According to Jill Nelson, CEO and founder of Ruby Receptionists, phone calls are the most important part of a buyer’s journey. So, do you want to leave your phone calls to an automated voice?
Hopefully, not.
We all have a love-hate relationship with our phones. They do bring us closer together which is why we love them. While robocalls and automated answering services create problems for us. Fortunately for busy small business owners, there are answers that end the problems with automated answering services, if you want to avoid this, then consider contacting a managed service provider.
Why real people should answer phones
Ruby Receptionists is an answering service, but real people man the phones. This service can be managed from a mobile phone app and can be fully customized for any business. Over 8000 businesses rely on Ruby Receptionist because they value the power of a real person answering a phone, so if your business ever starts to get too busy to answer phones, then consider contacting these answering services for professional assistance.
According to Nelson, having a real person answer business phone calls is a sure-fire way to grow your business. She has the stats to prove it:
- 40% of phone calls are buyers ready to buy
- 30% of all business phone calls lead to sales
Treating the customer with kindness
She also understands the value of customer service, beyond the phone call.
Nelson believes that kindness toward the customer is real customer service. Since businesses generally all offer speed and quality, the way that employees treat customers is the difference-maker today.
In her 15 years of running Ruby Receptionists, Nelson learned that people do business with companies that answer the phone and are pleasant and kind. Even over the phone, customers can tell if they are talking to someone who is smiling. The idea is to wear your voice on the phone – if you are smiling, the sound of your voice is different than if you are wearing a neutral face. Customers appreciate working with a happy employee.
Training for employees
To ensure that your employees sound happy on the phone, it is important to have happy employees. If your employees are tasked with phone duties, they should be people who enjoy talking on the phone. And, their employers should provide them with training so they can:
- Listen to customers
- Understand customers’ needs
- Feel empowered to answer questions
- Solve problems
- Make customers
Making meaningful connections works
People who listen and understand do exist. It’s a noble mission, according to Nelson, to be a caring person. To keep those noble employees, it is important for employers to inspire and empower them. When you make their day, they will do the same for your customers. When you make meaningful connections with your employees, they will do the same for your customers. It’s all about caring about people.
