Is Your Voice Mail Causing Your Plumbing Business To Plunge?

By Author: Robin Hewitt
Total Articles: 739
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How many times do you check your phone messages only to listen to a wall of silence? If you’re a busy plumber, the answer is probably more often than you care to count. When people call a plumber they are often in the midst of a household crisis and need a live person to talk to: rather than “leave a message after the tone” they simply hang up and call the next business listed until some lucky plumber answers the phone—and gets their business by default. The solution to this loss of customer base is simple: contract a professional live answering services to receive your calls.

While that may sound expensive and complicated, in fact it’s a sound business decision that can result in less down time and more repeat customers, which are the bread-and-butter of the self-employed. By utilizing a business answering service that caters to your company’s needs you can save the time you now use checking messages and calling back hang-up numbers while your virtual receptionist handles scheduling, simple questions, and vital emergency calls. You’ll have more on-the-job time while your customers will ...
... have the satisfaction of reaching a live voice, resulting in more income, more repeat customers, and more referrals. What more could you ask for? You’d be surprised; here are a few basic points to cover when you’re looking for an answering service for your plumbing business:

Reliability: look for a company that’s been around a while and is based in the US. While offshore business answering services may look more economical at first glance, they probably don’t have the experience, professionalism, and language-needs that will help your company grow. Make sure the service you hire is established, has available references, and is not only located in the US but has receptionists that are US based, too. Ask if they’ve won any industry awards, as this is often the first sign of excellence in any business.

Availability: while it’s a no-brainer that you want your calls answered in the middle of the night, make sure the business answering service you hire is available 24/7 for 365 days a year. Plumbing emergencies don’t take the Holidays off, but you may be able to if your answering service is covering for you. Check that the company offers the flexibility that you need so you’re covered when you want: whether you’re in the middle of a job, taking a lunch break, off for the day, or on vacation. Whether it’s strictly night calls, overflow calls, or during specific hours, your business answering service should revolve around your schedule, not theirs. If you’re concerned about cost, look for a service that offers a package based on the number of incoming calls rather than time on call.

Dependability: disasters are prime time for plumbers, so make sure the answering service has backup in place in case of electrical, phone, hardware, or software service is interrupted. Ask for details on their generator backup capabilities, and don’t let them give you a vague answer.

Services: an answered call isn’t much help if the receptionist doesn’t have a clue what the caller is talking about. Look for a business answering service that will train their agents on the basics of your business, so the receptionist is able to gather the information from the customer and understand your emergency-call protocols. Make sure the company has bilingual and translation services so you will be able to tap into the growing Hispanic customer base.

Options: as your business grows you shouldn’t have to worry about outgrowing your answering service. If all you need right now is after-hours coverage, you should still choose a business answering service that offers features that you might like to try in the future such as making customer confirmation calls, follow-up calls, technician-to-customer calls, and dispatching emergencies to on-call team members.

In conclusion, if you’re a plumber trying to grow your business consider contracting an answering service. By utilizing a business answering service you can turn hang-ups into customers, free yourself from answering the phone, and expand your customer base by responding to their emergency needs as they occur.

Robin Hewitt is a freelance writer working with Alert Communications to educate business owners about available business answering services. For more information on phone answering services visit our website.