Calls not being answered? You could be losing business!
It amazes me that many businesses especially the smaller businesses – one man bands to up to 5 employees in particular do not have anyone to answer their calls but even worse they do not have a specific message on their answer machine – that’s if they have one.
Many of my clients are satisfied with the 1571 message but what does this ‘tell’ the prospective customer?
• Firstly on reaching an impersonal message with no name of the company the prospective customer will NOT leave a message as how can they be sure they are through to the right person or business. So you have lost an opportunity to quote let alone sell your service!
• No message is unprofessional so the prospective customer will begin to have doubts as to your viability, reliability and professionalism. They will telephone someone else. So you have lost an opportunity to quote let alone sell your service!
• If you have advertised your services your are not only wasting money if you do not have at the very least a suitable message on your answer machine, but if you are advertising you want to be able to quantify the number of calls you get, how can you if nobody is encouraged to leave a message? So you have lost an opportunity to quote let alone sell your service!
One client who cannot take calls during the day leaves a great message
Hi you are through to ABC Builders, we are out on site at present but would welcome the opportunity to speak with you. We return all calls between 6 -8pm in the evening so please do leave your name and contact number and we shall call this evening. If the time is not convenient please give us the time best suited to you and we will endeavour to call you then.
However this is still not the ideal solution either, as people who have taken the trouble to call want action now, not later. Therefore answer machines even with suitable messages should be a last resort.
So what do you do? Divert to your mobile? Not ideal for a number of reasons
• Not convenient – you are up a ladder, on a roof or in a meeting
• The workplace is noisy and you don’t hear the call
• You are driving and not hands free
• No Signal
Don’t forget if you divert to your mobile you also need a personalised message for the same reasons as above or once again you will be losing potential business.
The ideal solution?
A full time receptionist? No as possibly too expensive. But…
How about a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual Assistants will answer any enquiry as YOUR business.
Can you as a small business afford to lose business by losing calls? Have you ever calculated what has been lost through not answering your calls?
Example:
Average number of calls per month 30
If 1 in 3 results in business and an average contract is £350 = £3500 worth of business
A full time receptionist would cost around £1000 per month
BlueWest Specialist Business Services offer a
Tradesman’s Package from £50 per month which includes the first 10 calls. Thereafter each call made or received is from 65 pence per call.
So based on 30 calls the monthly investment would be around £63 per month. The figures speak for themselves.
Can you honestly afford not to have a Virtual Assistant?
We know from thebestof’s Call Tracking that many of our small businesses are losing calls and on average 5 per month per small business. You work out the Maths!!
Go on talk with BlueWest today on 01239 639 152 what do you have to loose – apart from your business?
BlueWest Specialist Business Services offer many services for small businesses from Telephone answering, to invoicing and other administrative tasks
