After Hours Call Service: Is It Reasonable for SMEs?

Want your business to operate non-stop? Hired an after hours call service.

Your firm may have official business hours. But with this time and age, businesses need to operate 24/7. Your client could come from anywhere. 

However, some opt to put inquiries after-hours to voicemail. Some SMEs don’t have enough budget to hire additional staff for after-hour operations. But, those who have extra funds used after hour service like a virtual receptionist. They are responsible for responding to calls outside the normal hours. 

If you are planning to have your own after hour staff then you should consider these pros and cons:

Advantages of After Hours Telephone Answering Services

There are a lot of advantages of hiring an after hour call center. Let us take a look at some of it:

Setting Personal Boundaries

You don’t need to worry about what you might have missed after hours as the agent can take care of it for you. You can have an exclusive hour for your family. 

The agent can message you when there is an emergency that requires your attention. However, it is not the case all the time. You can just review what happened the next day.

Your Business is Available All The Time 

Keeping your business open 24/7 is also not a problem when you have an after hour answering service. When you have a customer who wants to inquire about your service at 10:00 pm then some can answer them.

It is also important if your business markets globally. Different timezone can be problematic most of the time. However, you can solve it by hiring a virtual assistant.

Customers Prefer Accessible Business

Prospect clients love to interact with a business that can assist on their comfortable hours. Most of their free time is after business hours and weekends. With this in mind, having an agent that can answer late at night or even weekend shows commitment to your customers.

They will likely purchase your product compared to businesses that transferred them to voicemails when they called.

Saves You a Morning Heavy Workload

Morning routines can be tiring with tons of voice messages from after hours. When you have agents to answer it for you, they can easily sort out the tasks. It will be easy for you to assist them all.

It is efficient in the long run especially if you are a start-up business. They will help with retaining customers and improve your customer relations.

Disadvantages of On Call After Hours Answering Services

Despite these favorable advantages, there are also some cons when hiring after-hours agents. Here are some of it:

Minimal Disruption on Your Work-Life Boundaries

As stated, there are times when after hour agents will bother you with some emergencies. Although it is not all the time, you can still feel that it will be a bad time whenever you are doing something. 

Unlike when you only have a fully functioning voicemail service where you will be free after hours. But if you are prepared with an occasional call for help then it should not be a problem for you.

Expectation For Your Business is Higher

When you have this feature for your business, your customers expect consistency. Thus,  you need to have a virtual assistant from time to time.

If you choose to have an after-hours then you have to commit to it. Otherwise, removing it can have a major effect on your service in the long run.

It Might Not Be Part of Your Budget

As a start-up business, your priority is your product. After hours service is something for companies that have a global market. But, it doesn’t mean that your business doesn’t need it.

You can look for companies that offer affordable virtual assistant services. You can assess if it is something that you need right now.

Industries That Need After Hours Call Service

Below are some of the industries where after-hours operations are needed. 

ECommerce Business

Your online customers could come from anywhere. That means they can inquire anytime. So having a late-night agent to answer their inquiries is important in this line of business.

Appointment Scheduling Business

Sometimes, people need to schedule a reservation anytime they want. Some are doing online but others want to ask questions first. This is where your after-hours agent came into.

Medical-Related Business

This is the most common industry that requires a 24/7 answering service. Emergency knows no time, so as the people attending to this. It will be critical for this industry to have an after-hour medical service.

Of course, there are more businesses where it is applicable. If you are planning to have after-hour agents at an affordable price then go to Magellan-Solutions.

Magellan-Solutions offers a wide range of services for your start-up company. Contact us today and get a FREE 60-minute consultation. Please fill out the contact form below.

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