Do you have customers that potentially need support outside of regular business hours? Take a look at these critical reasons to have a 24/7 call center as a part of your business.
Does your company need help answering the phone?
If you’re the one answering it, the answer is definitely yes. Every minute you or another employee spends answering the phone is a minute they can’t focus on their intended jobs.
This can make your company growth slow down, which isn’t something you want.
That’s why you need a call center.
Take a look at this guide to find out how a 24/7 call center can help your business.
What’s a Call Center?
A call center is a business that handles all of a company’s phone calls. These calls can either be inbound (calls from either potential or current customers) or outbound calls (calls made from inside your business).
Some companies have their own call centers. These types of call centers are a specific department inside a company. In other words, the company hires and trains these people themselves.
But that’s not the type of call center you want.
Your business, especially if it is a small or startup business, can’t afford to create their own call center.
That’s where an outsource call centre comes in handy.
This call center, though not a part of your company, will take care of all your company calls.
They are specifically specialized to do this, and they don’t require any training from you.
That’s a lot of time and money saved.
In fact, a call center will give your company more benefits than you would get if you had your own employees answer the phone themselves. We’ll get to those benefits in a moment, but first, let’s answer another important question here.
Why Can’t I Just Hire a Receptionist?
A single receptionist can’t accomplish what an entire call center team can do, even if they’re a truly amazing receptionist.
And here’s why.
First of all, hiring a receptionist can take a lot out of your company budget. You have to spend time and money hiring them, spend more time and money training them, and set aside even more money to pay them.
This also means your HR representatives (or maybe yourself depending on the size of your business) have to take time away from their normal responsibilities. Essentially, part of your company is getting put on hold as you’re hiring and training a receptionist.
And that’s something your company can’t afford.
Once you have a receptionist, you still have to account for things like paid vacation, health benefits, taxes, sick days, etc. But most importantly, a receptionist, can’t be at the office all the time.
Even the longest work week will still leave you with missed calls.
Customers call at all hours of the day, and that includes hours when a receptionist isn’t in the office.
Does a Call Center Business Solve the Problem?
Call centers can answer phone calls 24/7. So Yes.
Call centers save you time and money, and they never miss a call.
Because customers don’t stick to business hours when they shop, you call center must be available round-the-clock. If a customer has a question about your product at 6:00 p.m., an hour after you close, they can still get their answers by calling the call center.
This can lead to hidden sales opportunities. People are more willing to buy products if they know they can get immediate help if they need it. If your business requires reservations for specific services, customers can call and set up those reservations at any time with a 24/7 call center.
When you’re working with a call center, you can take your mind off customer service and turn your attention to the things you should be focusing on as a business owner.
Benefits of a 24/7 Call Center
We’ve touched on some of the benefits of call centers already, but they do a lot more than just save your money.
So let’s take a closer look at some of the reasons a call center can be so valuable to your company.
1. Call Centers Give Your Business a Competitive Advantage
If your competitors have a phone number and you don’t, you’ll likely lose a lot of potential customers to them.
Getting a phone number of your own puts you at the same level as your competition, but getting a 24-hour phone service puts you ahead. Customers will be more attracted to your customer service because they can use it after work hours as well.
This opens up your customer base.
People who can’t call during normal business hours (they might be working during those hours as well), now have another opportunity to call.
2. Call Centers Give Customers Confidence in You
If a customer buys something online, they want to make sure they can get in contact with someone if the product doesn’t arrive on time or isn’t what they thought it would be. Someone who doesn’t think they can get these concerns addressed won’t buy from you.
Calling only to talk to an answering machine doesn’t help.
A call center is available to answer customer questions or concerns at any time. This gives customers confidence in your company, and they are more likely to buy your products.
Call centers provide professional customer service, so customers are more likely to have a good experience and recommend your products to their friends and family.
3. Call Centers Make You More Professional
Since call services are always available, they make your company seem bigger than it actually is. This gives you a more professional image.
It can also give the impression that your company is doing business with more customers. When someone speaks to call center support and is put in a queue, they believe you are a busy company with a lot of customers.
This is a positive image, and it will build confidence and trust between your company and your customers.
4. Call Centers Save You Money
You only pay call center support for the time they work. In other words, you only pay them for the time they spend on the phone, not the times they’re waiting for a call.
They cut out the sometimes long waits that come with hiring only one receptionist. And they’re a lot less expensive than paying a full-time receptionist too.
Call centers provide better, faster service for a fraction of the cost of hiring additional employees.
Pick the Call Center Business
24/7 call center services provide your company with excellent customer service at all hours of the day and night. That means you never miss a call and never lose a hesitant buyer. It also frees up your budget so you can put your money toward growing your business.
Still a little worried about client communication? Check out some of these tools that will help.
