Like most professional answering services, Paperclip tracks the source of new business generated and the reasons why new clients have decided to consider using call answering services.
I have outlined below nine of the most common reasons given. These are not stand-alone; a new client frequently states a combination of two or more reasons behind their decision.
In simple terms, the reasons split into two broad categories: commercial and emotional. In my experience, a client often provides a logical commercial rationale but there is often a deeper unspoken emotional component.
Which of these reasons resonate with you?
Even in today’s digital world the telephone remains, for many businesses, the most important communications channel. Missed calls mean missed sales leads, meaning a competitor gets the business.
One of the first steps in growing a business is recognising that you miss calls. Once you accept that, the maths is straightforward. Where you don’t have exact figures, simply use an estimate in the first instance:
For example:-
- How many calls do I miss in a month?
- What % of calls are sales leads?
- Multiply the missed calls (A) by the % (B) and you have an estimate of the number of sales leads you lose each month.
- What is your % conversion rate of leads to sales?
- Multiply the number of lost sales leads (C) by your conversion rate (D) and you have an estimate of the number of sales orders you have missed.
- What is your average order value?
- Multiply missed sales (E) by your average order value (F) and you have an estimate of the value of the revenue you have passed to your competitors.
This sobering exercise doesn’t take into account the lifetime value of a new customer…!
Many new Paperclip clients don’t need to do the maths. They just know intuitively that they are missing out on sales opportunities. Bringing Paperclip on board, either to answer all their calls or diverting their calls to Paperclip after an agreed delay, means they have the peace of mind that they are capturing all sales leads, peace of mind is a very valuable emotional state!
Professional answering services aid customer service
Increasing sales is about customer acquisition. Customer service is key to customer retention.
I often read on websites about the importance a particular business places on customer service only to find that it is almost impossible to locate a contact number. Even when I am able to find the number, my heart sinks as that business does everything in its power not to speak to me!
- I know there are FAQs on the website, I’ve been there;
- I’m not going to leave a voicemail because I have no confidence that I will ever receive a reply;
- I don’t want to negotiate a triage system that eats up my time and is definitely not there for my benefit.
Paperclip’s call answering service clients truly value their customers. Our experience is that even when a business has posted FAQs on its website or provided instructions and guidelines, a customer will often instinctively phone first to resolve their problem.
For most callers with a customer service issue, the simple act of being able to speak directly to someone, to offload their problem, to know that something is being done about it is all they initially need.
There is no greater advocate for your products or services than a satisfied customer.
Cost control/reduction
Most businesses of any size have a receptionist or similar. As they grow, however, adding a second receptionist represents a significant step-change in fixed costs.
Many of Paperclip’s clients first engage with us at this time in their growth journey. They like the fact that our service is a variable cost; they only pay for the calls we answer on their behalf. If they are busy, we take more calls. If they are quiet, we take fewer calls.
The Covid-19 lockdown significantly increased the number of new clients stating cost as a key factor in engaging Paperclip’s telephone answering services. Some have even changed their business model such that Paperclip answers all their calls (see below).
Increase service capacity
For many businesses that deliver a service, their capacity is constrained by time. Physiotherapists can only fit in a certain number of appointments in a day; tradesmen can only complete a certain number of jobs; solicitors can only accommodate so many client meetings.
Answering the phone as well as delivering your service can severely constrain your ability to earn and to grow.
Private healthcare practitioners, tradesmen and solicitors, amongst many, often use Paperclip’s services because they free them up to fit in more appointments, complete more jobs, take on more cases.
For many clients that rely on bookings, appointments and reservations Paperclip updates their systems in real-time whilst they are on the phone.
Business model redesign
The business landscape is evolving. I book my taxis through a company that doesn’t own any taxis. I reserve my short-stay accommodation through a business that doesn’t own any properties.
Recently I have noticed that new Paperclip clients have engaged our services because they are completely redesigning their business model. Here are just a couple of examples:
- Business diverting all incoming calls to Paperclip and switching its own staff to focus on generating sales through outbound calls.
- Businesses with multiple offices use Paperclip as a reception ‘hub’ to ensure service consistency and convert internal receptionists into higher added-value administrators.
If the current economic climate is leading you to rethink your business model, telephone answering could provide some of the flexibility you are looking for.
Emotional reasons for using call answering services
Stress
Dealing with modern communications – email, mobile, WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom, Messenger, SMS, social media – can simply be overwhelming. They not only eat up your time, but they also absorb energy and stifle ambition.
Many organisations initially use our telephone answering services because they just can’t see the wood for the trees. Paperclip gives them the space to rediscover their love for their product or service which leads them to set up their business in the first place.
In some cases, the feedback we get is almost evangelical, with one private medical practitioner saying that using Paperclip had, ‘…changed my quality of life completely.’
Time Savings
A phrase often used by coaches and consultants is that business owners and senior managers should be working ‘on’ the business rather than ‘in’ the business. If you live by this mantra, as I do, you will recognise that at first, it felt impossible to find the time.
Business owners looking for more time use Paperclip’s telephone answering services to ‘clear the desk’, ‘eat their frog’, ‘wipe the slate clean’. Knowing that a key aspect of your business is being run professionally is a great release.
Improved and Flexibile Lifestyle
I think the ‘lifestyle’ reason is best explained by using an example:
One Paperclip client has a passion for sharing their love of vintage cars. They have taken this passion and turned it into a lucrative wedding car hire business. All the business processes, however, are handled by Paperclip. The wedding organiser, or prospective bride and groom, visits the website, hears about the service through word-of-mouth or sees a post on social media.
Paperclip takes the initial call then:
- answers FAQs
- advises re vehicle availability on the specified dates; prepares the quote
- follows up where needed
- takes the order
- confirms the details with the customer
- takes the deposit
- checks in with the customer in the months leading up to the happy day
- arranges final details such as colours for flowers and ribbons, availability of baby seats, access to collection addresses and more
- invoices eight weeks before the wedding
- makes a final call on the day before the event to run through the arrangements with the customer one last time
All the Paperclip client has to do is make sure their cars are in pristine condition and transport the bride in luxury to the church on time.
Events
Life can sometimes take an unexpected turn: For example, the pandemic!
A small number of Paperclip clients first use our services because there has been a major event that risks derailing their lives and their businesses.
The event can be a negative – a family bereavement, marital crisis, or serious illness– or a positive – amazing business opportunity that absorbs all existing resources, acquisition of another business. The end result is the same, the client needs Paperclip to ‘deliver’ the external-facing aspect of their service for a period of time.
Paperclip
I am proud to say that once businesses have sampled the quality of Paperclip’s services, they carry on working with us. The reasons they use our services may change and evolve over time, but they recognise the value of what we are able to deliver for them.
If any of the reasons outlined above resonate with you, and you would like to find out how Paperclip can help your business, simply call me on 01246 418181. I can guarantee your call will be answered.
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Hi, I’m Louise Bellwood, Director at Paperclip. I am responsible for delivering Paperclip’s customer service and growth strategies for 2024 and beyond, I am a crusader for the benefits call answering can deliver for organisations of all kinds; customer service, sales generation, customer retention and more. If you have a question about call answering – pricing, set-up, benefits – I would love to hear from you at louise@paperclip.co.uk or 01246 418 181.