Every sale counts when you’re a small business. And with nearly two-thirds (62%) of customers preferring to call a small business over any other form of communication, it’s essential you’re available to answer the phone when it rings.
But if you work alone or run a small business, you can’t always guarantee you can answer the phone.
You’ve got enough to worry about.
Like actually getting the work done that’ll get you paid and quoting for new work to keep your pipeline healthy.
Plus, who will answer the phone when you’re on your lunch break?
What about when you need to nip to the toilet?
You could always employ an in-house receptionist.
But hiring someone can get expensive.
Not only taking their salary into account, but holiday and sick pay, as well as tax and pension contributions as well.
And even then you could still miss important business calls.
But what are the consequences of missing a phone call when you’re a small business?
Why Are Small Businesses Missing Calls?
About 80% of all business communications take place over the phone.
Even with social media on the table, it's safe to say customers still prefer making enquiries over the phone.
Especially enquiries that are a bit more complicated or related to payments or sensitive matters.
In the UK, businesses miss 1 in 3 calls on average, which is a lot of potential revenue to miss out on.
But why are small businesses missing these calls?
For smaller businesses it’s usually a resource problem.
Maybe they have enough staff, but they’re too busy focussing on other tasks and can’t make it to the phone in time.
What Are The Dangers Of Missing Business Calls?
There are many potential problems that missing a call can create for your small business
• You’ll Miss Sales Opportunities
It’s estimated in the UK that businesses big and small lose over £30 billion each year as a result of missing calls, and the cost of missing just one call averages out at around £1,200. And about 85% of customers who are met with an answering machine on their first call say they aren’t likely to try that business a second time.
• You’ll Get A Bad Reputation
If you’re failing to answer multiple calls on a daily basis you risk setting up a negative reputation for your business.
Word of mouth is still important for businesses, even in 2021 and 2022.
It creates trust in your brand and is the most cost-effective advertising method - a recommendation costs nothing.
You don’t want to give people the opportunity to talk badly about your business as it will discourage people from shopping with you or using your services.
• It Can Cause More Stress
Stress will catch up with you easily as a small business owner.
With all the tasks you have to complete, answering calls might be the last thing on your mind, but missing them could create more problems than you had to begin with.
Obviously you’ll want to answer as many calls as you can, but you can’t always do this for practical reasons and then you’ll face the mammoth task of recapturing any leads while you continue to tend to your other duties.
• You’re Putting The Future Of Your Business At Risk
The second you answer a call that comes in, a window of opportunity opens for you to sell your products or services and retain new prospects that come your way.
By missing new business calls, you’re only creating more work for yourself - seeing as you’ll have to try and recapture lost leads.
As a small business you can’t afford to be giving yourself more work than you can handle.
You need to be as efficient as you can, or else you risk potential new customers turning to your competitors instead.
How Can Telephone Answering Help Your Small Business?
With a remote receptionist, you’ll have someone to answer and transfer your calls, take messages for you and help with managing your diary.
There are many benefits that come with paying for a telephone answering service.
For example, you’ll be able to extend your businesses opening hours - just because you’ve shut up shop for the day doesn’t mean you should miss out on business calls with new customers or prospects.
A remote receptionist will be able to answer any incoming calls even after you’ve headed home for the evening.
You also won’t have to worry about missing calls during your lunch hour, when you take a toilet break or even when you’re on annual leave as your remote receptionist can answer calls and take messages for you while you’re away.
Multiple calls can be taken at once with a remote receptionist as well, so if it’s a busy time of year for you you’ll benefit from having a team of remote receptionists to cover your calls as and when they come in.
Is It Worth Looking Into A Telephone Answering Service?
Managing all the work between small staff numbers or even by yourself can be extremely difficult, especially when you start to fall short.
Why should you worry about being able to answer the phone whenever it rings when you can get a remote receptionist to do it all for you?
This way you’ll be able to focus on more important tasks and manage your time better without worrying about answering calls whenever they come in. This is the wake-up call your business has been waiting for!
