Why missing phone calls is bad for business

There’s no shortage of ways to get in touch with a business today.

Emails, phone calls, instant messaging, chat bots.

Despite all the new ways of communicating, many customers still prefer to use phone calls, especially for customer service enquiries or for new business quotes.

According to research, 92% of customer interactions still take place over the phone.

But this leaves business owners with a problem, because they can't always answer their phone when out on jobs or in meetings.

And missing these important calls can lead to bigger problems down the line.

The biggest problems with missing phone calls as a business

Lost income

The biggest issue with missing new business calls is that you potentially lose out on money for your business.

UK businesses lose out on about £30 billion a year due to missed phone calls, with the average lost income from missing a single call being £1200.

Poor reputation

Word travels fast among today's customers - they don't hesitate to get online and complain about your poor customer service on social media or business review sites.

Poor customer service from not answering phone calls consistently will give you a bad reputation and could put future business at risk.

Losing existing customers

If people are paying you money for a service, they expect to be able to get in touch with you when it's convenient for them, especially if they have an important question.

Frustration from poor communication can quickly sour business relationships and lead to clients going elsewhere for better service.

How can a virtual receptionist help?

While customers still prefer to phone, nobody wants to be put on hold or waste time leaving a voicemail.

Hiring a virtual receptionist is a flexible modern solution for making sure someone is always there to take customer calls when you can’t.

Virtual receptionists can save time and money for your business by:

• Diverting important calls to the right people

• Screening for spam calls

• Covering existing staff shortages

• Operating off-site and reducing traditional employee costs

• Securing new business from customer enquiries with extended opening hours

• Building and improving customer relationships

• Giving you more time to complete work away from the phone

This specially created call-handling software can give you the peace of mind that customers are being taken care off while you get on with your business.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes