Ten Tips to Help Better Handle High Call Volumes

Business owners should consider ringing telephones to be a sign and sound of success.  However, high call volumes are often hard for small companies to deal with.  Issues surrounding how busy phone lines are handled at your company have the potential to reflect negatively on your business.  Always ensure you properly research the nature and the pattern of the incoming calls to implement an effective plan for handling high call volume at your business so your company’s profits can increase.

Determine Causes

Determine whether the increase in your call volume is for positive or negative reasons.  After centering in on the reason, you can address the causes for the increased volume.

Assign Telephone Duties

Choose a member of your staff that deals exclusively with phone calls when call volume is high.  If your receptionist is already overwhelmed, hire additional help or reassign a staff member for part of the day.

Create an Online FAQ

Create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website for the problems and or questions your clients call about the most.

Handle Calls Promptly

Make sure you properly train all staff members taking calls at your company so they can answer your customers’ questions accurately and promptly.

Use Basic Etiquette

If you are waiting on a customer in your store, as him or her if you can quickly take the call so you can get a name and number to reach the client by phone.  Make sure the customer calling in understands you have a client in your store that you must take care of first.

Take Advantage of Technology

Take advantage of the technology offered on today’s telephone.  Options such as Voicemail, Caller ID, and Do Not Disturb can ensure nothing interferes with your important meetings, and allows you to obtain names and numbers to return calls from your clients missed due to volume or lunch.

Hire an Answering Service

If the call volume reaches a point that it costs the business money, you should consider hiring an answering service to take your phone calls.

Make Your Phone Number Less Accessible

If too many callers want simple questions answered that are found on your website’s FAQ page, remove your phone number from your website.

Create Short and Clear Messages

A shorter and simpler message helps to reduce confusion on the caller’s behalf, and in return reduces the length of the call.

Prioritize Urgent Calls

Make sure the most important calls are always answered, never kept waiting, and never abandoned.