Every missed call can mean a lost customer or a missed opportunity to win new business. When you do not answer the phone, small and growing businesses lose real revenue. That missed call could have been from someone ready to buy or a frustrated caller who only needed quick help to become a loyal, repeat customer.
Unfortunately, it can be costly to hire enough customer service agents to handle every phone call, especially if you want to increase your profits. So, how can you solve this problem?
A phone answering service can help with that. But before we do that, let’s take a moment to better understand how important it is that calls to your business are answered.
Why Missing Calls Can Cost You Business Opportunities
According to data acquired by various sources, 70% of missed calls don’t leave a voicemail. This represents a sizable share of potential clients who likely called one of your competitors instead.
For instance, consider a business that receives an average of 15 calls each day but can only answer 9 of them because of its size. Here’s how it would work out over a typical workweek.
| Weekly Call Breakdown | Number |
| Total Calls Received | 75 |
| Calls Answered | 45 |
| Calls Missed | 30 |
| Missed Calls That Leave Voicemail | 9 |
These figures are clearly only meant to serve as examples, but they show the significant impact that missed calls may have on the number of potential new clients or customers that a business may be losing.
Of course, this is before you include the more difficult-to-measure effects such as damaged brand reputation, which may reduce the amount of calls coming in to begin with.
Ignoring a large number of calls risks both immediate sales and long-term customer trust. For the business owners of small and growing businesses, regaining lost opportunities and revenue can be tough.
Benefits of a Telephone Answering Service
- Capture Every Opportunity: No missed calls means more chances to make sales.
- Lower Staffing Costs: No need to hire a full-time receptionist.
- Keep Customers Happy: Friendly, reliable, support that builds trust.
- Boost Productivity: Let your team focus on important tasks that generate revenue.
After learning how important it is for businesses to minimise the number of missed calls, let’s explore how to do it and how a telephone answering service may increase your profits by streamlining this vital component of customer support.
Capture Every Opportunity
Having a dedicated telephone answering service means you have a large team of virtual assistants available to answer incoming calls, as opposed to relying on your internal team to do this.
Because of the large number of virtual assistants available, there will always be someone available to answer your calls, minimising the possibility of missing out on potential customers. Instead, the assistance team will ensure that every call is answered in accordance with your specifications, as well as your business’s terminology and professionalism.
This helps your business earn more by increasing the number of potential customers you can reach.
Lower Staffing Costs
A telephone answering service has a clear, predictable cost and provides access to many virtual assistants, so you don’t need to hire extra staff to handle calls.
With an average receptionist salary of £24,000 in the UK, hiring multiple staff to avoid missed calls can become very expensive. With a telephone answering service, you get multiple virtual receptionists instantly without the high cost of hiring in-house staff to answer calls.
Keep Customers Happy
The third benefit is that a telephone answering service can boost your company’s reputation, improve customer perception and help turn one-time customers into loyal clients by ensuring every call and enquiry is answered.
Customer satisfaction is a key priority across industries today, as customers expect quick, simple access to support and services. Customers may become dissatisfied if their calls go unanswered, especially given the rise of live chatbots and platforms like Amazon that provide quick customer assistance.
When you combine this with the growing importance customers place on online reviews from sites like TrustPilot, you can understand how important the reputation of a business is. Missed calls will have an immediate adverse impact on that reputation, making it crucial to utilise a call answering service to ensure you never miss an opportunity.
Using a call answering service like Onwards Answering ensures calls are answered promptly, improving the customer experience. This improves your reputation and increases the likelihood that one-time customers return and become loyal.
Boost Productivity
A telephone answering service gives your team the freedom to focus on important tasks that increase revenue and expand your business, rather than being distracted by calls.
With the service managing calls and scheduling, your team can devote their attention to critical tasks. It increases productivity, eases stress, and prevents delays in key tasks. By outsourcing call handling, your business runs smoothly, and your team can be more productive.
Finding the Perfect Telephone Answering Service
Now that you understand how costly missed calls may be and how a telephone answering service can help, the next step is to find the best solution for your business.
Onwards Answering can help by offering experienced virtual receptionists who handle each call efficiently, ensuring that no opportunity is missed.
We provide a free 2-week trial so you can experience first-hand how our service may benefit your business. If you’d like to discuss your specific requirements, our team is here to assist and tailor a solution for you.
Call us today on 0141 286 4220 to experience how our dedicated telephone answering service can improve your business.
