How answering services can boost lead generation for IT/MSPs.

Hiring an IT/MSP firm is a transformative partnership for your customers. However, it takes a great deal of trust for a business to hand over essential infrastructure to your business. So, how can you build this trust?

The answer lies in effective communication.

Many IT/MSP companies hire answering services to help them provide 5-star customer service at all times. And in doing so, many learn that answering services do much more than just answer calls. They boost lead generation too.

The role of answering services in the IT/MSP industry

It’s estimated that UK businesses lose over £30 billion every year due to missed calls. So, 24/7 customer support for MSPs/IT companies is popular. Most businesses know that a missed call is a missed opportunity.

Plus, tech companies are held to high standards. They sell highly technical services, so customers have high expectations. Any clunky processes or poor customer service experiences can greatly damage their reputation.

Answering services help IT/MSP firms provide an efficient service that enhances their professional image.

Providing fantastic customer service 24/7 is an obvious role for answering services but they also help you:

• Secure new customers 
• Improve productivity and workflows
• Strengthen client relationships
• Grow your business and generate more revenue

How answering services boost lead generation for IT/MSP firms 

Not only do answering services boost lead generation for IT/MSP firms, but they also support managed services lead nurturing by capturing leads and transferring the data over to you seamlessly. This ensures every opportunity is followed up efficiently without creating a backlog that’s too big to manage.

How answering services help boost lead generation for IT/MSPs:

• Every phone call and live chat is answered 24/7. You don’t need to worry about missing an opportunity or upsetting clients. Every client and new caller is welcomed and assisted by real people equipped with the knowledge to handle common IT issues.
• Customised brand scripts. Receptionists follow brand scripts for each call type, ensuring they handle all calls correctly. Curious to hear how an answering service for IT/MSPs will sound when answering on your behalf? Give it a try here.
• Quick and efficient qualification. Receptionists follow the criteria you set during your onboarding process to determine whether a client is a good fit.

The benefits of answering services for IT/MSPs

• Capture every opportunity. No longer will you wake up to missed calls and a backlog of voicemail messages. 
• Faster issue resolution. Answering every call speeds up issue resolution time.
• Swift emergency response. Your onboarding process defines the criteria for urgent calls, so emergency cases get the immediate attention they need.
• Smooth call management. Create call forwarding rules for receptionists to send them to the right people/departments to resolve tickets faster.
• Better client relationships. Clients love that their calls are always answered by a real person, no matter what time they call. They feel safe knowing you’re always available to help.
• Create a consistent brand experience. A common fear with answering services is people will know you’ve outsourced your customer service. But with a proven answering service, they won’t. They’ll sound just like you. 

Reduce errors and manual work. Having team members work on multiple tasks while answering phone calls invites errors. Answering services have the tools to capture and transfer customer data directly to your systems, making data conflicts and manual data entry problems of the past.

How does an answering service compare to handling calls internally?

IT/MSP companies expect high call volumes, so they make arrangements to manage calls themselves. It’s an option but it comes with its challenges:

• Availability. Making arrangements to answer calls 24/7 is difficult.
• Customer service. It’s taxing for staff to maintain a warm, welcoming, and helpful telephone manner all day when it’s just one of many tasks.
• Lead qualification. Callers need to be welcomed and key questions need to be asked to figure out whether they should move further along your pipeline. Any oversights may result in losing the lead, so it’s not ideal to learn this skill on the job. Answering services train staff to be great at this. 
• Scalability. Maintaining the right level of staff to answer phone calls is challenging. It can take weeks to find and train staff. Whereas, answering services can adjust to meet your needs within hours.
• Cost-effectiveness. Answering services are more cost-efficient than in-house call centres as you don’t need to worry about hiring, training, and managing your team.

Customer insights. Tracking call volume and frequency, lead information, customer inquiries, etc. can be hard to pay attention to when you’re busy. Answering services take care of this for you. All data will be visible from your dashboard.

How to choose the answering service to boost lead generation for your IT/MSP firm

There are many answering services for IT/MSPs to choose from. Here’s what to look for to ensure you pick a service that will meet your needs and help your firm grow:

• Great reputation. Your reputation is paramount. Look for a company with great reviews on trustworthy websites such as Trustpilot, G2, and Capterra.
• Customisation options. Personalisation is a huge factor when it comes to customer service, make sure your service offers a high level of customisation to make every caller feel heard.
• Proven industry experience. Look for an answering service with proven experience serving IT/MSP firms to make sure your clients get the help they need.
• Simple and flexible contracts. It’s normal for answering services to evolve as you go. Look for contracts that are easy to understand and can be adjusted on a monthly basis.

Integration options. The best answering services offer integrations to help you automate data transfers to your CRM. This can save you time by reducing manual data entry and greatly reducing the chance of data conflicts.

Answering services are more than a customer service tool. They’re a growth and productivity tool too. Book a consultation today to find a suitable plan for your IT/MSP firm that gives you a competitive advantage over your competition.