It’s an understatement to say that businesses are having a hard time with understaffing issues right now. Long wait lines are seen everywhere in different types of businesses. Type in “labor shortage” on Google, and you’ll get dozens of news articles about how companies are struggling to hire in 2021. If the labor shortage persists, it could negatively affect the quality of your customer service and trigger unnecessary business failures.
Fortunately, there are solutions to mitigate these outcomes.
One crucial way to prevent a decline in the quality of your services is to automate. For example, a critical aspect of a business is communication. Suppose a considerable part of your revenue involves communicating with customers over the phone. If you’re understaffed and no one is proactively answering phone calls, then you’re losing opportunities. As a business owner, how can you automate the way customers interact with you without losing your service quality? We at SimpleVoIP created a list of ways to automate and personalize your phone calls so you can provide fantastic customer service and lessen the work of your staff. You don’t need to trade quality over convenience because we’re here to prove that you can have both.
Implement an Auto Attendant
If you or your employees can’t answer every phone call because you’re busy tending to other aspects of the business, then implementing an Auto Attendant is essential for you. An Auto Attendant will never miss a call. It saves you time and helps you avoid missing sales opportunities or customer service calls. It automatically answers frequently asked questions and routes calls to the appropriate department or phone number. Customizing your Auto Attendant’s welcome greeting and script will personalize your customer’s call experience, and setting it up the right way will allow you to conveniently provide excellent customer service at a minimal cost.
Automatically Send Customers Links to Forms, Websites, Articles, etc.
I’m sure your employees have encountered customers asking about location, time of operation, instructions, and many more that require your people to be on the phone for several minutes at a time. It’s not productive to use your employees’ time for that, especially if you’re short-staffed. Instead, efficiently provide customers with the information they need by sending links as texts directly to their phone numbers. By sending them the links to the appropriate web page, they can get the answers they need without talking to your busy employees.
Record Custom Caller ID to Pull Up Client Information Easily
It’s never fun to frantically look for client information while you make them wait on hold. It’s time-consuming, and it’s just all-around inefficient. So instead, conveniently search for records using custom caller IDs to have them pulled up even before you pick up the phone. This practice is beneficial for establishments that routinely triage phone calls like hospitals, veterinary clinics, dental offices, and more.
Procure and Set Up an SMS Curbside App
Retailers and restaurants are now using SMS Curbside Apps more so than ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s unbeatable because it reduces the phone calls going to establishments and effectively communicates the time, location, and waiting period through SMS regarding curbside deliveries. It also works successfully with scheduled reservations and appointments. Restaurants can communicate to customers through SMS that their tables are ready through this practice, as well as salons for hair appointments, clinics for scheduled check-ups, retailers for groceries and items pick up, and so much more. All this communication happens through a few clicks of a button, so your people can have ample time to prepare for arrivals and deliveries.
Set-Up Hold Music and Use It as a Marketing Tool
Waiting for the phone to get picked up can be tedious, but it doesn’t have to be. Unfortunately, many businesses don’t realize that hold music can work as a fantastic marketing tool. Use this time to pre-record entertaining messages on top of your hold music to inform your customers about promotions, tips, tricks, and even job opportunities!
Get a Voicemail and an Email When Staff Members Call Out
It’s unavoidable that a staff member will call out occasionally when personal emergencies occur. Ensure that your managers are prepared for a staff member’s absence by setting up a private phone number for your employees. You can do this with VoIP phones. In addition, VoIP phones can create emails from voice mail, so not only will your managers receive your staff’s voicemails, but they will also receive them as emails.
Inform Your Customers
Automatically inform customers about your capacity by pre-recording messages as soon as they dial your business number. If your clinic is currently not accepting new clients due to bandwidth issues, pre-record a message informing them that you can accept new clients at a specific date and provide instructions on how they can fill out a new client form. This smart practice will free up your employee’s time to explain it to interested parties. Pair it with a VoIP phone’s capability of sending the link to the client form directly to their phone numbers as a text for convenience. Some VoIP companies can help you set a few of these up, but SimpleVoIP can do all of these for you. The plus point? You don’t even have to set them up yourself. We handle all the customizations, set-ups, and installations. Businesses today have a tough enough time staffing their locations, which is why we strive to serve as a reliable extension of your team. Our goal is to provide our clients with the utmost convenience and ensure they never miss an opportunity. Communication shouldn’t be time-consuming; it should be easy and hassle-free. Here at SimpleVoIP, we make communication simple. Contact us to talk about the automations and features that can help your business thrive!
