We live in the day and age of technology, where we can talk to people through different channels. Even still, nothing beats directly communicating with your customers. Email and live chat are great options, but it’s not the same as speaking to a legitimate human.
As a business, speaking directly with your customers and clients via the phone can help your business in many ways. Most people prefer to speak with an actual customer service representative rather than via email or live chat because it’s more personal.
A virtual business phone system might work wonders for a business owner with a solo operation or maybe one or two other employees, but getting a virtual business phone system is the most logical next step as you grow.
If you’re thinking about getting a virtual business phone system but aren’t 100% sold on the idea yet, here are ten benefits of phone systems for small businesses that might persuade you.
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1: Streamline Communications
Streamlining your company communications is the main benefit of installing a virtual business phone system for small or medium enterprises. Business phone systems are made to improve the internal communications flow of companies.
Streamlining communications includes making customer interactions more manageable and straightforward and even communicating within the company. Instead of giving a customer a new phone number to call, you can quickly transfer them to the appropriate employee by pressing a button or two.
In addition, being able to do that will speed up the communications process and allow you to handle your business from the office and even your cell phone, thanks to a call forwarding feature which we’ll get into later.
2: It Saves You Money
Even though it might not seem like it off the bat, installing a virtual business phone system will ultimately save you money. You no longer have to purchase every employee a dedicated smartphone and can assign each employee a phone number under the system.
You’ll still need to spend money to get your new phone system up and running, but it will be far less expensive than getting everyone a brand new work cell phone or paying each employee a monthly stipend for using their cell phone for work purposes.
Of course, the total cost will depend on your chosen virtual business phone system and how many telephones and handsets you need to purchase for your company. Therefore, it’s best to shop around for a price that works best for you and your employees.
3: Increase Interaction Speed
Installing a virtual business phone system will make all your incoming and outbound corporate calls far more efficient. This will allow you to increase how quickly you can interact with customers as they call for various reasons.
You can easily filter through urgent and less urgent calls to ensure everything is handled accordingly. Hence, by sifting through calls quicker, you can prioritize everything and run a more efficient and customer-centric business.
This feature is excellent for being able to get back to callers quicker. A faster response rate will make people happier, benefiting the company in many ways. Most incredibly frustrated customers don’t want to wait an hour to get someone on the phone or days for a callback, so a fast interaction speed is exceptionally beneficial with a virtual business phone system.
4: Tracks and Manages Calls
When using your cell phone to handle company calls, things can get messy, especially when filtering through calls from friends and family.
Small businesses can benefit from a phone system because you can easily track and manage all the calls coming to your business. Call management includes setting up a call flow that works best for you.
You can ensure that calls you identify as a priority never go unanswered. Thanks to this track and manage feature that allows you to record calls for training, you’ll be able to track the effectiveness of marketing strategies, too.
5: Provides a Positive Company Image
As a business owner, you want people to think positively of your company. Of course, you can’t please everyone, but having an overall positive company image is something you are more than likely striving for.
One of the best ways to create a positive company image is by being reachable. When customers can’t get a hold of someone, it can be frustrating and ultimately make them resent the company. Resentment can lead to a lack of business from that customer and anyone to whom they decide to air their grievances.
You can communicate directly with your clients when you install a phone system for your small business. Connecting with clients directly via word of mouth makes you more likely to develop relationships by treating them kindly.
Customers will be far more likely to spend their money with you and share their positive experiences with their friends and family. When happy customers share their positive experiences with others, it will give you a positive company image and higher reviews, leading to success.
6: Increases Sales Potential
One of the most important benefits of implementing a phone system for your small business is increasing your sales potential. Whether you sell goods or services, providing better customer service will help improve your sales.
People enjoy spending their money with companies they feel like they can trust, and with those, they feel like taking care of them in whatever capacity. Those who feel they had a good customer service experience will be likely to continue giving that company their business.
By offering your customers a direct link to someone at the company for customer service issues or another reason, you’re likely to make them happier, and happier customers will spend their money with you.
7: Call Waiting Options
Everyone who’s ever called a busy business before has probably been put on hold at least once. It can be unpleasant sometimes, but it’s vital for many businesses. It’s also known as call waiting.
If you’re constantly getting several calls at once but don’t want those calls to go to voicemail and have to return them later or have the customer think you’re not answering, a phone system is perfect.
You can take advantage of the call waiting options by putting customers on hold and selecting a new call from the queue as you finish with calls. You don’t have to use this feature, but it’s handy and comes with almost all phone systems for small businesses.
8: Call Forwarding Options
As a small business owner, you often have to make yourself readily available even after hours, at least initially. Instead of using your line for all business needs, a phone system offers a call forwarding option.
Before you leave the office for the day, you can forward all calls dialed to your office number to another number. Or, you can use the feature to auto-forward a call to your direct, like to a coworker when you don’t answer.
This allows customers to be helped without too much frustration, which can lead to more sales and a better company appearance.
9: Auto Attendant Features
One drawback of getting a business phone system that many small business owners want to avoid is having someone manually forward calls. It might not be a huge deal if you have the finances to do this.
But, since most small businesses are just getting on their feet, spending your money elsewhere will be more critical. Many phone systems for small businesses come with an auto attendant feature. If anything, you can look for one that has this feature.
An auto attendant will help reduce the amount of time your company spends on handling incoming calls. You don’t need one person to take all calls and forward them to the right person. They can enter the correct “number” and be directed to the department or person that will handle their situation the best.
10: Voicemail
As you read this benefit, you probably think that even personal phones allow for a voicemail feature. While true, a phone system’s voicemail has additional features that a small business can benefit from.
You’ll be able to set up a specific business voicemail for your customers and keep your personal voicemail for non-customers. Adding a business voicemail message is a huge benefit for business owners because sometimes, people hear a personal voicemail and think they called the wrong number.
With your phone system, you can easily listen to and manage all digitally recorded messages. The voice messages are stored in a digital mailbox that you can access from different avenues to ensure you’re keeping up with customers and not missing anything important. All in all, it allows for better message management and organization.
Final Thoughts
Speaking with your customers and clients directly is one of the best ways to succeed as a business, especially a small business.
By implementing a virtual business phone system for your small business, you’ll be able to connect with customers more, improve your company image, increase your sales potential, and more.
Therefore, getting a phone system setup will be one of the best things you ever did for your small business!
