Forum recommends telephone answering service

17 November 2011

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First impressions in business count, so a professional and timely response to telephone inquiries is vitally important for small business in an ever competitive market place, says the Forum of Private Business.

Missing a call can mean the difference between making or a losing a sale, or missing an important business opportunity, so it's never been more important for resource-poor micro-businesses to have a voice on the other end of the line.

Which is why the not-for-profit Forum has signed a deal with providers of a telephone answering service for their members. Members of the business support organisation will automatically get a 10% discount if they sign up to the call handling service offered by Connect.

Subscribers will never again have to miss an important telephone call. Whether it's a micro business unable to afford a fully-staffed reception or a larger business unable to expand their existing facilities, the Connect service offers a cost-effective, tailor-made package for SMEs.

Connect's Jack Walker said: "A professional response to business telephone calls can mean everything to a firm's reputation and sales – you could miss out on sales opportunities or lose existing customers if you deliver poor service levels.

"Our service can deal with all direct calls or overflow calls, filter out cold callers – we offer a bespoke service for the needs of individual businesses, we are flexible and can adapt as circumstances change.

"We are the perfect solution for firms struggling with providing an effective and timely response to calls."

At a time when small firms are having to think long and hard about every penny they spend, the service offered by Connect could present an ideal cost saving solution for hard pressed businesses.

Recent research by the Forum showed overall business inflation was running at 8.5% over the past 12 months, but it was smaller firms employing between five and nine staff that saw the biggest increases. The same study also showed rising staff costs were experienced by nearly half of employers polled.

However, according to Connect, it's not just one-man-bands who sometimes need assistance answering phones.

Connect's Jack Walker added: "One of our clients is a major UK firm of solicitors with offices all over the country. Although each of their offices has its own reception team, the volume of calls coming to them was often so great that callers were meeting an engaged tone or giving up when their call went unanswered. Now, whenever their in-house team is busy, calls are diverted to us.

"We greet customers, take their details and then transfer their call to the correct individual or department. If the correct person is unavailable, our team emails the caller's details and message to them for their attention when they are free."

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