How do you choose the right after-hours answering service to meet your needs?
An after-hours answering service is an important investment in your business. It is a way to provide prompt and courteous customer service for callers after regular business hours, without having to hire new staff or ask your current staff to work nights and weekends. In many professions, talking to a real person who can pass on the message (rather than leave a voicemail to be answered the next business day) is a huge plus for the customer. The service that you contract to do this should offer high-quality customer service and up-to-date technology, but beyond that, how do you choose the right after-hours answering service to meet your needs?
Industry Experience
When researching after-hours answering services, look for ones with years of experience not just in the answering service industry, but in your industry as well. If you are a medical office, do they have expertise in fielding distressed patient calls? For that matter, an evening call from a sick adult is a very different call than a frantic midnight call from a first-time parent. Make sure that they have the experience to handle your customers’ or clients’ needs.
Same Day Service
If the service says it can start that very night, beware. This service will be the face of your brand and business for any customers who call overnight or on weekends. Do you want them to start without training to meet your unique needs? More often than not, you want to make sure that the service has onboarding and training requirements and that they can be explained to you.
Check Out Their Tech
All answering services will claim to have state-of-the-art technology, but a few technological elements are more critical than others. The biggest is backup facilities or services. If there’s a storm that knocks out their power, will they still be able to handle your calls? A service that has multiple locations is less likely to have an issue since it can transfer your calls to another location. However, if the service provider only has one location, ensure they have a generator and backup systems so that your calls remain answered.
Another vital piece of technology they must have is call recording. If you ever get feedback about a call being less than satisfactory, you need to be able to assess it for yourself. Make sure that they not only fully document all calls (including an audio recording) but that you can easily access them.
Contact TeleRep Today!
If you are ready to install a call center service for your business, TeleRep is here to help. If you still have more questions, our trained professionals are ready to answer them. We know how important customer feedback is to you and your business, so let them know that you care with an answering service. To learn how TeleRep can help you today, visit us online or give us a call at 1-800-638-2000. To keep up with our work and to see what we have been up to, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.