One of the best things you can do as a business owner is sign up for a plan with an answering service. What you get is a team of live virtual receptionists who take your calls and send you your messages. This frees you up from the phone lines and allows you to focus on your business.
If you choose a 24/7 live answering service, you are able to extend your business hours, ensuring that you never miss a call and never miss a lead. It helps you cut through call clutter from solicitors or robocalls. It’s a great way to expand and grow your business. But not all answering services are the same.
Here are some of the considerations when looking for an answering service:
U.S. based operators
You don’t want your calls outsourced out of the country. To best represent your business, you want U.S.-based operators. When looking for an answering service, that’s a big question you want to ask.
Custom scripting
It’s difficult handing off your calls to an answering service. You’re the one who knows your business the best and you know the best way to talk to your existing and prospective customers. That’s why it’s important to look for an answering service that does custom scripting. This allows you to provide the operators with how you want your calls and basic questions answered, so your business is represented your way.
Transparent pricing
What you see isn’t always what you get. Some answering services lock you into a contract with a baseline price, and then charge extra for features such as after-hours answering, call forwarding and bilingual operators. You want to be sure that all the features are included in your plan.
Simple account set up
Some answering services take days to set up your account. If you want live answering right away, make sure there isn’t a hold period before your account is active. It should be as simple as signing up for a plan, filling out an activation form with your custom scripting and then operators start answering your calls right away.
Smart technology
The best answering services will have software that allows for excellent call handling. This means that operators can pick up between 2-3 rings and not place callers on lengthy holds. You should also have access to an online dashboard to receive your messages and manage your account instantly. Even better, an answering service should have a mobile app that allows you to take your service with you on the go. What’s more, if you’re able to generate reports and analytics from your calls, you can target your marketing efforts by seeing charts and graphs of who called, the call type (inquiry, lead, service request, etc.), where your calls are coming from and the length of your calls.
VoiceNation is the answering service that does it all
We’ll make it easy for you! VoiceNation provides all of the above and so much more. Our operators are U.S.-based and the highest trained in the industry – with training specifically on your account – so they truly become an extension of your business. Our custom, logic-based scripting means your calls are answered your way. We don’t lock you into a contract and all of our features are included in your pricing plan.
You can set up your account in less than a minute, and our virtual receptionists start taking your calls right away. Finally, we created our own software that allows for low call holds and lightning fast answer rates. Our online dashboard and mobile app give you the ability to manage your account in real time and make sure your messages are sent to you instantly.