American consumers put a high premium on good customer service. It is estimated that about 59% will switch to a different brand or company to get better customer service. Moreover, about 78% of consumers say that they have not gone through with a purchase because of the bad customer service that they received. When you add to that the fact that at last 61% of consumers in the United States say thy would rather get customer service on the phone, you can see how hiring an after hours answering service can be a good thing for your business.
- People want to make purchases on their own schedule. When someone has decided they want to buy something, they may not be willing to wait for regular business hours. When someone wants to make a purchase at night or on the weekend, it is good to have a live phone answering service available for them. People do not like dealing with automated services and rarely leave voice mail. If your customer calls and reaches an after hours answering service, that call has a better chance of being sale than if they reach a voice mail service. This is always a good thing for your bottom line.
- Many people cannot contact you when they are at work. There are a lot of people who need customer service after 6:00 pm and on the weekend because it is hard for them to call during work hours. If they need help with appliances or devices that they have at home, they may need technical support or customer service when your business is closed. Having an after hours answering service available to help these customers will mean they get the support they need, when they need it. This does more than just make them happy at the time when they get that support but will help build loyalty to your brand.
- You can get the night owl shoppers. The United States is a country of insomniacs. People like to be able to reach a 24 hour answering service to buy items and get support. There are a number of things that late night people want to get help with when they are not able to get to sleep. Consumers may be interested in buying certain items at night but have questions about the product. If they are able to get a live person, they are more likely to make that purchase than if they call and get a voice mail system. By hiring an after hours answering service to take those late night calls will increase your profit margin.
- Customers think a product description is unclear. You know what your products do and what systems they work with but that does not mean your customers do. Sometimes a person will be looking for things to buy at night or on the weekend and will have questions about product descriptions and need to talk to a person, not a voice mail system. This is where a live telephone answering service can come in really handy. If your customer wants to know if a component will be compatible with the systems they already have, it is nice to be able to call and talk to a person. Likewise, if they are shopping for clothes or shoes, they may want to know if the sizes run big or small. That is not always covered in the description of the items.
- People want help when they want it. It should be no secret that people around the world are not as patient as they used to be. Perhaps it is because of services such as Twitter but people do not like having to wait for help with something. If they have questions on a Sunday afternoon, they want to get their answers on Sunday afternoon. By having an after hours answering service, you can offer your customers the service and support they need when they need and want it.
Being there for your customers is not just a question of convenience, it is something that can have a direct impact on your bottom line. By hiring an after hours answering service, you can really improve loyalty to your brand.