Every call that comes into your business is an opportunity. A first-time caller into your business who hears a friendly, professional voice, who navigates your menus quickly and easily, and who gets to the right person at the right time can become a customer or a client, potentially leading to more business down the road. A first-time caller who gets overlooked, frustrated, or lost can quickly become some other company’s opportunity. AccessDirect’s powerful and cost-effective professional answering service ensures that every caller to your business gets the best possible experience, and our friendly and knowledgeable team will help you make sure the image you present those first-time callers better leads to first-time customers.
WHY IS A PROFESSIONAL ANSWERING SERVICE IMPORTANT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES?
It wasn’t that many years ago when every call that came into a business, regardless of its size, was answered by a live receptionist. Today, while that is still the case for some businesses, many are taking advantage of the opportunity to avoid these staffing costs in favor of answering services that can do the job for far less. And far more consistently.
Face it. People get sick and take time off. They have bad days. They get busy and fail to answer the phone in a timely manner. They provide inconsistent service and responsiveness to the most important people you serve—your customers—and may cause you to miss out on new business when prospects’ calls don’t get answered, or don’t get handled well.
The solution: a business answering service. Today’s technology makes it possible for even the smallest of businesses, even solo practitioners, to convey a polished, professional image to customers and prospects. For small businesses, it’s often impossible to be accessible to customers all the time. Suppose you’re a plumber out serving customers, an accountant meeting with clients, an auto repair service working on vehicles. For businesses like these, and others, it can be tough to always answer incoming phone calls. If you’re not able to add expense to your small business by hiring additional staff, you need a way to ensure that those important calls get answered.
A professional answering service is a great way to do that, ensuring 24/7/365 access for callers.
The right answering service provides a professional means of getting your phones answered, and calls addressed, ensuring callers have access to information when they need it and that they can access your company seamlessly.
Efficient call handling means that callers don’t end up listening to the phone ring and ring and ring or, worse, that they get a busy signal. Instead, with a high-quality answering service, calls can be efficiently and quickly routed to the person or place where callers’ needs can best be met.
If an actual person isn’t available to respond to the call—which happens frequently in sole proprietor or small businesses—a professional answering service will ensure that the call is answered and a message taken which can be delivered via voicemail or text.
You’re kept informed and your callers get the service they demand. In today’s competitive business environment you can’t take chances that potential customers will move on to a competitor if you’re not able to respond to them in a timely manner. AccessDirect’s professional answering service solutions take the worry out of missing important calls.
TYPES OF ANSWERING SERVICES
Answering services for small businesses have been around for some time, in various forms. Small businesses have options when it comes to answering services, but not all options are created equal—and not all provide the professional and polished image you’re looking for.
- Front desk staff can certainly convey a professional impression. But, when staff is overworked, that impression can be negatively impacted. Hiring front desk staff to answer the phone is also expensive and comes with recruitment, training and turnover issues that can divert business owners from their primary objective—effectively meeting customer needs.
- Live answering services are another option. These services take your calls for you, but generally just take a name and number like the old “pink slip” phone messages of years gone by. These services are expensive and often fail to impress callers who are, instead, frustrated by their inability to get the answers they need quickly.
- Automated, cloud-hosted systems offer the best of all worlds. They’re cost-effective, include a wide range of features, are programmable and provide faster call routing to the right people. All in all, automated answering services provide a better caller response and better brand building for your business. Don’t leave phone answering to chance.
BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES OF ANSWERING SERVICES
With a professional answering service through AccessDirect you can rest assured that your calls will be efficiently answered while presenting a polished and professional image to callers. Our answering service lets you answer all your incoming calls, and route them internally with an interactive voice response system. It offers callers a menu of options, including personal or department extensions, dial-by-name directories, and many more options to efficiently direct your calls. Your customers benefit from round-the-clock responsiveness without busy signals or dropped calls. If you’re unable to answer for any reason, callers will be able to leave you a voicemail.
With custom call answering you can set up your phone to provide specific messages to callers as well as options to help their calls get routed to the right place quickly. It’s easy to configure and update and, if you need help at any time, we’re just a phone call away.
With AccessDirect’s phone answering services for small businesses your phone calls will always be answered – even if you’re unable to take those calls when they come in. Here are some of the added features and benefits you’ll enjoy with our services:
- Voicemail to Email. When you’re with a customer or client, it can be inconvenient to listen to a voicemail message. We’ll convert that call to email so you can access it discretely. We can even send you a Text Notification when a message is left for times when you’re unable to access your email, ensuring you’ll never miss a call.
- Voicemail Transcription. The ability to read a voicemail transcription through a small business call answering service provides convenience and easy access.
- Fax to Email. For some businesses, the ability to receive faxes is important, but staff may not be physically present to get those faxes. Our fax to email option solves that, ensuring you receive important faxed documents immediately.
- Text Message Notification. Never miss a text message. Select options for how you’d like to be notified when a text is received.
- Music or Information on Transfer. Interested in adding a little something special to your callers’ experiences with you? Consider a music option, or the option to provide callers with key information related to your business and their needs.
- With Caller I.D. you can know exactly who’s calling you before you even answer the call. And, with our Call Accept/Reject option you can easily reject those calls that you don’t want to take.
- Custom Greetings and Flexible Greeting Schedules provide you with the option of changing your greeting whenever you’d like, for instance if you’re out of the office or wish to share a holiday greeting.
- After Hours Answering Service. Chances are your business isn’t physically staffed 24/7/365. When that’s the case, our after-hours business telephone answering services ensure that your calls will still get answered so that they can be addressed as quickly as possible.
AccessDirect’s innovative inbound call answering service can be customized to meet your specific needs and requirements. We will help you provide the quality customer service and sales support your clients deserve, and allow you to focus on running your business.
AccessDirect provides small business solutions that are both affordable and user-friendly. All you need to get started are an internet connection and a single phone line – land-line or cell phone.
Email us or call 877-599-6500, and let one of our knowledgeable customer service representatives quote you on a professional answering service for your small business. Our systems include a local or toll-free phone number, and you can get started in minutes.