves on our integrity and transparency when working with our clients. The price we quote is the price you pay, but not all answering services operate the same way. Some companies will lure you in with a low-price quote, only to hit you with hidden fees and additional charges after you’ve already signed the contract. Make sure you ask about all of the costs associated with using a virtual receptionist service upfront so that there are no surprises down the road. This way, you can be confident that you’re getting the best possible value for your money.
The Best Answering Service for Your Business
If you’re looking for a top-notch answering service that can take your business to the next level, look no further than AnswerHero. Our 24-hour answering service is available to help you with all your call-answering needs. We believe in providing true value and flexibility to our customers with plans that include a 30-day call analysis, email delivery, call dispatching, lead capturing, and so much more. Contact us for a free consultation or check out our pricing plans today!
