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!
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!