Although they have been around for several decades, answering services have seen considerable growth over recent years, as more businesses see the benefits of outsourcing certain parts of their customer service to cope with fluctuating demand and staffing challenges.

Choosing the right provider is critical. When done correctly, it can streamline processes and increase productivity, however choose poorly and you risk reputational and brand damage and even lost customers. Here is a simple guide to choosing the right answering service for your organisation’s needs.

 

1. Value Versus Price

 How can you strike a balance between “getting what you pay for” and high-quality service without breaking the bank? There are risk factors to consider when choosing the lowest price point such as; the potential for background noise, rigidly scripted responses that often prove unhelpful and tedious onboarding processes. Some market leaders offer a high-quality service, but you pay a premium to get it.  In the middle are a number of telephone answering companies like Verbatim, for example, which provides the highly-trained call operators and seamless onboarding processes you’d expect from the market leaders but at very competitive prices.

 

2. Trial and Error

So you have chosen a service provider but are unsure and would not like to commit without a probationary period-and you are correct not to without a trial. Trials are mutually beneficial to the customer and provider as they enable the provider to gauge statistics such as call volume while allowing the customer to experience the chosen supplier’s service to commit to the same. Trials are also a quality signal of products and services as they demonstrate capability not driven by pre-service economic motivation, so look into trials before you commit.

 

3. Additional Services & Customisation

Bespoke customer service is a hallmark of success and your answering service should cater to the specific needs of a variety of callers and needs. Consider the following; non-rigid scripts, frequently asked questions answers, fast problem solving where possible, and VIP client identification all of these signal a high-quality service and one that would reflect well on your organisation. Additional services vary by both company and package and can be adapted to your needs-Verbatim offers lead qualifying, diary-keeping, and appointment scheduling to free up your time to attend to more important matters. Both of these can be taken into account when making your decision to benefit both parties and increase customer satisfaction.

 

4. Longevity

Consider your answering service, your receptionists, or hosts-first impressions matter. Dealing with difficult customers, impatient callers or a host of differently challenging situations with ease and efficiency is a key to your success-this plays back into trialling an organisation and making sure that your front of the house is capable and suitable to your customer’s needs both in the short and long term with the growth potential.

 

5. Suitability & Fit

Industry register is important when dealing with clients-does your answering service take the time to get to know the industry well enough to represent it? Many answering services focus on the bare bones of customer satisfaction and organisational alignment-when choosing your service one must ensure alignment across several factors including priorities, values, and industry knowledge this will ensure a good fit and a high conversion rate of callers to customers.

 

6. Backup Systems

In the event of an emergency-what is your providers’ plan? Will you be left high and dry with hundreds of callers on the other end of your line, or does your service have contingency plans for a variety of scenarios? All of these questions need to be answered by a service before you choose to commit to them. For both parties to maintain their reputations and smooth operational capacities, do not move forward without confirmation of the same.

 

7. Customer Service Quality

Last, and most obvious but certainly not least is the quality of the service provided. Does the answering service employ individuals with excellent communication, interpersonal, and other soft skills? Do they provide the additional training that could aid their call attendants to address unexpected situations or difficult encounters-remember their service will serve as a reflection of your organisation so settle for nothing less than the very best, this once again can be seen through a trial period as mentioned before.

Takeaways for choosing your answering service include; treating the suggestions above as a checklist and running through them with the companies that you are considering for the same, trialling is important as it allows you to check if the service is a good fit and ensure that you are comfortable with the service representing you.