There are lot of limitations on small business, many of which are resulting from lack of resources and size. Retail business owners can only carry certain products due to limited budget and order minimums, service businesses can only serve limited number of clients due to lack of resources and they cannot bid on certain jobs due to lack of equipment and manpower. However, you need to be careful about not using limited resources as excuse for presenting yourself in unprofessional manner to your customers.
In professional transactions, business image is as important as the products or services you provide. Granted you don’t need to wear fancy suits in all situations, but they may be required when you are presenting your clients in the courtroom as their lawyer. Similarly, you do not need graphic laden, interactive website for your business to attract customers in all situations. If majority of customers are expecting a certain image and you are not projecting that image it is going to be difficult for your business to succeed.
The point I made about giving your small business and yourself a professional appearance span many areas of business transactions. I already mentioned clothes and business website. None is more important, however, than how you communicate with your customers. If you think about it the impression your customer forms about your business starts with him making a phone call to your business. If that first experience does not go well you will probably lose that customer forever.
Regardless of the business you are in, potential customers want to talk to a live person representing your business before spending their money. When they place their first phone call they expect to hear a pleasing voice on the other side that not only answers their questions, but also soothes any concerns they might have about conducting business with you. A professional sounding voice that is willing to work with the customers is a must if you want to attract new customers and keep the existing ones.
Now, not all small businesses can afford to hire professional staff to answer incoming phone calls. But as I mentioned earlier that cannot be an excuse to not provide professional services. Today’s advanced technology can help change the image of your small business by using a professional call answering service. The call answering service allows all calls to be answered in professional manner even during off hours or when you are busy with a client. This also projects professional image of your business that is far superior. You can even customize the service to choose variety of options, including simple answering service for customer to leave message to call or text you with the message for immediate action.
By arranging call answering service and ensuring all your communication with clients are handled in professional manner you will assure your current and potential customers that you are serious about business and want to work with them. And for many small businesses this can make a world of difference, especially when they are working on a limited budget.
Completely agree with the article mentioned above. We are a small business that use to answer our own phone calls until recently. I think SMBs, like myself, that is usually tied up need a professional voice to answer their missed phone calls. Voicemail junk is very unprofessional.. We are using GabbyVille Virtual Receptionists. Very affordable and cheerful team of live receptionists. I think anyone that requires a good face on their phones should look into these guys. They understand the importance of customer service. You can also try them out for 14 Days. Nothing to lose.. but so much to gain. Their website is http://www.gabbyville.com