Have you ever found yourself in the following scenario? You’re busy doing something at home and the phone rings. You look at the display on the phone but don’t recognize the number… so you let it ring. You reason, that if it’s important, they’ll leave a message.

While we may be guilty of doing this at home, most of us would never dream of simply letting a phone ring at our business. This is because the importance of being accessible to our customers cannot be overstated. After all, now we are talking about our bottom line! But even if would never dream of deliberately ignoring a call, it can be difficult to always be accessible. Calls may come in during non-business hours, or at a time when everyone in the organization is busy with other tasks or on the phone with other customers.

Why is being accessible to customers important?

In today’s competitive market place, businesses need every advantage they can get. And being accessible can give a business a clear advantage. Here are a few reasons why this is so important:

1. No they won’t leave a message if it’s important – Okay, to be fair some customers might leave a message. But suppose you run a plumbing or electrical company, and someone calls in with an emergency situation only to get your voicemail. Most likely that customer will simply hang up and call one of your competitors.
2. We live in a culture of convenience – Like it or not, convenience is highly prized in our society. We can sit at home and do our shopping in our pajamas. We can get movie tickets and gift cards uploaded to our cell phones. And driverless cars are soon expected to be on the market. If you are not accessible, that is not convenient for your customers. And rather than being inconvenienced, they will most likely call your competition.
3. It reflects on your customer service – A big part of whether a customer gets a favourable impression of a business is whether they feel that they are getting good customer service. If no one is available to assist them when they call, or if they have to wait on-hold for lengthy periods of time, it can give them a negative impression of your customer service. Even if you provide a great product or service in the end, this initial impression can taint their perception of your business.
4. It reflects on your entire business – A common habit of consumers these days is to look up online reviews of a business before they purchase products or services from that company. When you are not accessible to your customers, it can lead to negative online reviews. This can lead to loss of potential customers you never knew existed.

What’s a business owner to do?

Unless you operate a very large enterprise, it is simply not possible to always have an employee on hand who can answer the telephone. Fortunately, Touch Communications provides a simple and affordable live call answering service that can help ensure your business is always accessible to customers.

Call us today to find our more. (We promise to be accessible!)