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Answering Services
There are a number of options available to
provide answering services to the solo entrepreneur,
business on the go, or small start-up that
does not need a person to also greet walk
in visitors.Answering service companies can
provide professional quality services at
a cost lower than having an underutilized
staff person waiting for the phone to ring,
and they can provide coverage around the
clock without the staffing headaches of scheduling,
vacations, off-hours work, and unexpected
absences.
Answering services offerings
include:
- Receptionist services - traditional phone
answering services. Compare companies based
on the hours they will provide service (and
whether the cost varies by time of day, day
of week, or holidays). Look for commitments
on how quickly they will answer a call, the
greeting that will be used, and the receptionist's
accent (very important if you are servicing
a local clientele and want a local image).
Extras can include any script for handling
simple questions, what the caller will be
told by the delivery of their message, your
ability to monitor calls (realtime or afterwards)
for quality, and use of small answering teams
to build familiarity with your customers.
- Message relay service - if you're on the
go or want to be contacted during off-hours
when you'll be out of your office, you can
have your answering service deliver the caller's
message by phone, page, or transfer the caller
once they've located you.
- Order taking - some services are delivered
from full service call centers that can also
handle order taking and product support for
you. Although more costly and complicated,
outsourcing these services along with your
answering service can provided an integrated
back office appearance to your customers.
Many call centers have branched out to provide
web support services, too, such as online
chat, inbound messaging, and email response.
If these services are of interest, explore
them before locking yourself into a long
term contract with a provider that does not
offer them. |
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