How To Get a Cheap Answering Service That Works
You want the customer service benefits of an answering service but can’t pay top dollar. Here’s how to find a great yet cheap answering service.
Everybody claims to be the best when it comes to advertising their answering service. How can it even be statistically possible that 1247 of them are all “number one” in the US?
Luckily for you, we’re providing our top tips on how to find a cheap answering service here in this article.
Let’s dive in!
What Type of Service Is Needed?
When trying to obtain a cheap answering service, it’s imperative to know and understand what type of business you’re doing. For instance, the requirements of your company and your hours of operation.
This helps to tailor the answering service to the specific needs of the company, and in turn, make life cheaper! For certain companies, it is essential to have a human voice ready at hand 24/7, but with others, regular business hours may suffice.
Knowing precisely what’s needed will really help to keep the extra pennies in the jar.
Reviewing
Don’t just select an answering service because it’s cheap if it’s not effective! One of the ways to be sure before making a choice is to check reviews.
Of course, they’re not set in stone when it comes to reliability. Sure, the majority of people giving a review provide one because of a dissatisfactory service they received.
However, it does give you a general idea of things that the respective companies are doing right and things that must be avoided.
Prominent places to seek reviews (aside from the company’s site) would be Facebook, Twitter, or Google. Also, looking at the number of reviews, whether negative or positive, is equally important. It shows whether they are worth being considered or not.
Pricing
It’s so easy to be bamboozled by cheap answering services because companies inventively portray competitive prices, neglecting the extra charges attached.
It’s not to say it’s impossible to find a cheap answering service that caters to your needs directly. But you’ll have to search beyond the surface.
- Pay-per-call
- Pay-per-minute
- Pay-per month
The best answering service doesn’t mean it’s going to be the cheapest or the most expensive. But it will have a variety of pricing options to suit how you plan on using it.
Usually, services will bill either by the minute or by the call, with some services offering both pays by the call and pay by the minute pricing models.
A service that charges either a flat rate or only has a few plans is probably not going to be super cost-effective. There’s a good chance your usage won’t fall into either of these categories.
No two businesses are alike, and an excellent answering service will understand that and model their pricing packages accordingly.
It may be necessary to take into account that your monthly usage will likely fluctuate. So, when you select a plan, it could be perfect one month, and then useless the next.
- bill in 1 minute increments
- bill in 30 second increments
- bill in 15 second increments
Besides this, being precise in selecting the best prices can be problematic. Even businesses of the same nature will have different usage needs; no two business are precisely the same.
Moreover, the most effective answering services will try to support you in saving as much of your cash as possible. In an ideal world, they should do this without pressuring you into paying for excess services that aren’t necessary for you.
Some answering services can be very cost-effective. They’ll allow you to carry any minutes and calls that haven’t been used into the next month. Also, if they see you’re regularly not using the service to the fullest, you can downgrade where necessary.
This is very different from some companies out there. They offer zero flexibility and you no choice but to stick your original plan.
They leave their customers confined to an unsuitable plan that forces them to bump up their company by paying out masses of money every month.
Two Excellent Services:
There are two main things to look out for:
Appointment Setting / Scheduling
This is useful for when business owners are lumbered with a heavy workload, and thus have no time on their hands to sit and schedule appointments. Some of the more up to date services provide this in their package.
In fact, some of the more advanced services will provide different options for scheduling, and they can do this with such precision. The only issue is that it can easily be a breach of security.
Online Portal/Mobile App
Being a business of the 21st century, you might want more advanced answering services. For instance, telephone applications or an online portal where you can store sensitive account details in one safe and secure place.
Generally, they tend to be very easy to use, even though they have many complex functions tailored to meet the needs of your business.
Ready to Find a Cheap Answering Service?
It is so essential to thoroughly consider these things in mind when seeking a cheap answering service.
These short tips will help you avoid falling foul of overpriced or unnecessary services that don’t match the needs of your business.
Just because a service is cheap, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always the best. Likewise, expensive doesn’t always mean the best.
It is better to thoroughly analyze companies inside out, checking reviews, and even making a criterium checklist. This could ensure for an answering service that provides cheapness and effectiveness.
For help with this, contact the friendly team at Cheap Me Now, and get access to the best possible answering service today!
Leave a Reply