Introducing a series of custom call routing designs to connect with current and potential customers every single time.
Have you been struggling to answer every call that comes in to your business? Until you understand the consequences and lost business that result from this type of struggle, you may not realize how valuable it is to manage how incoming calls – and incoming business – are controlled.
What happens when everyone in your office goes to lunch and a high-dollar client calls in with a question about a premium service? Are they likely to leave a voicemail?
Do you have a system in place for a potential customer who is interested in your service but lives in San Diego and calls at 3:30 their time (which means your receptionist is in the middle of rush hour traffic on her way home at 5:30 on the East Coast)? Do you expect them to leave a voicemail? They are more likely to just call the next option on their list?
Ensuring that every customer who calls you is answered by a live person who serves them in a way that they are satisfied, their questions are answered and they are able to talk with (or at least be forwarded to) the most appropriate person to address their needs is invaluable.
Always reaching an automated system is not only a turnoff for potential (and existing) clients – it’s a guaranteed way to lose business.
[Tweet “Always reaching an automated system is a guaranteed way to lose business. #liveanswer #csiivoice”]Fortunately, with such flexible, cloud-based communications technology available, there are several ways to ensure that incoming calls are routed exactly as they should be: to the right person(s) every time.
Here are some of the ways custom call routing can ensure that you and your customers always connect:
- Determine exactly where you need calls to go based on specific callers (Caller ID), area codes, times of day, etc., as well as an ideal order for call forwarding (office, cell, etc.)
- Create a unique design for a call flow based on these specific needs (and manage / update / add to it remotely, like when there is a holiday or a company event)
- Establish a plan for how you and your team can be reached when you are out of the office
- Determine whether you want a real person to answer every single call or if there should be a recording to answer certain calls
- Create different “ring groups” for specific calls (or even phone numbers), such as accounts payable, human resources, sales, etc.
- Translate these plans into a process and a system for each incoming call to be optimized for you and the customer
Does this sound more complicated than you’d like it to be? It isn’t. All you need to do is decide what should happen when current and prospective customers call your company (and address time of day, if needed), and leave all the technical details and decisions to the experts.
Check out the next article in this series to read a success story of how of custom call routing put into action will ease your worries and grow your bottom line.
Stay tuned!
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