No matter what type of business you own, customer support is one aspect you cannot afford to risk. Small businesses often have to toil hard to acquire paying customers, and losing even one can dent profits. Incoming calls often include customers who need support and potential leads. At a time when more industries are embracing AI solutions for customer care, should you consider the option? Fortunately, there are services like https://www.signpost.com/ that offer AI voice receptionists for small & growing businesses, but before you take the leap, try answering the questions below.
How do you currently handle customer care?
Before you decide to use AI to handle calls, it is important to evaluate where you stand. For instance, is your team handling calls only during business hours? If yes, do they rely on voicemail and connect with callers later? Do you have another system to manage calls outside business hours? Knowing the problems will help find the right AI voice agent.
How often are you missing calls?
It is also essential to evaluate the number of calls your business is missing every week. That can help you understand whether more callers are trying to connect beyond standard business hours. Frequent missed calls only mean more missed revenue opportunities. If yes, you can use AI receptionists to ensure 24/7 availability.
Is your team overwhelmed?
If your front desk team is unable to work or focus on more critical stuff because of constant incoming calls, it is a clear sign to get an AI voice receptionist. A significant part of your call volume includes repeat and routine calls, which can be easily handled by AI. When you reduce the call pressure, your staff can work more productively.
Do you have resource constraints?
Many companies just switch to AI voice receptionists because they cannot afford to scale their teams. Hiring and training customer care experts and receptionists is not just expensive but also takes significant effort and time. If you have evident funding constraints, embracing AI is a good step forward.
How often do you get repeat & routine calls?
This happens in many sectors, including the service industry, where customers often call to ask similar things, such as the price, hours, and services. If your business gets more such calls, you can use an AI voice receptionist to automate the answering process.
Do your customers need after-hours support?
Some industries are just more critical than others. If your business receives more calls beyond standard hours or when the services are such that callers cannot wait, using AI is always better. Even if AI cannot answer a complex query, you can still ensure no call ever goes unanswered.
Do you experience seasonal call demand?
If your business is seasonal, the chances are high that your regular executives may not be able to handle the peak season rush. That’s one of the good reasons to use an AI voice receptionist. You can leverage AI-based answering even for marketing campaigns and unexpected spikes.
AI voice receptionists: Help your team do better!
Using an AI voice receptionist isn’t about replacing the customer care team. Instead, they are likely to be more productive with reduced work pressure. Of course, it will take significant work and research to select the right provider, but the three critical things that matter include customization, control, and data security. Ensure you have complete ownership of the call data and can use the same to train your customer care executives. As for the price, always choose a monthly package instead of committing to the long term immediately. If the call volume exceeds the tier, you only need to pay for the extra time.