Business Advice for Startups: Outsourcing Telephone Calls

You have come up with a great startup business and now you are ready to launch your small business into the world and see it all come together nicely. I am sure you have read countless articles and researched subjects detailing startup tips, startup pitfalls and startup cautionary tales. You found this article, “Business Advice for Startups,” because you are ready to learn more about your incoming business calls, and what statistics and other entrepreneurs say about outsourcing your calls. Does a successful ecommerce business or startup company require 24/7 hours of operation? Let’s discuss the pros and cons of this highly discussed topic.        

You Need a Phone Number on Your Website

If you are still working from you home office; or working on-the-go at coffee shops, while your startup gains momentum, you need a contact phone number. Studies show, that by not including a contact phone number on your website, you are drastically affecting your lead to client conversions.  

In a recent article, we discussed how: 60% of Small Businesses Are Losing Profits By Not Offering Professional Telephone Answering Services. In today’s ecommerce world, these same 60% of business owners are not focusing on the return of their investment for outsourcing telephone calls. We understand that startup companies are not blessed with endless money and need to be diligent in figuring out what are ‘wants’ and what are ‘needs’ for starting a small business. These studies show that yes, you can run an ecommerce website just on the Internet. However, you still have a responsibility to gain your customers’ trust by offering a phone number and opportunity to speak with a representative.

Opening in 1986 and turning this, once startup, answering service into a serious player in the telecommunications’ industry, our advice for small businesses is to dedicate a specific telephone number to your business. It will help potential customers find you and improve your SEO with Google Maps and also give your business a solid and trustworthy image.   

Outsourcing Calls to An Answering Service

We hope you now understand the benefits of simply associating a telephone contact number with your startup business. Now you may be left with more questions, such as: 

“Who is going to answer any incoming calls my startup business will get?”

There are three answers to this particular question. 

 1. You can forward your lines to your mobile phone and be available to answer the calls 24 hours a day or, at the very least, during normal business hours. 

 2. You can hire an in-house receptionist or employee to handle the administrative work your startup company is faced with. 

 3. You can select a trustworthy and professional office virtual receptionist team to outsource your calls to and receive messages as they come in.  

With option 1 above, you need to take a look at your hourly rate and distinguish how much a telephone conversation costs; focusing on the time it takes away from the operations of your business.

Option 2 needs to be looked at in a black and white calculation as well. How much will a new employee cost per hour? How many hours could your startup business even afford and is there enough administrative work to hire someone part-time or full-time? 

Option 3 is the most cost-effective solution for small businesses when they are just starting out. Author David Ehrenberg, made an excellent point in a recent Forbes Article, “Remember, you don’t outsource to make a service disappear; you outsource to reduce your cost structure and keep your internal resources focused on your business.”  

With our 30 years of experience in a highly competitive industry, our business advice for startups is to consider that hiring a virtual office receptionist can cost as little as $19.95 per month. With our team of professionals, you only pay for the calls we take on your behalf and with startup companies, we offer 50 free calls per month.  

Click here to check out our rates and try us out for a month. We do not require long-term commitments and so if after a month you aren’t seeing the benefits of outsourcing your calls to our virtual receptionists, cancel your account; no hard feelings.

Skip 4 Venti Coffees a Month to Open Your Budget

Yeah, you read that right. Coffee companies like Starbucks charge, on average, $5.50 for a 24 oz cup of flavored coffee. We challenge startup business owners to skip about 4 large coffee purchases a month and switch your investment from expensive caffeine to 24 hour telephone support. Quit more than 4 cups a month and be able to invest in more customized answering services; allowing us to schedule and handle your appointment books or process payments over the phone.   

Poor Quality Means It’s Time

Let’s say your business starts doing well and is pulling in revenue generating clients and customers. Since you are a one-man or one-woman show, you are either losing quality of your service or quality of your life as more work comes in. 

Whether quality of service or quality of life is more important to you personally, when either of these start to decline, your new business is headed in the wrong direction. A Courteous Communications was once in your startup shoes in an industry that is highly competitive and for some, a quick devastating fail that ends with closing the doors. We first opened our doors in 1986 and now, nearly 30 years later, we remain in the top-tier of our industry. 

Our long-lasting service has been able to grow over the past 30 years because we understood that with each new client that we received, hours and hours of work were stacked on our one-woman’s shoulders. To keep the quality and value of your startup company, you can’t do it all on your own. Research certain roles that you can outsource so that you can focus on the tasks that are needed to keep your doors open with satisfied and happy customers.  

 Click Here and See Our Business Advice for Startups In Action 

Let’s start you off with a free conversation with one of our account specialists to discuss our specific business advice for startup companies and the types of calls you expect to receive. 

Give us a call today at 1 (800) 785-6161 for your free consultation or click here to research our rates and services for the price of just 4 large coffees per month. We never offer annual contracts and give you the flexibility to test us out with month-to-month service packages.