"Please Leave A Message After The Tone" (Or get a Boogle to answer your phone!)

Now be honest with yourself – if you were to phone a business, and you heard the recorded voice say: "Please leave a message after the tone" – would you honestly do it? Most wouldn't. In fact, when phoning a business or making a new enquiry, most people will scan the website for a free phone number – failing that, they'll go for the landline number. And they want to speak to someone. If no-one is there and it just rings – this leaves a bad impression.

UNAVAILABLE

New potential clients will be thinking – ‘gosh, if I used these people to mow my lawn / fix my car / get my accounts done – if I needed to speak to someone, they're not there!' And then immediately, you and your business has now been associated with UNRELIABILITY – and that's the mother of all lost sales. No-one wants their service provider to be unreliable or unavailable. We all know how frustrating it is when we JUST WANT TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE! And all we're getting is voicemail and automated systems.

READY TO BUY

Most new callers are hot leads. And when they're picking up the phone – more often than not – they're ready to buy. You should not damage your creditability or the sales process by not being there to answer that call! It should be a criminal offence. You've done everything else right – but if you get this one, a seemingly very minor thing wrong – it can and will cost you dearly. So, what is the solution?

SOLUTION

Many businesses out there have had to lay off and cut back on staff and often it's the secretaries and administrators who are the first to go. Can the business owner be expected to do everything? No. But, they can engage in a message taking service. The way it works – when no-one is around to answer the phone (and this could be at any point in the day) i.e. 4pm when your in a meeting, 8am before you've reached the office – the phones are diverted to a firm like Boogles – who'll answer the phone in your company's name, take the callers details and email or text you that message. You can pick it up wherever you are – i.e. on the bus, at home, after the meeting – and return that call at your earliest convenience.

WIN WIN

The caller thinks you have a slick business model and will be impressed that you have staff / a competent team and will appreciate the quick response. And you don't lose any business. For those of you thinking ‘I'll just divert it to my mobile' – this isn't always convenient. And answering the call with a noisy background shows that you're a small one-man band, trying to do everything themselves.

PSYCHOLOGY

Never mis-underestimate the psychological benefit of callers who know you, trying to get hold of you. Sometimes you need to shield yourself from others persistent encroachment into your time. It's not ideal to ignore a phone ringing – so do answer it, but it just doesn't always have to be you who picks up! Imagine someone's surprise when they phone your ‘law firm' and you, the top lawyer picks up the phone – they'll think you can't be that busy. Likewise, some callers i.e. sales callers or people chasing you for monies owed – might not be the call you want to take either …. But don't ignore the call, or wait for the voicemail to kick in and to only pick up when you hear it's a call you want to take – or even to bank on recognising a familiar number – allow a partner company to help you take the strain.