What Missed Calls Really Cost Your Business
Although most businesses spend their valuable time and money on multiple strategies designed to attract customers to call them, they often overlook what can be an obvious problem – are all of those calls being answered? Consider what happens to your customer and potential customer calls that come into your business after hours, on holidays, or when your staff is already overwhelmed with calls and cannot handle the overflow, resulting in missed calls, and long, painful hold times. Missed calls to your business often result from using older call answering technology and equipment.
It may surprise you to know that most business is still conducted over the phone (80%) and that most people who contact businesses will not call back if their call is not answered (85%). Also, consider how much more time your employees would have to focus on your business if they were not constantly answering your phones.
No business can afford the consequences of missed calls. However, no business owner can be everywhere at once. The solution? An answering service can handle your needs no matter the time of day. Whether you are caught in a meeting, assisting customers, or out to lunch with a client, do not miss another potential customer again with the help of an answering service.
New Sales Revenue Potential
Think about every time you have missed the phone ringing. Now, did you know that about every five missed calls are one lost sale for the average business? Depending on your business’s average amount per transaction, a lost sale could mean hundreds of dollars your business is losing in new sales. The average wait or hold time for a caller is two minutes, meaning there are about 50% of callers unwilling to wait even two minutes. Given the demands of running a business, it is easy for missed or abandoned calls to accumulate.
Additionally, keeping track of missed calls is a challenge on its own, particularly given the fact that only 20% of callers will leave a voice message. Is your business closed over the weekend? Many potential clients may try to get in touch with you over the weekend. An answering service answers calls whenever you need them to, no matter the time of day, any day of the week.
Negative Perceptions from Potential Customers
The only thing worse than missing a client’s call is not getting back to them promptly. Roughly 50% of clients expect a call back within 30 minutes. Without a call back in 30 minutes or less, at least half of your clients and potential new business are unlikely to maintain interest in doing business with you. And even worse, if you call them back at a time inconvenient for them, over 2/3 of individuals are unlikely to listen to a voice message you leave them. As frustrating as this may seem, there is an easy solution – hire an answering service. An answering service is equipped to provide 24/7 friendly and knowledgeable care to your callers and ensure you do not miss another call.
Reputation and Impact on Brand Image
When a business misses calls, it could be devastating for a brand’s image and its reputation. From leaving bad online reviews to negative comments on social media, the detriments of missing calls go beyond customer inconvenience. Per a recent survey, 94% of consumers avoided a purchase due to a bad review. Word of mouth referrals account for about 13% of consumer sales and $6 trillion of annual revenue nationally. No business can afford the loss of income that comes with a bad reputation or poor brand image. Considering how impactful missing calls can be, every company must offer quality phone answering services quickly and consistently.
Flexibility of Answering Services
There are several reasons to hire an answering service, one of the top reasons being flexibility. Answering services can take on any number of calls to your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most businesses struggle to offer quality phone service because employees are swamped with other tasks and hiring additional staff can be costly. By hiring an answering service, you and your team can take care of business, your callers are provided with the best customer service available, and you can maximize potential revenue.
What Do Missed Calls Cost Your Business?
When you miss a call at your business, it’s not as simple as “I’ll call them back.” Business owners know that every missed call is a missed opportunity. Can your business afford to lose all of those missed selling opportunities? Industry estimates are that companies lose nearly $50 million due to unanswered calls every year. But your business doesn’t have to be one of them.
A professional answering service like Intercept of Florida will make certain that none of your calls go unanswered. In the process, we will help grow your business. Here is how we do it.
- We prepare to serve your customers as an extension of your company, answering a wide variety of call types in the name of your business and using your specified detailed and effective agent procedures, protocols, and scripts.
- Intercept of Florida can provide you and your employees with rapid notification messages delivered from the calls we take for your business. You choose how you would like to be notified: text, email, etc.
- We will also provide you with ways to monitor the calls our agents take on behalf of your company for the protection of your brand.
- Intercept of Florida uses digital voice logging, which works as insurance that conversations between your customers and our representatives are always subject to word-by-word scrutiny and review, as well as a legal backup if needed. This practice allows you to have access to the call, should a dispute arise.
Today, more than ever before, the rapidly changing business landscape demands that your company have constant contact with your existing customers and never miss an opportunity to gain new customers. Make sure that all of your calls are answered and handled professionally with Intercept of Florida’s experienced telephone service representatives. It's our business to answer your phones 365/24/7 so you never have a missed call again.
Contact Intercept of Florida today to learn how we can help your business grow.