What you get with an answering service:
The benefits of working with an answering service start with the cost effectiveness. An answering service can provide your company multiple operators, 24 hours a day, at one monthly price. Customer service for your company can benefit from having a professional staff that requires no training. Operators can meet the needs of all your callers with options like order taking, reservation lines, appointment scheduling, and more. One less hassle to worry about as your company continues to grow we will continue to accommodate. When an answering service is representing your company you get a fully staffed service that never takes a break. Your company not only gets live operators but an option to extend business hours. Your company won’t have to break the bank paying double time on the holidays because there is no additional cost for holiday phone coverage. This means you can provide your clients 24 hours of service for no additional expense.
Hiring additional employees:
The process of hiring additional employees can be tedious and expensive. The training process alone can lead to doubling payroll cost. When adding staff to your company it usually starts with a roll of the dice. You could get lucky by getting the perfect employee or you could end up wasting time and money by choosing the wrong employee. Throwing money away on the wrong employee can be very tiresome especially for startups that continually grow.
After you do get the perfect employee, the cost of each employee comes with the additional expenses that include healthcare, sick pay, holiday pay, vacation, and retirement. One particular downside to having additional staff is when an employee calls in sick with sick pay. This could lead to your company spending double the money by paying for staffing coverage. In order to provide your clients with 24 hour service, 365 days a year, you would be required to add an abundance of staff just for the scheduled shifts and extra to cover time off. Whether your company is large or small cutting overhead cost can lead to an increase in profit. An increase in profit means more money in your pocket. Below is a comparison of one employee to an answering service:
According to Salary.com, the median cost of hiring a receptionist is as follows:
Benefit Median Amount % of Total?
Base Salary; $33,787; 67.4%?
Bonuses; $394; 0.8%?
Social Security; $2,615; 5.2%?
401k / 403b; $1,231; 2.5%?
Disability; $342; 0.7%?
Healthcare; $5,722; 11.4%?
Pension; $1,572; 3.1%?
Time Off; $4,470; 8.9%?
Total; $50,132; 100%
Source: HR Reported data as of March 2009
Pricing for Professional Answering Service
Monthly Base Rate: $45
Price per tenth of a minute: $0.08
Staff Increase: No Additional Cost
Holiday Coverage: No Additional Cost
Overtime: No Additional Cost
Custom Account: No Additional Cost
Auto Call Forwarding: No Additional Cost
Email/Text/Fax: No Additional Cost
Patching: No Additional Cost
24 Hour Coverage: No Additional Cost
Overall saving time & money will benefit every business. Added support of professional & courteous customer service can increase clientele leading to an increase in profits. Cutting cost by adding an answering service to your staff is just one way to save money & let your clients know you are always there.
