Raise the Quality of Your Communications; Get a Better Answering Service…

Posted May 16, 2013 in professional answering service, reliable answering services by admin

If you needed open-heart surgery, would you go for the cheapest heart surgeon you a quality answering service could find? Of course not! That is a very complex surgery, not to mention, your life would be on the line if even the slightest error was made. Extreme examples aside, there are still several things in our personal lives we don’t mind paying extra for. Whether it’s your car, your smartphone or even that thicker, softer toilet paper, it is easy to discern which products and services you prefer because you have had many experiences over time to help you develop your personal preferences; including a good understanding of what is quality vs. what is cheap.

A Different Case

In the business world, it can be a little tougher to make those distinctions. It is not every day you purchase a new billing system, or hire a management consultant to help you improve the performance and quality of your operations. For those kinds of decisions, you may have limited experience so you will do a good bit of research and possibly even reach out to your trusted advisors to help you in your decision process. Unfortunately for a lot of business practices, they don’t apply that same logic when it comes to hiring an answering service. Since they have answered phones for most of their lives, they believe they have experience in this area and don’t go through a proper decision process as noted above.

There Actually is More to It…

We have heard many inaccurate assumptions about answering services over the years, but the most common ones relate to price. People assume that answering phones is a simple, one-size-fits-all service and they have difficulty comprehending why the price for one service could be so different from another. But there actually are many different types of answering services and it is important to ask the right questions to ensure you get the one that will be the best fit for your organization.

What Makes a Quality Answering Service?

If client or patient satisfaction is high on your priority list, a quality answering service can go a long way in helping you improve your communications and revenue generation efforts. To help you get there, here are the key elements needed to determine who the quality providers are:

1. Employee Investment: Some providers invest little in employee development which can lead to a high turnover rate. Quality providers work hard to hire and retain quality operators, provide them with on-going training and assist them in career development. (Think about it – which group would you want answering your organization’s phones?) Be sure to ask what the average operator’s tenure is, what training programs they have in place and how they manage operator quality control.

2. A Business Partner: Your business practice is unique, so why would you engage a one-size-fits-all answering service? Quality providers will ask more questions to develop an understanding of your business model so they know what is important to you. This will help them build an in-bound calling program customized specifically to your business needs. Don’t hesitate to ask about the types of businesses they serve and be sure to get multiple references from them before you sign on. They should express a sincere interest in partnering with you to overcome your communications challenges.

3. Strong Technology: Quality answering services make on-going investments in their technology and have proper back-up and disaster recovery protocols in place. Ask about their technology investments, what methods of message dispatch they have available, how they manage call escalation procedures, and what types of call reports they can provide. If your organization handles sensitive information, be sure to inquire about their privacy policies, secure messaging and/or HIPAA compliance (if you handle patient information, etc). As your organization evolves, it is important to have a provider that can work with you to help grow your communications efforts.

4. Do They Outsource?? If So, How? There are answering services that outsource some or all of their operator labor to other services or even offshore. If not done properly, managing quality control or even making changes to your account can quickly become more difficult in this environment. In addition, outsourced calls can be relegated to a lower priority status if they generate lower revenue for the third party service that does the answering; which may ncrease wait times and decrease service for your callers during busy periods. Make sure to ask if some or all of your calls will be outsourced to a third-party service, and if so, ask them to provide what quality control measures are in place to ensure your callers are always speaking to friendly, well-spoken and helpful operators that have your best interests in mind.

5. A Reasonable Investment: Like most other business services, you get what you pay for. No two answering services price exactly the same so it is difficult to do an ‘apples-to-apples’ comparison. Remember, all vendors need to make a profit. If a vendor seems to have a much lower price per minute, they are likely making it up somewhere else. If they price per call, make sure you know what a ‘call’ is. It may include every e-mail, fax, text, report and patch, as well as additional call counts if the call duration is longer than a set period of time. Your goal when choosing a service is to get the best value for the money invested. A cheap service at half the price of a quality service may look appealing up front, but if they are taking many of the shortcuts as identified above it will end up costing you more in the long run.
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