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Deal Fanatic
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Aug 16, 2007
6814 posts
581 upvotes

Outsourcing Phones

Curious as to if anyone does this - I'm looking at options for outsourcing phone answering (basically new customers, taking orders, answering basic questions out about the service, etc).

I was curious as I figure there are three different options/levels of service, and I'm interested in what people have experienced in them.

Most expensive/professional would be an answer service - this is probably a monthly cost, but resting easy knowing that a professional company is taking care of everything that needs to be.

Middle of the pack would be hiring someone (say a stay at home mom?) to take calls during business hours. I can set up call rules so my toll free only goes to their number at certain times of day, etc. and training them would be easy. I can track how long they are on the phone easily (as it is forwarded) so I could pay something fairly generous (say $25/hour when they are talking with a few minutes on each call for emailing a recap, etc) and I can set it up so they'd have access to answer any questions about specific orders. This seems like the route I'd likely take?

Cheapest would be outsourcing online (I'm talking really cheap, like elance cheap) where it is one person that does this for multiple companies, be it from North America or otherwise. In this case I'd be dirt cheap, but likely would be less quality as they wouldn't know the business indepth.

Call volumes vary and could be as low as 1-2 calls a day (avg. call maybe 5 minutes) to as high as 15-20 calls a day.

I'd basically want them to answer the questions, take an order if needed, and then email me a recap or enter it in a CMS.

Does anyone have any experience in this? I know 99% of real estate companies have answering services, but I also realize they are fairly expensive.

Appreciate the input!
6 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Apr 26, 2003
2258 posts
438 upvotes
Toronto West
That Volume and AHT seems extremely low so im kinda surprised your first option even exists.

Just find someone off craigslist for Option 2 or take the calls yourself. Sounds like you have a modern voip system for Option 2 so it could be just as easy to roll all the calls to a voicemail and call them back if you dont want to pay to hire someone.

Also try to reverse the rolls here and think about their thoughts when you tell them you'll pay $25/hr while taking an average of say 6 calls a day with an AHT of 5 minutes.. thats half an hour of pay plus email time?

From an outsiders view id say if volume is that low, take the calls yourself when available, let it roll to voicemail when not and just call them back.
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Deal Fanatic
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Aug 16, 2007
6814 posts
581 upvotes
I currently take the calls / voicemail / have other staff answer them, but I've got feedback about how great it would be if "every" call was answered - and I agree. I'm loosing clients by expecting voicemails.

I certainly agree with low call volume - and I don't at all expect that I'd be the only person this person would work for. Maybe I'm in la-la land thinking that there is someone who might do this as a "work at home" business for multiple businesses (maybe someone reading this should start it :razz :)

I've got a couple quotes coming from overseas but honestly it is the last thing I want to do - All of our work is completed in Canada and I don't want people getting the wrong impressions when they call.
Jr. Member
Nov 5, 2010
107 posts
9 upvotes
Burlington
Yesterday I was out for 3 hours, voice mail (VoIP) answered, 1 (one!) person left a message. Few people called 2-3 times and did NOT leave the message!?

People want live person to answer the phone and do it pronto! Secondly, answering service won't cut it. They want person who can do something, like take an order or answer questions.
Deal Fanatic
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Aug 16, 2007
6814 posts
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Anyone else want to chime in on this?
Deal Addict
Dec 13, 2007
2032 posts
546 upvotes
Toronto
I did option 2 for a number of years. It worked ok, I guess. We agreed on fixed number of hours per month, regardless of number of calls. 2-3 calls a day that last few minutes each aren't going to be interesting to anyone, even at $100/hr (if understood correctly that you want to pay just for the time they are actually busy.) It's like being on-call - there is a substantial premium that people to pay to have somebody on stand by.

There are a couple of things to consider. Stay at home moms do not stay home all day long -- they go shopping, walking, etc. They cook, they play with children. At those time they aren't really in a position to answer the phone all that professionally. Also, they will mostly have their kids around. So kids crying or playing might be in the background when they answer.

Ultimately you'd want to get this in house. Gather more responsibilities, and hire a person to work in your office.

Outsourcing to eLance kind of public is really not an option.
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2004
38383 posts
12008 upvotes
East Gwillimbury
I use a service but it isn't cheap.

The problem with option 2 is the amount of money.

If you pay per call. Even $10 per call, if the volume is low (2 calls) the person at home will not be interested in helping you.

They have to stay home all day, in front of a computer waiting for a call just to make $20

I use a service that costs me $10 per call, but if the volume increases, the rate drops to $5 etc.

If they manage to sell something, they get a commission on top. So that encourages them to work harder for you.

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