Should a telephone call handling provider be comparable with an answering machine?

A phone handling provider is a good way of managing telephone call communication for sole traders, small and medium sized companies. With the present days highly competitive business world, companies have to take advantage of all sources of business that present themselves, but many could be missing opportunities or prospective sales without even knowing it. It is thought that around 4 out of 5 callers put the phone down when they hear a recorded greeting. So if a company is unable to answer their calls and leaves it to the mercy of an answering machine, out of every 10 possible callers, 8 could well be sourcing their custom elsewhere with a competitor.

In offering the support of live PAs that are acquainted with the companies procedures, products and important clients, phone handling providers (sometimes referred to as "virtual offices") can give great advances in customer contentment.

A professional phone handling provider should never be viewed as a puffed up answering machine and should certainly not be matched against for price. Answering machines can only offer the choice for callers to leave or not to leave a message, there is no human interaction and the large majority will go elsewhere. If an organization is content to spend a minimal sum on voicemail then they should expect a minimal amount of business coming from it.

In using a professional call handling provider, companies can keep that one step in front of their competitors. Callers want to be heard there and then, not at a time convenient to the business when they run through their recorded messages. Skilled virtual receptionists (as many operators refer to themselves) are able to give the impression to clients that they are part of the company and in many cases can do much of what a normal receptionist does be it making appointments, providing directions, taking purchases or even just patching the caller through to the required department or person. The key is that the customer feels that it's possible to speak to the company whenever they call, most of the time they don't even realize they've been chatting to an outsourced personal assistant.

Small businesses that are weighing up whether voicemail is all they require to capture potential clients details need to be asking themselves this question- If you were searching promptly for a service and had your telephone call answered by voicemail, would you provide your contact details or would you call the next number in the phone directory?