Opportunity is...Calling?

Dave Conde

Next Level Systems

Opportunity used to knock. These days opportunity calls, or texts, or chats. So, when opportunity comes calling, will you answer or miss the call?

One of the things I hear the most when I meet with small business owners is how the phone never stops ringing. Of course, that is a great problem to have but it is a problem none the less. Many business owners still answer the phones personally...when they can.

The problem comes, when they can't. Calls never come at convenient times. It seems like almost always, it rings when they are in a meeting or on a job site. Of course, the intent is to call that person back as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen. Sometimes, and we have all done it, we just forget. Considering all of the time and money we spend just to get the phone to ring, most of us cannot afford to miss those calls.

Of course, even if we remember to call back it is often too late. Today's society is one of instant gratification. If you cannot return a call for an hour or two, that potential client may just decide to call the next number in their Google search. While none of us can answer every call, every time, it is crucial that we return those calls within minutes and not hours. This can be very difficult for the busy entrepreneur whose phone seems to be constantly ringing.

When we add chat requests, emails, text messages and other communication preferences to the mix, it seems impossible. It seems like communication overload but this is the world we in which we live.

As always, there are a number of options available to solve this problem. You can hire a receptionist but that can be expensive. Of course, hiring is always a crapshoot. If you hire the wrong person for this role it can be very damaging given the amount of exposure they will have to clients and potential clients. There are a myriad of answering services you can hire, but these route your clients call to some faraway call center. These call centers have notoriously high employee turnover and can present an image to your clients that is less than professional.

At Next Level Systems, we offer true reception service. More than just an answering service, we provide a dedicated phone number that serves only your business. Our local professionals answer your phone with the greeting that you prefer. We answer your clients questions based on your preferences and we learn as we go. This means that when we do not know the answer to a question, we learn the answer so that we are ready the next time it is asked. We provide a customized voice mail box for your business that we constantly monitor. We rarely miss calls during business hours but if we do, they are called back minutes later. We can help manage emails, chat, text and more. Messages are delivered as they arrive and you receive a weekly report showing every incoming call and how it was handled. It is like hiring a receptionist without the risk and expense of hiring a receptionist...and we are never out sick.

Maybe Next Level Systems is the right choice for you. Even if it is not, consider finding another solution to answer and respond quickly to incoming calls. In today's business world, there is too much competition to let another call go unanswered. They say that every time the phone rings, it is another opportunity. How many of those opportunities can you afford to miss?

Opportunity is calling. You cannot always answer. Find someone who can.