3 Questions To Consider When Hiring A Retail Answering Service

Your retail operation is doing well, especially considering that the competition is struggling to stay ahead of their eCommerce contemporaries.

Even so, you feel like there’s more you could be doing to streamline your operation costs, like outsourcing some jobs that are currently handled in-house or bringing in value-adding service partners that can improve the customer experience and help you better foster customer loyalty.

There’s no better place to start than with a retail answering service!

When Hiring, Always Ask Lots of Questions

No matter whether you’re hiring an accountant or an answering service, it’s always important to ask a lot of questions to get to the heart of the provider you’ll be working with. After all, it’s probably going to be a long-term relationship, and you’ll want to be certain they’re in sync with the culture you’re hoping to foster within your retail business.

Here are just a few questions to get started with in your retail answering service hunt:

  • What hours is your answering service available? Perhaps the most important question, since you’ll want an answering service that’s available when you need them. Not every retail answering service is open 24/7, for example.Some may only have one shift of operators, or two at most, but if you need someone on the phone anytime so you can give yourself the appearance of a much larger retail operation, it’s important to get that established right up front so you don’t waste your valuable time chasing providers that aren’t compatible with your needs.
  • What are your customer service offerings? You definitely want to know that your retail answering service can offer basic answering service functions, but because your shop may get a fair number of customer service calls, this is another important consideration.A retail answering service that doesn’t have any customer service offerings isn’t going to work for you in the long-run, especially if you’re looking to expand or establish an online presence. You’ll need the extra support as you grow, make sure it’s there before you need it.
  • How do you handle surges in phone calls, for example, after a successful promo? There are many inexpensive answering services out there, but their prices often reflect their flexibility.An answering service that can provide you with ten operators or thirty at any given time is an answering service that can help you grow beyond your greatest dreams. After all, if there’s no one to help you catch all the leads you generate, what was the point of spending the money to generate them in the first place?

There’s a big difference between choosing a retail answering service and choosing the right retail answering service for your business and customers. You want to make sure that the company you partner with is willing and able to help you to continue to grow, support your customers no matter what they need and will be around for the long haul. Always look beyond the price tag, sometimes spending a little bit more will get you an incredible, unmatched value.

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