Businesses in all industries rely very heavily on the front office to set the pace of other operations. A few small glitches in the front office can mean lost business or lost productivity all down the line.
Why Does it Matter?
Studies show that an inefficient or overburdened front office has a domino effect on the entire business. For example, a 2017 study conducted by the Journal of General Internal Medicine reported nearly half of nurse care managers and 36 percent of front office staff identified as feeling burned out as a result of lackluster front office efficiency. Once the staff feels the pain of inefficiencies, so do customers and potential customers which ultimately results in lost business.
Improve Office Efficiency and Keep Customers
Office inefficiency contributes to the loss of current customers and a failure to gain new ones. It really is that simple. Here are top tips for making it happen.
Clear the Desks
When there is a place for everything and everything in its place, staff spend less time trying to stay or get organized and more time on more valuable tasks.
Standardize Processes
Create a clear set of processes so that your team knows exactly what to do at all times. This is also helpful when regular staff has a day off and others need to step in to the position.
Create Project Management Lists
Use software or other tools to create an ongoing list of projects to help the team hit daily, weekly, and monthly benchmarks.
Use Live Answering Services
Implement tools to support staff such as a live answering service to capture overflow calls. Every missed call is missed potential. Here’s how the reporter over at Harvard Business Review explains it…
“Firms that tried to contact potential customers within an hour of receiving a query were nearly seven times as likely to qualify the lead (which we defined as having a meaningful conversation with a key decision maker) as those that tried to contact the customer even an hour later—and more than 60 times as likely as companies that waited 24 hours or longer.”
However, live answering services do much more to improve efficiency than capturing new business that might otherwise be lost. Here are just a few of the many advantages.
- Time management – An answering service can save you time by finding out the best time to reach the caller so you spend more time talking to customers and closing deals and less time leaving messages.
- Increased productivity – Avoid interruptions due to calls throughout your day by. Every phone interruption takes you or staff away from the job at hand, slows, progress, and requires time in redirection.
- Improved relationships with your existing customers – No customer appreciates being interrupted while staff takes a call. With a live answering service, the caller receives the warm answer they expect while the customer at hand also receives your full attention.
If you’d like to learn more about how live answering services can help your business, call Midwest Answer today! 844-720-1115
