There are some people and businesses that you feel more comfortable being able to access at any time. Your doctor is one of those. Customer service of any kind is another. For individuals who work a steady 9-5, it can be incredibly frustrating to only be able to get ahold of the services they need during their own working hours. However, it can be expensive to staff after hours or 24/7, so many businesses prefer to not spend the money and effort interviewing and hiring for these types of positions. This is where an after hours call answering service can be useful. Whether it’s a doctor answering service, specifically for one person, or a professional answering service for a larger corporation, it allows everyone access to getting their questions answered.
Why Would A Doctor Answering Service Be Useful?
Doctors are busy people. They’re usually understaffed as well (unless they’re at one of the major hospitals) and are constantly running from one thing to the next. Things like calling to remind patients about an appointment, scheduling appointments, refilling prescriptions, and fielding unnecessary questions can be tiresome and also time consuming. With an answering service, much of that gets taken care of without the doctor having to personally respond to each call that comes in, Some answering services can also communicate confidential test results, authorize referrals, and provide “what to do next” steps to patients. This type of service allows the doctor to focus on what he or she does best: taking care of people.
What Are The Benefits Of After Hours Phone Service?
More generally speaking, good customer service is integral to any business. Customers can often get frustrated if they get sent on a loop of automated voice messages or if their customer service is rude, unfriendly, or generally unhelpful. Likewise, if they have a difficult time getting in touch with customer service in the first place, they may choose to go elsewhere for their services.
It’s been proven that good customer service via telephone is an effective way to get good reviews. Almost 80% of customers would rather communicate with companies over the phone, as opposed to direct mail or email. Forrester reports that customer service by telephone has the best satisfaction rate at almost 70%. Additionally, over 65% of customers would pay a little more money to a company after they’ve been given an outstanding customer service experience.
What you want to consider when setting up an answering service is to make sure that customers needs are answered quickly — that’s the number one thing customers are seeking when they call. You don’t want to waste their time either; most people would prefer to get a call back than be on hold indefinitely. Good customer service can see an increase in sales (and also patience) for your business or service.
Don’t be a contributor to the $41 billion that U.S. companies are losing every year because of bad customer service. Make the right choice for your business and invest in an answering service — whether it’s a doctor answering service or a specialty answering service, make sure your customers feel taken care of and appreciated.
