Drive Better User Experience with an After Hours Answering Service
A better user experience is the reason that, to this day, Apple remains the world’s most admired company . After its rough patch in the mid 1990’s, the company refocused efforts on providing the best possible user experience through its products and services. Many view Apple’s employees as technology innovators, but they are really user experience innovators; to them the technology is secondary. Instead of focusing on technology, they are more interested in understanding how people interact with technology. They took this understanding and developed a mindset of ‘wow, this could be a lot easier and a lot more fun…’ and thus the iPod, iPhone and iPad were all born.
A Little Apple in All of Us
Although most of us will never achieve the status that Apple has, we can all share in that passion for creating a better user experience within our own organizations. Instead of focusing on the features and functions of the technology we may utilize, we need to first ask ourselves how do our customers and prospects ‘want’ to interact with us. Regardless of the services or products you provide, your customers usually want the same basic things: (1) a quality offering, (2) at a fair price, and, most importantly, (3) the ability to get ahold of you when they need you. Regarding number (3), you can’t be available personally 24/7/365, but a good after hours answering service can be an integral part to managing your clients’ expectations when you and your staff are not directly available.
Managing Expectations is a Key Part of a Better User Experience
Imagine you’ve invested in building a quality website, you’ve created a company Facebook page, got your senior partners or executives using LinkedIn and have even built some online forms to handle basic requests. After all that work, do you really want the phone calls generated by your efforts to go to voicemail? Whether it is an existing client or a new prospect, they have a need; and the need is great enough to want to pick up the phone to call versus using some other digital means to communicate with you. A quality after hours answering service can work with you to create a custom in-bound calling program so you are able to manage your callers’ expectations and provide them with a much better user experience. For customers of our answering services, this regularly leads to more revenue, higher satisfaction ratings, and stronger client retention.
Be Easy
Wellness centers are popping up all over the country because it is easier for a lot of people to visit these centers after work or on the weekends when their primary care physicians are not available. On-line banking has exploded in popularity because it is much more convenient to bank on-line than visit your bank branch for most of your transactions. Pre-boarding your flight on-line when traveling is hugely popular because it reduces hassles that can occur at airport check-in and security lines. The point is people like doing business with organizations that make it easy for them to do business. No matter what business you are in, there are likely several things you can do to make it easier for your clients and prospects to engage you. If you are looking for ways to improve your business practice, try raising the concept of a better user experience toward the top of your priority list. And if a new or better after hours answering service is part of that consideration, please feel free to reach out to us – we’ve always got an open line!
To learn more about Main Line TeleCommunications, please download our free guide:
Free: 10 Tips For Choosing a Telephone Answering Service
Or visit our Contact Us page.
Related Links:
After Hours Answering Service Reduces Business Interruption Events
The Doctors Answering Service and Why We Love It
Build Better Business with an After Hours Answering Service