How to Handle a High Volume of Business Calls
Without Getting Overwhelmed
It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to your business. But it also seems like the worst thing that’s ever happened to your business.
What are we talking about? That’s right, you guessed it: receiving a ton of different business calls.
This high call volume typically means that you’re probably looking at an influx of new customers for your business. But at the same time, managing all those calls is a dreary task.
If you’re faced with this good-to-have problem and are trying to figure out how to handle a lot of business calls, look no further. In this article, we’ll explore a few different strategies that you can begin implementing today in your business to deal with unprecedentedly high call volumes.
Use an Answering Service
Our first and most effective tip is to use an answering service. With an answering service, you can download messages from customers, answer frequently asked questions with automated voice messages, and collect numbers to call back when you have more time on your hands.
Learn more about the best answering services on the market today.
Train Staff to Be More Efficient
Another great strategy is to simply do some training with your staff to help them become more efficient on the phone. Chances are, your staff may not have ever had any training on how to be efficient on the phone, simply because folks generally assume that answering a phone call is something so intuitive that it doesn’t require training.
However, when you’re dealing with a high call volume, you need to ensure that your employees are getting through customer conversations as quickly as possible. That means that they need training on how to identify the customer’s or prospect’s needs are, quickly, without meandering conversation.
Increase Resources at Peak Hours
If you run a location-based business, then you may find that your call volumes generally increase during certain hours. These are your peak hours.
You should consider reassigning your personnel resources during peak hours to endure the tidal wave of increased phone calls for those few hours. This could mean changing a couple of employees’ responsibilities to include answering the phones for a couple of hours a day.
Consider Outsourcing
Last but not least, consider outsourcing phone call service. Sometimes, it simply makes more sense to route your calls out to a company that will take care of them for you for a fraction of the cost of hiring an employee to take care of the call in-house.
Of course, there are dangers associated with outsourcing, including more obscured visibility into the conversations your customers are having with your brand. But if you choose a reputed service, this shouldn’t be a problem.
