An answering service, also called a virtual receptionist service, brings many benefits to growing companies. From increasing your call answer rate, to scheduling more leads, turning away sales calls, covering after-hours calls, and more. Many trade businesses find it more affordable than hiring an in-house receptionist, especially in industries like plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and other home services.
But even with these benefits, an answering service is not a one size fits all solution. Asking yourself the following questions can help you decide if using an answering service like Jill’s Office is the right move for your company.
Am I ok with relinquishing some control?
Creating a successful business takes hard work and sacrifice. So putting your trust in another company to answer your business calls is understandably nerve-wracking.
Jill’s Office is here to help your team, not replace it. Still, hiring a third-party answering service does mean giving up a small amount of control over how your phones are handled.
When signing up with Jill’s Office, you are assigned an account manager who becomes your main point of contact for updates, concerns, or questions. This means you will not have direct access to the receptionists answering your phones. However, we send Action Items (call summaries) after every call, and you can listen to call recordings inside your Jill’s Office portal.
For many plumbing and HVAC companies, this balance provides peace of mind while still improving call coverage.
Am I ok with compromise?
At Jill’s Office, we want the best for your business and every trade business we support. To deliver consistent call quality, we have developed guidelines and processes that help our receptionists know what to do for every company we answer for.
Because of these standards, setting up your account will not be a perfect 1:1 recreation of how calls are handled in-house.
These are important questions to ask before working with a virtual receptionist or answering service. With over a decade of experience supporting contractors and home service companies, we have learned what works and what does not when answering calls for busy businesses.
Virtual receptionists spend an average of 5–7 minutes per call while answering for multiple companies. That is not a lot of time to know your business from top to bottom. Which leads to the next question.
Am I ok being told no?
Some requests may go against our guidelines. While we always try to offer solutions, there are times when the answer must be no.
More than ten years in the answering service industry has given us insight into how virtual receptionists can best support trade businesses on the phone.
We build your account based on a call instructions form completed before onboarding. This form allows you to share details about your plumbing, HVAC, or service business and how our receptionists should handle calls.
The bottom line
Hiring an answering service means partnering with a team to help manage your phones. You gain many of the benefits of an in-house employee at a lower cost, plus 24/7 answering service coverage for your customers.
Answering services are not in-house staff. Instead, we work as an extension of your business so you can focus on running jobs, serving customers, and growing your company.
To find out how Jill’s Office can help your trade business capture more calls and book more jobs, book a discovery call today.
FOLLOW JILL’S OFFICE FOR MORE UPDATES
