How Can a Virtual Receptionist Prevent Missed Business Calls?
As you operate your business, you may think of phone calls as interruptions, distracting you from completing an important project. A few missed calls each day can’t be too severe, right? However, phone calls are the primary method of contact for customers who want a rapid response from a business. For this reason, missing calls is a huge detriment to the growth of your business.
Fewer business calls translate to fewer leads, which means fewer sales for your business. It’s beneficial to explore affordable ways to improve your business communication technology.
The True Cost of Missing Calls
Depending on the industry, business model, call-to-lead ratio, lead-to-sale ratio, and average sale price, missed calls can result in the loss of thousands of dollars each day. Let’s take a look at a scenario from a revenue perspective using these factors.
For example, a business’ call-to-lead ratio is 40% and the lead-to-sale ratio is 50%. This means for every 5 calls the business receives, they’re able to secure 2 leads on average; out of these 2 leads, 1 sale is made. If this business misses just 25 calls in one day, they’ve lost 10 leads and 5 sales. Losing 5 potential sales may not seem like a lot, until you add dollar amounts to each sale.
Let’s say that each sale for this business averages $300. This business loses $1500 per day, $10,500 per week, and $546,000 per year from lost leads and sales. This is a huge loss of revenue for any business, just from missed calls. Every business is different, so these projections will vary, which could potentially contribute to more lost revenue for the business.
The Opportunity Cost of Missing Calls
Opportunity cost refers to the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen. Every business decision comes with an opportunity cost. For instance, you may choose to spend your time working on an important proposal for a client, but when the phone rings you decide to continue working on the proposal instead of answering the call. By missing just one phone call, you’ve just lost the opportunity to gain a new customer that could have provided more revenue for your business.
The opportunity cost of missing calls for business is the loss of potential sales, loyal customers, and opportunities to fortify your reputation and grow your business. It’s important to make sure prospective customers can contact you, or all your hard work could go to waste.
The most common reason why people call businesses is to ask questions. It could be about available products or services, hours of operation, or a solution to a problem they’re facing. If they don’t receive a response to their questions, they won’t be interested in your product or service in the future.
Reasons You May Be Missing Calls
There’s a variety of reasons that your business communications are inefficient. Besides customers calling after hours, many businesses are just understaffed and cannot answer every call all the time. Your business may not have a dedicated customer service representative who answers every call and helps customers.
You may be a small business owner who lacks the resources to hire an in-house receptionist, so you decide to answer business calls on your personal phone. The problem with this is your customers could be calling while you’re unavailable. You could be in a meeting, asleep, or on vacation, so you end up missing important calls.
Maybe your business has an in-house receptionist, but they can only do so much; after-all, they’re only one person. They can only answer one phone call at a time and often can’t handle the call volume of productive businesses. Your in-house receptionist may miss calls if they are busy with other administrative tasks, taking a break, or if they call in sick. Also, when they go home at the end of their shift, every call made after hours goes unanswered.
How to Prevent Missed Calls in the Future
Instead of missing ample business opportunities, invest in a virtual receptionist service that will upgrade your current communication technology. Many businesses are hesitant to change their processes because they believe that it’s expensive to upgrade their business communications. Berkshire Receptionists offers virtual receptionists at a price that just makes sense for businesses who want to maximize their opportunities.
First impressions are lasting impressions, so it’s important to invest in a solution that will amaze your customers with professional greetings and a personalized experience. Virtual receptionists act as an extension of your office, creating a seamless experience for every customer that calls. Berkshire Receptionists are available 24/7/365, so you’ll never miss a call, even if it’s outside of business hours. Our virtual receptionists are also bilingual and trained in your industry, providing exemplary customer service for your unique business needs.
Berkshire Receptionists’ tiered plans come with integrations and features that will add value to the customer service experience. Our integrations will merge with your existing software, allowing a smooth transition into upgraded technology. Some notable features include live call transfer, spam blocking, appointment scheduling, agentless payments, lead intake, and multichannel communication. All of these features will allow you to focus on more important tasks, while preventing you from missing opportunities.
Berkshire Receptionists
By investing in a virtual receptionist service, you can expand your small business opportunities, customer base, and interactions with customers. Enhancing your existing business operations will allow your business to grow. Ready to learn more about our virtual receptionists? Schedule a meeting with our Berkshire Receptionists team to get started today!