Why Not Answering Your Phone is Killing Your Business

Obviously, your business doesn’t work without customers. What is not obvious is the way those essential relationships are built and maintained. And since a phone call is still the number one method customers turn to when they need to reach you fast or a prospect uses to make first contact, the last thing you want to do is deliver the disappointment of a missed call.

Your business’s reputation

Regardless of the size of your business, you want to establish trust. Your customers need to believe that you are organized and in control. Failing to answer your phone frustrates them, leaves their issues on the table, and convinces them that you don’t have a solution for them.

Sound familiar?

• A customer calls, and it rings until they lose interest and hang up.
• A customer is put on hold and either put in a queue or offered a call back at a later time.
• Your voicemail service kicks in, and the customer is given the option to leave a message.

Your customers and prospects don’t care if you are short-staffed or if no one is available after 5 p.m. Unanswered calls send a signal to customers and prospects that they are not important to you or that you can’t be trusted to handle their business reliably or effectively. 75 percent of callers will not leave a voicemail, and about 85 percent of callers, who don’t reach you on the first call, will not call back. Instead, they will call your competitors.

We did a little research of our own, and of the 50 law offices we called, only 3 of them actually answered their phone!

In this digital age, you might think that emails or social media messages have surpassed the phone, but in fact, 80 percent of all business communications still take place via phone.

More than 60 percent of unhappy clients will take their business elsewhere. Around 70 percent of people will stop dealing with a firm whose customer service is unreliable, and more than 60 percent will go on to do business with a rival company.

Considering the fact that every call is a potential sale, this amounts to a significant source of lost revenue. Just one missed call each week equals 52 lost sales opportunities every year. Those numbers can soar when you take into account the missed calls that may have led to repeat, loyal customers who referred your business to others. What’s more, if you are paying for SEO or PPC campaigns to drive leads to your website and then fail to answer customer calls, you’re losing potential revenue from sales.

Although digital customer service strategies are important, answering every call promptly and professionally should be your top priority. Not doing so can have a huge – and lasting – impact on your business, from lost revenue and bad customer service to negative reviews. A good rule of thumb: Answer your phone within three rings. If you don’t, 7 out of 10 of those callers will not only hang up but won’t call back.

Your call-tracking solution is coming soon!

In the immortal words of Peter Drucker: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” And if you can’t manage it, how will you ever be able to improve it?

At HLM, we understand that promptly answering and returning phone calls is critical to the success of your business. For this reason, we’ve been developing and testing a powerful call-tracking product that integrates with your 24/7 Performance Dashboard – so you can monitor calls to your business and stay better connected with your leads and customers. Stay tuned for more information on HLM call tracking.