5 Things That You Must Avoid When Hiring After Hours Answering Service for a Startup

Startups find it difficult to manage communication at initial stages due to limited staff. Using answering service can help manage communication efficiently and tap every business opportunity. However, you need to avoid some things to select right communication partner.

The life of startup entrepreneur is busy and exciting at same time. Startup businesses can hugely benefit from working with companies that provide phone service small business. The phone answering service would manage communication efficiently while your staff focuses on core tasks. With so many answering services out there, it can be difficult to choose the right one. To make things easy for you, we have listed 5 things that you must avoid when hiring answering service for a startup.

1. No 24/7 Availability

Today, most callers would hang up the phone when they listen to an answering machine on the other end. The caller assumes there is no one to listen to him/her at the other end and the recording a message would not help. The primary reason for using an answering service is the office cannot remain open 24/7 for business. Since people do not follow a timetable while calling any service provider, it is possible a large number of people would call after office hours. In that case, you will need an after-hours answering service to ensure you do not miss any important calls. Hence, when you are selecting any answering service, make sure they offer services round the clock, 365 days of the year.

2. No Knowledge About Your Business Niche

When you launch a new business, people will be calling your customer service department to get an answer to their doubts and questions. It is necessary the company offering phone service small business has knowledge about your business niche. This will ensure they would provide right answers to common questions pertaining to your business. If the customers come to know that the call center agent does not have enough knowledge about the product or service, they would disconnect the call. This would mean losing customers.

3. Complicated Process

Phone answering companies do offer some automation in the services they provide. If the process to connect with the call center agent is complicated, the customer is more likely to abandon the call in between. In simple words, the caller should not be required to press too many buttons during a call to talk to call center agent. You need to ensure the after-hours answering service has limited options in the interface that would ensure the process to connect with CSR does not become complicated.

4. Use Voicemail After Office Hours

The main purpose of using an answering service to ensure your customer always gets to talk with a real person. Many answering services use an advanced answering machine to respond to calls after office hours. In such cases, their computer responds to calls and asks the caller to leave a voicemail. You need to ensure the answering service provider does not use voicemail after office hours or during any time of day, night, weekends, or holidays.

5. Non-HIPPA Compliant

If your startup business is governed by HIPAA, you need to avoid non-HIPAA compliant answering services. HIPAA compliance is a big factor and you have the responsibility to protect customer’s private information in all circumstances that includes when working with third-party service providers. Any texts, messages, and voicemail should be encrypted and secured. When you select HIPAA-compliant answering service, you can rest assured; their staff has knowledge of HIPAA compliance. It also means the answering service provider has procedures and policies in place to protect sensitive information. Communication is important for every business including startups. In fact, communication can make or break a business. During the initial phase, startups find it difficult to manage a high volume of calls due to lesser staff. By avoiding the things mentioned above and choosing carefully, you will find an answering service that will take your business to great heights.

If you are looking for the best answering service company, then the author of this article recommends Sunshine.