10 Important Phone Calls Your Business Can’t Afford to Miss

Successful business owners know that missing incoming phone calls is not an option. You never know who is reaching out to you on the telephone and how you can help them. As such, each and every phone call you receive should be given the highest priority.

Being experts in the telecommunications and customer service industry, we wanted to share the 10 most important business phone calls you can’t afford to miss.

Don’t Miss Out on These Important Business Phone Calls 

1.)         You can’t afford to miss a call from a potential customer.

You’ve spent a great deal of money, energy and time in trying to reach your ideal target market. So when a potential customer or great lead calls in with a specific question, you need to make sure their inquiry is answered.

When a potential customer calls your business with an FAQ (like your general prices or location), you have their attention. They’re in the research phase and you not being available can negatively impact their overall buying decision.

2.)         You can’t afford to miss a call from a new/existing customer.

Often times businesses stop paying attention to a customer after their transaction has been completed. It’s very important that you continue to nurture and maintain customer relationships after their initial purchase. 

It’s believed that, “65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers, and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied.” Hold on to your current customers with great customer service to keep their trust and loyalty.

3.)         You can’t afford to miss a call from a past customer.

If you allow a past customer to go to your voicemail, you may be damaging your relationship going forward. Some sales professionals and marketers refer to previous customers as stale customers. You have a chance to revive that relationship by being available when that customer needs you the most.  

Offer past customers your undivided attention and appreciation to make them miss you, your team and your business. There’s a reason they’re calling you; answer their call and try to get a longer lifetime value out of your stale customer accounts.

4.)         You can’t afford to miss a call from an angry customer. 

One of the worst things you can do is miss a call from an angry customer. If someone is so upset with your company that they take time out of their busy day to call with a complaint, you need to be available to listen to their grievance.

As this is a very delicate phone call, we suggest reading a more detailed article that focuses on handling these types of callers. Learn more by reading: How to Effectively Handle Negative Feedback and/or 10 Tips to Handle Angry Callers.

5.)         You can’t afford to miss a call from a referred customer.

A referral should be one of your company’s most prized possessions. Someone referring your business to a friend or relative is a very big deal; you have someone actually vouching for your products or services.

If these important business phone calls are missed, you run the risk of not only making yourself look bad, but you also make your referrer look bad.

6.)         You can’t afford to miss a call from an affluent professional.

Affluent relationships are vital to the future growth of your business. The thing about affluent people is they have influential friends and resources. If an affluent person or VIP is calling your business, it’s in your best interest to answer.

By networking with and servicing affluent people in your community, you’re giving your brand and reputation a good chance to get noticed in a big way. Don’t turn away opportunities because you couldn’t get to the phone.   

7.)         You can’t afford to miss a call regarding an emergency.

Owning a business means that you constantly need to be available in the event of a true emergency. Emergency calls can be from clients or even from your delivery person trying to notify you of an important change to your order.

Either way, no matter the emergency, it’s important that your business always have an answering service that has direct access to you or the main decision maker.

8.)         You can’t afford to miss a call because of a language barrier.

As an American business owner, it is important that you know that the Hispanic population is one of the largest racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States. In fact, “nearly a quarter of Americans ages 6 to 34 are Hispanic or of Latin origin. These staggering numbers make the United States home to the largest community of Spanish speakers outside of Mexico.”

With multilingual virtual receptionists that charge as little as $0.45 per call, there’s no reason why you should turn away ideal customers because of a language barrier.

9.)         You can’t afford to miss calls when you’re away on business.  

Business trips will come up and you’ll be forced to leave the office and be focused on a particular issue, meeting or even convention. Just because you’re away on business doesn’t mean that you need to close down your business’s communication. 

Hire an answering service to handle your calls while you’re traveling and have all of your messages emailed or texted to you for calls backs at your convenience. Forwarding your calls to an answering machine should never be a solution to who’s answering your calls when you’re away. 

10.)       You can’t afford to miss a call, period.

Honestly, since you never know who’s reaching out to your business and why, you can’t afford to miss any calls. The ringing phone can be an existing customer with a large order or a reporter from your local television station looking for an interview.

Be on the safe side and answer all calls with a sense of urgency and provide excellent customer assistance to grow your business.  

We Can Give You 24-Hour Phone Coverage So You’ll Never Miss an Important Call Again! 

In order to ensure that you never miss these 10 important business phone calls, consider hiring a live answering service to help. Our virtual receptionists offer 24-hour phone coverage and bring award winning call handling and messaging services to the table.   

Start the conversation and give us a call today at 1-800-785-6161 to speak with an account specialist. We offer affordable rates, month-to-month contracts and administrative services customized to fit the needs of your business.