Top 5 Ways a Phone Answering Service Can Save You Money

To speak in person with a skilled and effective receptionist is a desirable asset of most businesses.

That said, to achieve that requires at least the two following things: an effective receptionist (significant investment in time and training) and the cost of paying for a receptionist of this quality.

That does not come cheap. In 2016, the median annual salary of a receptionist in the U.S was $27,920. That is approximately $14 per hour. Depending on your business, that is a major expense.

How does $50 a month sound instead?

That got your attention! Read on to learn about 5 ways a business phone answering service can save you money.

1. Time Is Money

When you run your own business, the above adage is never truer. Of course, your time is limited, but it is your most precious resource.

You have to make decisions on how best to use your time on a daily basis. It is logical that you will want to invest your time in the activities that result in the most income for your business.

If you do not employ any type of reception service right now, then you are likely to answer all your own phone calls. Some of the calls are worth it and some of them are not. You cannot know until you answer the call. That means you are losing precious time.

A business phone answering service is going to give you back the ability to choose who to communicate with and through what medium.

2. Save Downtime

We have already established a receptionist will cost you around $30,000 per year.

Question: how much of that salary is actually associated with time spent answering phone calls and effectively managing leads?

Depending on how much of your business communications are telephone-based, the proportion of salary that is directly associated with managing phone calls could be less than half.

A business phone answering service has a minimum starting cost per month, on top of which you only pay for the actual airtime needed to manage your calls. Your downtime costs are reduced to ZERO.

3. Staff Turnover

OK, you have the perfect receptionist. They are great. A perfect fit for the job.

But they leave! Finding a replacement will cost you time, money, and effort. The more you depend on anyone person, the more of an expensive asset they become if you lose them.

Depending on your business, this is an acceptable or even desirable situation. However, is that always true for your receptionist? Consider, if you have to replace a valuable receptionist, finding another similar person will be difficult.

In the meantime, your recruitment could cost as much as 16% of the post’s annual salary. Ouch!

4. Office Space and Equipment

A receptionist will need an office. How much will that cost? The average yearly cost of office space in the U.S varies from about $5,000 to nearly $15,000 depending on the city.

A receptionist is going to need some basic but vital equipment such as a computer, telephone system, call logging system, and office furniture. How much will that cost? That’s up to you but it will not be cheap.

Plus, whatever you buy will eventually need to be replaced.

In contrast, a business phone answering service will save you all your office space costs associated with a receptionist. You will not have to buy any additional office technology. Your answering service will continually invest in up-to-date technology that you can take advantage of at a known and controlled cost, saving you lots of money!

5. Capture Sales Leads

Even the best receptionist will not work 24 hours a day. If your business provides services that are international or span multiple time zones, then there will be times in which your potential clients will be faced with an answering machine.

Not everyone, but a lot of people prefer not to leave a message. That is a lost sales lead. That is potentially costing you money.

If they are not talking to you, who are they talking to? Most likely the competition.

A business phone answering service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Your answering service can be set up to manage different types of calls, take orders, and provide reassurance to your customers that their needs are at the top of your priority list.

Capturing sales lead and converting them to real sales will save you the money you could lose.

Business Bonus – Go Bilingual

Yes, some receptionists speak two languages. Yet again, that comes with a cost and its own challenges. A business phone answering service is able to provide a second language like Spanish to its customers who need it.

This is very attractive to clients as it helps them to feel understood and valued. There are practical benefits too, especially if you do not speak the target language of some of your client base. Once again, this type of service need not be expensive and can be easily integrated into your answering service plan.

Business Phone Answering Service – No Need to Leave a Message!

You can save lots of money by using a business phone answering service while ensuring you are making more money by successfully capturing and converting sales leads as well as connecting with those in a foreign language.

If these 5 reasons are not enough, you will be happy to know there are even more reasons why you should switch to a business phone answering service. Get in touch here and we will explain even more benefits.

Michael C On   /   24x7 Answering Service, Answering Service Solutions   /   Leave a comment