Telephone answering services do more than answer calls. At least, they should. When an agent answers a call, you want them to be an extension of your business.
When a contact center agent uses your messaging tactics and answers a call as your own employees would, they become an extension of your business. This enhances your brand reputation in every call.
What is Brand Reputation?
Your brand is your company’s personality, but your brand reputation is how audiences view that personality. In the digital age, social networks are a place where customers experience their favorite brands in a whole new way. They get access to extra collateral such as blog and social media posts, videos, and more.
Customers and brand loyalists get a good taste of an individual brand by directly interacting with a company’s employees, too. Your customer service tactics, such as the tone of voice you use on the phone or through text, have a direct impact on your brand reputation.
How Can a Telephone Answering Service Help?
Every interaction with a customer leaves an impact. When you choose to outsource your phones to another organization, that entity, in most cases, becomes a high-touch point for your brand.
When agents are on the phone with your customers, the tone they use, the personality they have, and the overall experience they provide encapsulates what your brand is and what it means to the public.
When you have a telephone answering service provider on your side that understands this, your brand reputation reaps the benefits – and so does your ROI.
Improving Brand Reputation with a Telephone Answering Service
When you outsource to an answering service, agents become the sounding board of your brand. You must ensure that when they’re on the phone with your customers, they’re friendly, they’re calm, and they’re using the branded language you prefer. But how do you make that happen?
1. Choose the Right Telephone Answering Service
Choosing the best telephone answering service for your business is an important decision with many considerations. It requires you to have a thorough understanding of your needs as well as finding a provider that specializes in your area.
Identify a handful of top answering service options and explore their offerings. You might find a solution you never knew you needed.
2. Explain Your Brand
With your decision made, the next step is to formally explain your brand. This includes your brand voice, tone, identity, or any other aspect worthy for a customer service agent to know. Many telephone answering service providers tailor their solutions with your brand in mind.
Communication at this stage is very important. Be sure to thoroughly explain your brand’s needs as well as your preferred method of conveying your brand to customers. Consider your preferred language, phrasing, or full scripts written with your brand message in mind.
3. Discuss Your Goals
Account for where you are now in your metrics and where you want to be. You and your new answering service provider must work together and outline an effective strategy and tangible goals for your business.
Have a discussion concerning your business principles, your motivations, and your way of thinking when on the phone with customers.
For more advanced services, provide any scripts, user manuals, or FAQs. Your provider uses this information to train their staff on being the best call answering service for you.
4. Keep Up with Metrics
Many providers offer to keep their clients informed throughout the process. You may meet briefly with them on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to get a rundown on your metrics. Both parties work together to ensure your metrics stay well within your goal range or even exceeding them.
Understand your goals and tell your telephone answering service provider when you feel something needs a change. Come to the meeting with ideas you’re interested in pursuing and ask them which ones are most viable.
Communication is essential when monitoring your metrics. It’s an important factor for you, as a client, to stay on top of just as much as your provider.
5. Follow-Up with Your Provider
Don’t wait until your monthly meeting to express your questions, comments, or concerns. Follow-up with them frequently and stay informed on what’s happening with your customers. Doing so guarantees that there will be no surprises during your meeting, allowing you to prepare a course of action.
That said, find a good balance on your follow-ups. Let your provider do their job and only check-in if and when you feel it’s necessary.
We’re Your Brand Advocates
Are you looking for a telephone answering service that goes above and beyond your basic needs? AnswerNet wants to be your brand advocates. We embody your mission and corporate culture on every call, conveying your branded message to your customers.
AnswerNet is a trusted provider of telephone answering services with talented agents, multilingual options, and extensive staffing capabilities.
Take your business and your customer service to the next level with a secure, experienced provider. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business thrive.
