It’s Monday morning, and you are in an important business meeting. The conference is running long, yet the discussion is crucial. You need to focus on this important work, so you can’t leave. In your office next door, you hear your phone ring. And ring. And ring. It’s a potential new client. She found your company on Google and took a chance. Now she’s waiting for someone to pick up the phone, but no one does. Why is no one answering? If this company doesn’t have the resources to even answer the phone, how else are they lacking? Is the company disorganized, under resourced, focused on the wrong things? Resignedly, she hangs up.
How does she feel listening to the empty dial tone? How does she perceive your company as she puts down the receiver? Will she call back? Will she ever give your company a second chance? And what will she say when others ask for a referral: “Don’t bother calling xyz company. They don’t even answer the phone.” Then she posts a negative review on Google. She may even say something derogatory on Facebook. The company’s reputation suffers, and it loses a possibly lucrative client.
We know that 72-80 percent of people hang up when a call goes to voicemail. They want to speak to a real human being. So how does a customer or potential customer react when the phone isn’t answered at all? Research tells us that 98 percent of people say poor phone skills leave a bad impression about a company. In fact, 71 percent will even end a relationship over unimpressive phone communication. And with 80 percent of business communication being conducted over the phone, not answering the phone at all is incredibly damaging in many respects.
Now it’s later in the day, and an important customer is trying to reach you. Yet, you are inspecting parts in your noisy distribution warehouse. You can’t hear your phone ringing. If you did, you might not answer. It’s too loud. On the other end of the line is a customer with important information: timely changes need to be made. The phone call is crucial but goes unanswered. The client remembers he tried to reach you Saturday, but, again, you never answered. “It’s becoming a pattern,” he grumbles, and his customer satisfaction with your company begins to wane. He feels a lack of respect for his time and importance. A 2018 study by New Voice Media reveals that $75 billion in business is lost due to poor customer service. Unanswered phone calls are not just poor customer service: They are corrosive: They slowly chip away at the trust customers have in you and your company, thus diminishing your relationship going forward.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a solution: Bennett Communications Solutions. A higher standard 24/7 answering service. Let’s consider how the two scenarios would be different if the company utilized the services of Bennett Communications Solutions. A real person immediately answers the phone. Not a robot. Not an automated phone system. But a friendly, professional, patient, knowledgeable, and empathic person at a caring call center. People want a human connection. The calm, pleasant call center operator listens intently, understands the situation, expertly transcribes the message, and provides resolution in the form of a well- documented message and a possibly routed/transferred call. The customer is pleased. His or her needs were met in the most positive way. It is the best possible transaction.
Vince Lombardi, the famous Green Bay Packers coach, once said, “It takes months to find a customer. Seconds to lose one.” Don’t lose even one customer to poor phone communication like unanswered calls. Invest in the exceptional services of Bennett Communications Solutions. Focus on great phone service - focus on people - and your business will thrive.
