Contractor Answering Services – Investment or Expense?

Contractor Answering Services – Investment or Expense?

Most business owners make a very simple, often subconscious decision when it  comes to categorizing contractor answering service their cash outflow.  An ‘expense’ is anything that must be paid for to keep the business operation going on a day to day basis.  But an ‘investment’ is different.  It is a cash outlay designed with strategy in mind to build and grow the business in a positive direction.

In our world of professional answering services, we, as vendors, can be viewed both ways.  Medical professions, such as Doctors’ offices, almost always require a 24/7 answering service.  Here, an answering service is seen as a necessary expense, and we win business by offering the best possible service based on strict industry standards.

BUT, a contractor often sees an answering service as an investment.  Why?  Because this gives them a significant advantage over their competitors.  Just take the following scenario:

A person, let’s call him Bob, has a need for some HVAC services.  Bob has been putting it off for a little while but he is finally taking a few minutes to make a couple calls.  Bob does a quick internet search and finds XYZ Plumbing & Heating.  He also has a number for ABC Plumbing & Heating, which his neighbor gave to him.

He makes the first call:

“Hello, thank you for calling ABC Plumbing & Heating, please leave a message at the beep and someone will return your call.”  A little frustrated, Bob leaves a message.

He makes the second call:

“Hi this is Jane, thanks for calling XYZ Plumbing & Heating, how may we be of service to you today?”  Bob describes his issue to Jane.  Jane asks some additional questions for clarification, then she informs Bob that John, XYZ’s certified technician, will be calling him within the hour.   John calls Bob 20 minutes later.  Bob answers since he is expecting the call.  John asks a couple more questions about Bob’s issue, then schedules an appointment to meet Bob the next day.

Two hours later, Ted from ABC Plumbing & Heating calls Bob and gets Bob’s voicemail.  A little while later, Bob listens to his voicemail from Ted.  Bob thinks for a moment; he has a big presentation due at work in a couple of days, the relatives are coming in this weekend, and he already has John from XYZ coming tomorrow regarding his HVAC issue; so he doesn’t bother to call Ted back.

So what happened here?  Bob is not aware he spoke to XYZ’s answering service.   But he is happy he got through right away to a live person who was able to help facilitate a resolution to his issue.

XYZ, who is a smaller shop than ABC, got the job even though ABC was directly referred to Bob by a neighbor.   Now take scenarios similar to this happing each day throughout the course of an entire year and it is easy to see that XYZ will be a larger business than ABC in the very near future.

For many contractors, answering the call first with a friendly and informative voice is half the battle.  This is especially true in today’s ‘instant gratification’ world, where ‘9 to 5 with an hour for lunch’ is rapidly losing acceptance as the only time a live person can be reached.  Whether an after-hours answering service, or a 24/7 answering service, making sure ALL of your calls are answered professionally has been proven time and again as a worthwhile investment to grow your business and greatly enhance customer satisfaction.

What about your business?  Do you know how many calls you get that go straight to voice-mail?  Better yet, do you know how many callers don’t bother to leave a voice-mail message?  Please share your thoughts – we would like to hear from you.

 

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