Do you often find yourself repeating the same things on phone calls with customers? We’ve been there. It’s hard to be tied up with a constantly ringing phone while other pressing matters need your attention, but it’s just one of those necessary business tasks. Or is it?
Way back in 2011, Gartner predicted that by 2020, 85% of all customer interactions would be handled human-free with solutions like automated customer service AI and machine learning. Sounds great, doesn’t it? At Numa, we certainly agree with that prediction in terms of potential. However, the reality is that by 2018, the figure had been updated to just 25%.
Self-Service Solutions Save Time and Money
The point is that there’s a ton of untapped potential for technology to free up your phone lines—and your staff. Consider that in a 6-minute customer service call, three-quarters of the time is devoted to research and looking up information to provide to the customer. Only 25% of their time is spent on interacting with your customers.
An automated, virtual, AI-enhanced small business phone service keeps things streamlined. The virtual answering service can answer common questions for you. That way, your receptionists can keep their attention on the people in front of them, and your customer service agents can spend their time on unique, high-priority needs.
Forrester Research and Oracle found that self-service solutions like these can cut costs down by up to $11 per phone call. If you received 5 calls per day, that would mean saving over $20,000 per year. Research from Accenture even suggested that companies could see $1-3 million in annual savings by adding a self-service solution.
This doesn’t only benefit your business, either. Out of today’s Millennial customers, 72% actually prefer to solve their own customer service issues with self-service solutions like FAQs, online chats, or chatbot services. And 70% of customers expect a company to provide a self-service application or an online self-help portal.
These self-reliant customers feel like waiting on hold to get to a human isn’t the best use of their time. What really matters is that your business provides a quick answer. HubSpot found that 90% of consumers rate an “immediate” response as important or very important when they have a customer service question.
The bottom line is that an automated, virtual business phone service costs less and saves time for your staff and customers.
Numa is a virtual assistant that supercharges the phone system for small business owners that want to save time and money. Let us make your incoming call volume easier with an AI-enhanced virtual answering service, so you can stay focused on growing your business. With Numa:
The best part of an automated small business phone service is that you don’t even need to pick up the phone. Your staff won’t be interrupted with common questions, and your customers will love the instantaneous service they receive every time they reach out.
Want to learn more? Come and check out everything that Numa can do for your small business. We’re happy to let you try it out before you commit, too—on us. Helping your business grow is our top priority. We’re confident that Numa can save valuable resources and keep things simple.
No more hold music. No more unanswered voicemails. Make every customer feel like they’re your top priority.