With temperatures rising as summer heats up, you might be thinking about scheduling employee vacations or even taking one yourself. However, if you run a seasonal business such as landscaping or house painting, or you are in the tourism industry, you might be wondering how you are going to do that during your peak season. The good news is that an answering service can help!

Below we will answer and discuss the following questions so you can better understand how to get the most out of your busy time with a seasonal answering service.

• Who uses a seasonal answering service?
• How does a seasonal answering service work?
• Which businesses use answering services in the summer?
• Which businesses need answering services in the winter?

Who uses a seasonal answering service?

Businesses of all sizes can benefit from using an answering service during their busy season. It is often easier than people think to get started and to adjust coverage accordingly.

Some benefits of partnering with a seasonal answering service include:

• Cost effectiveness. It is cheaper to partner with an answering service than to hire, train, and manage a new in-house employee. With an answering service, you will only need to pay for the calls that are handled. You don’t have to worry about overhead costs like recruitment, retention, equipment, and more.
• Easy staffing adjustments. A quality answering service will tailor coverage to your needs so you can ramp up during your busy months and cut back in slower times.
• Helps avoid burnout. There is a lot of pressure to perform in a smaller amount of time with seasonal businesses. In order to mitigate feelings of burnout, partnering with an answering service means more answered calls, more satisfied customers, and more time for you to focus on tasks that help you maximize profits.

How does a seasonal answering service work?

A seasonal answering service provides extra support to businesses during peak times such as the summer or the holidays. Trained live agents manage incoming phone calls, and they can help with tasks like appointment scheduling, call routing, message taking, and customer service.

Answering services are often a cheaper alternative to hiring employees to manage your phones because, unlike seasonal employees who are typically paid an hourly wage, you only pay an answering service for the calls that your live agent handles.

Which businesses use answering services in the summer?

Businesses partner with an answering service in the summertime if they see an increase in business and need help managing the influx of phone calls, or if they wish to take a vacation and have coverage. A few examples of businesses that commonly work with answering services in the summer include:

• Landscaping companies
• HVAC contractors
• Schools and universities
• Hotels and travel-related businesses
• Golf courses

Which businesses need answering services in the winter?

On the flip side, some businesses find that they are busier during the holiday season and colder months. Here are some examples of businesses that commonly work with answering services in the winter:

• Ski resorts and hotels in warm weather destinations. When the weather gets cold, people want to hit the slopes or escape to the beach. An answering service can help you keep up with the rush of calls, ensuring your guests’ reservations are booked seamlessly and their stays go smoothly.
• Medical offices. With cold and flu season a guarantee every year, it is helpful to have extra live agents to book appointments, answer calls and offer compassionate greetings to patients.
• E-commerce, retail businesses, and independent contractors. November through January is the perfect time for small businesses to partner with a holiday answering service. Consumers who are rushing to get things done for the holidays won’t wait for a callback. Instead, they will call business after business until someone picks up the phone. The professional live agents of an answering service can qualify leads, take orders, and answer phones.