The Impact of Unanswered Calls to Your Business — and How to Solve it
Have you been missing out on phone calls from your customers lately? With the rampant development of consumer technologies, there are many ways for your business to connect with your customers, such as your official social media page, chat support, and emails. However, you shouldn’t overlook the importance of handling phone calls when it comes to running a successful business. Take a look at how unanswered calls can hurt your business and learn how to turn it around.
Negative Reviews
Smartphones are a very handy way for your customers to reach you. But you have to keep in mind that customers don’t merely use their smartphones to go online; they still use them to make phone calls. Dropping their calls or letting them wait for a long time is a clear sign of poor customer service and this will lead to a bad customer experience. Ultimately, poor customer experience will generate negative reviews about your business.
One missed phone call can be a huge blow to your company’s image and reputation. Customers may leave bad reviews on established websites such as Yelp and Facebook. Thanks to the internet, customers nowadays are more likely to do some research about your business before availing themselves of your services or products. If they see a negative review, it will most likely drive them away. Aside from online feedback, poor customer service can get around through the word of mouth. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes; why would you continue dealing with a business that can’t help you when you need them?
Loss of Opportunities
Computer-mediated forms of communication are important in this digital age. However, it has been found that most people still prefer using their phones to contact businesses because of its personal touch. An unanswered phone call is a missed opportunity. Did you know that even just one unanswered phone call can significantly affect your revenue? Those missed phone calls may be from potential customers.
Studies have found that the callback rate of people whose calls you’ve missed is very slim. If you’re lucky, customers may just complain, but still stick with your business. Unfortunately, though, most customers will simply walk away and turn to your competitors if their calls are left unanswered. With every phone call you miss, you provide your competitors with more leads.
How to Solve Your Unanswered Calls Problem
To avoid the negative impact of unanswered phone calls, you have to address your problem by enhancing and improving your company’s customer service. There are many ways to turn your situation around.
Check out this list to identify the best solution for your business:
- Create an on-hold message
Typically, customers only stay on the line for around four minutes. These four minutes can be used strategically to set your customers’ expectations, inform them about any important announcements, and provide other options to contact you if your phone line is extremely busy.
2. Add specialized phone lines
If you have the budget and means to add dedicated phone lines to each of your departments, go for it. Customers hate it when they are put on hold for a long time. Adding phone lines lowers their waiting period and allows them to connect with the right person in your company right away. With 800 numbers from Kall8.com, you can view calls, analyze marketing campaign results, and set up custom call forwarding and conferencing.
3. Outsource telephone answering services
If you don’t have the time to recruit a dedicated in-house team to handle your phone calls, you should try subscribing to a telephone answering service for your company. This service connects your customers with a virtual receptionist. You can browse more here to know what other processes are included in this service. When availing of this service, make sure you consider your company’s size and needs.
4. Add call forwarding features
Call forwarding is very helpful if your employees are busy or are away from their desks. Forwarding your customer’s call to an available employee will reduce the number of dropped calls.
5. Set up voicemail
Letting your customers leave a message on your voicemail is a great way to reduce missed calls. This gives them the chance to air their concerns and provides you with the opportunity to manage their needs. Once you receive their message, remember to give them a callback so you can personally handle the situation.
Customer service is the backbone of any business, and phone calls still play a very important role in this day and age. When you deliver excellent customer service over the phone, not only do you boost your customer satisfaction and loyalty, but you also ensure the success of your business.
