Overwhelmed? Confused? Frustrated?
Running a small business is challenging. You have to take into consideration your competitors, location, outfitting the office, employees, marketing – and the list go on. However, what about a business phone system? Is it important?
These days, businesses invest significant money in business phone systems. However, many are complicated, highly-priced, and require regular maintenance. These issues mean that for the small business, such phone systems won’t work. That’s where VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services can provide solutions to small businesses.
VoIP providers assist small businesses by offering:
- Call-forwarding
- Call recording
- Voicemail to email
- On-hold music
- Conference calling
- Virtual Receptionists
- Call screening
- Instant messaging
More than one-third of all small businesses use a VoIP phone system to handle their communications needs.
However, for those companies that choose not to, risk making the following mistakes:
1. Not Providing a Local Number:
If your business is missing a local number for your current or potential customers to call, you risk not being taken seriously as a business. A local number shows customers you are professional, which boosts your credibility and trust in your business and your brand. Failing to provide a local number means you’re not visible in a Google search of your area, and you stand to lose potential business by not increasing your local presence.
2. Not Always Reachable:
Your business requires you to be out and about, but failing to have a business phone that does not come with a mobile app can be detrimental to your business.
If you don’t have a business phone system that comes with a mobile app, you risk losing not only important calls but potential sales.
3. Using a Personal Number for Business:
We know the importance of call-forwarding. However, many small businesses make the mistake of purchasing a call-forwarding service and using their personal number. Using a personal number for call forwarding can have a severe impact on your business. It not only lacks professionalism when it comes to greetings and voicemail messages but thinks about the time when your company begins to expand. You’ll need your call-processing capabilities to increase.
The increase in calls will prove difficult if you’re using your personal phone for work and by then, it will be too late to change your contact information. It’s also difficult to distinguish between personal and professional calls. What will you do after hours? Send all calls to voicemail?
4. No Voicemail-to-Email Service:
Voicemail-to-email provides a business with a 24-hour-per-day answering service. Failing to set up this service may mean:
- Missed calls due to callers waiting on hold for too long
- Frustrated callers navigating the messaging system and hanging up
- Missing voicemails
5. No Interactive Voice Response (IVR):
IVR uses touch-tone or speech recognition technology to direct callers to the most appropriate agent within your team. It is also used to record customized greetings, collect caller information, and automate customer support. Without utilizing IVR, you may appear unprofessional as the caller lacks the feeling of a personalized experience, customer calls could be redirected to the wrong department, and you could find yourself drowning in a sea of high call volumes.
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