Did you know that time management is one of the most critical factors in growing and maintaining a business?
This isn’t something many business owners consider when they start their company. They are excited to start their new journey and jump in headfirst, assuming they know everything. Before you know it, you’re burning the candle at both ends and can’t get ahead of your workload.
It all boils down to time management. You’ll miss opportunities to grow your business if you use your time poorly. You might even miss the core activities your business needs to survive.
So how can you fix it?
Outsourced appointment scheduling is the answer. If you look back at your days and how you spent your time, chances are you’ll see a lot of time spent answering phones, making calls, and playing phone tag.
When outsourcing appointment scheduling, you take back a big portion of your day, leaving much more time for the tasks your business needs to survive.
Have you ever considered outsourcing some of your services?
Many business owners don’t. They think they started this business, so they can handle all the tasks. But what happens when you can’t?
You have three options:
The first two options really aren’t options, are they? You know you can’t continue operating as you are; it’s taking its toll on you and your business. But if you hire an employee, you have more overhead and responsibility. You aren’t saving much time because first, you must train the employee and then manage him/her.
Outsourcing appointment scheduling, though, can save you time and money. You don’t take on a full-time employee. There’s no responsibility to manage another employee, and you don’t have to spend time training a virtual receptionist that handles your appointment scheduling.
You get an already trained and ready-to-work receptionist able to handle your calls, take appointments, and give you the time back you need to run your business.
Think of the time you’ll save when you no longer must:
Even if they answer, they might not be ready or able to talk. Suddenly, you’re playing phone tag and not getting work done.
As a business owner, you must answer the phone; that’s how clients get a hold of you. But if you get a call you aren’t expecting when you’re in the middle of an important job, you lose focus and productivity because all attention must now go to that phone call.
When you let a virtual receptionist handle your calls, they can schedule appointments, so you block out certain times to talk to your clients.
For example, you might schedule 15 minutes for follow-ups, 30 minutes for intake, and one hour for initial consultations.
The difference is you have an appointment and can schedule your day around these occurrences. So you aren’t getting caught off guard.
So now that you know an outsourced appointment scheduler can help you claim your time back let’s look at the benefits.
You need to answer the phones, but when they hinder your productivity, it can hurt your business. The same is true of your employees. The jobs don't get done if they can’t focus on their tasks because they’re constantly getting distracted with unscheduled phone calls.
When you outsource appointment scheduling, you save everyone’s time. Of course, you know exactly when you must take or make calls, but you can schedule them in your day and schedule time for other tasks without interruption.
Outsourcing call answering to virtual receptionists is much less expensive than taking on a new employee. When you hire employees, there are onboarding costs, plus the cost of benefits, equipment, and ongoing training, not to mention their salary.
Outsourcing to an answering service costs much less and is much more predictable. You know exactly how much the costs are beforehand and don’t have to handle overhead, benefits, or any other miscellaneous costs.
You'll have happier customers when you have someone dedicated to answering your phones and setting appointments.
You don’t have to worry about sending customers to voicemail or playing phone tag to get back in touch with them. If customers go too long without hearing from you, they may move on to your competitors, especially if they answer them faster.
When customers know they can get answers immediately or set an appointment to speak with you, they’ll be much more pleased with your services.
Running a business is hard work, and getting overwhelmed and unorganized is easy. Instead of over-scheduling yourself or forgetting about appointments, you can have a virtual receptionist that carefully manages your calendar, taking care not to over-schedule you.
You can work with the virtual receptionist to block off specific times you’re available for appointments, so you remain in control of your schedule, but you don’t have to worry about being double booked or taking appointments when you aren’t available.
When you have allotted time for your customers, you can give them your full attention. You won’t be pulled in 20 directions because you’re caught in the middle of a task or don’t have the attention to provide at the moment.
When you have appointments set, you know during that 15 minutes to an hour, your full attention is on your customer and the task at hand. It helps slow down your mind, allows you to give your customers 100% attention, and may help you convert more leads into customers.
So how do you choose the best appointment scheduling service?
Every business has different needs, but here’s what to consider:
You want to work with a company with the experience to handle your clients. Unfortunately, not all virtual receptionist companies work in all industries. Look for one that caters to your industry and understands it. Your customers won’t be any happier if the person answering the phone doesn’t know how to answer their questions or schedule their appointment.
The point of outsourcing appointment scheduling is to have someone always answer your phone. Most people won’t leave a voicemail, so if you don’t answer the phone, they’ll move on to a competitor.
Look for an answering service that offers 24/7 service, so you know your calls are always answered.
A virtual receptionist company that stands behind its work will provide a free trial. This is because they know they offer great service and want you to see it for yourself before committing. Services that don’t offer a free trial aren’t as confident in their services.
The virtual receptionist company you hire must be able to adapt to your needs. No two businesses have the same appointment scheduling needs. You’ll be providing a lot of information at once, and if they can’t take it in and adapt, they aren’t the virtual receptionist company for you.
You need a virtual receptionist company that can adapt to what you need. If you have a large volume of calls and hire a company that can’t handle them, you waste time and money outsourcing your appointment scheduling.
Look for a service that’s handled companies of a similar size to yours successfully to ensure you get what you need.
Of course, what good is outsourced appointment scheduling if they don’t offer great service? Read what others have to say or even ask for referrals to ensure the service offers what you need.
Time management is the key to running a successful business. It doesn’t matter how good your idea is or how much money you have. Your business can't operate well if you don’t manage your time.
The key is to manage your time, so you can focus on your customers when it matters the most but also have time for other tasks that, in the end, also benefit your customers.
Constantly answering the phone, playing phone tag, and being interrupted in your daily tasks make it impossible to get work done. It hurts your business’s bottom line and eventually hurts your customers.
Instead, claim your time back by using an outsourced appointment scheduling service. At Easybee, we offer everything you need. Try our 15-day free trial and see how much more time you have in your day when you outsource your appointment scheduling.