How Many Business Opportunities Are You Missing When the Phone Rings?

When you are busy running a business, answering every telephone call is not always possible.

You might be speaking to a customer, travelling between appointments, concentrating on an important task or working away from your usual location. Some incoming calls will be unimportant, but others could be from prospective clients, existing customers or valuable business contacts.

If nobody answers, will the caller leave a message, try again or simply contact another business?

Why missed calls matter

People generally call a business because they want an immediate response. They may have a question, need help with an existing service or be ready to make an enquiry.

An unanswered call can therefore represent more than a temporary inconvenience. It can result in:

• A new business enquiry going elsewhere

• An existing customer feeling overlooked

• A supplier or professional contact being unable to reach you

• An urgent message being delayed

• A less professional first impression

This is particularly important for small businesses, where owners and employees often balance customer service with sales, administration and delivering the service itself.

Why do small businesses miss calls?

Calls can be missed for perfectly understandable reasons.

A small company may not have a dedicated receptionist. Employees may be in meetings, working with customers or travelling. Home-based business owners may also find it difficult to answer professionally when working in a busy household or moving between different locations.

Even businesses with reception staff can experience gaps during:

• Lunch breaks

• Annual leave

• Sickness

• Training sessions

• Meetings

• Periods of unusually high call volume

The challenge is to make sure callers still receive a professional response when your usual team is unavailable.

What impression does an unanswered call create?

The telephone may be a caller’s first direct interaction with your business.

A professional greeting confirms that they have reached the right company and reassures them that their enquiry matters. A phone that rings unanswered, or reaches a generic voicemail without identifying the business, can create uncertainty.

Good call handling does not need to be complicated. The person answering should be able to:

• Greet the caller warmly

• Clearly identify the business

• Establish the reason for the call

• Take an accurate message

• Explain what will happen next

• Direct or transfer the call where appropriate

These basic steps help create a positive and consistent experience.

Is voicemail enough?

A clear voicemail message is better than allowing the phone to ring indefinitely, but it should normally be a backup rather than the primary way customers contact your business.

If you use voicemail, the message should:

• Confirm the company name

• Ask for the caller’s name and contact details

• Invite them to explain the reason for calling

• Provide an alternative contact method where appropriate

• Avoid promising a response time that cannot always be met

Some callers will leave a message. Others may prefer to speak to a person, particularly when they are making a new enquiry or need an answer quickly.

How a professional call-answering service can help

A call-answering service gives your business access to a receptionist without the cost and responsibility of employing someone solely to answer the telephone.

Calls can be answered in your company name, helping the receptionist appear as a natural extension of your business. Depending on the service arranged, the receptionist can take a message or redirect the call according to your instructions.

This can be useful if you:

• Run your business from home

• Work by yourself or as part of a small team

• Spend time visiting clients

• Regularly work away from a fixed office

• Need cover during leave, meetings or busy periods

• Want a local telephone number for a particular area

• Want callers to receive a consistent professional greeting

UBC offers personalised telephone answering as part of selected virtual office memberships. Its service can include a dedicated telephone number, with calls answered in the client’s company name by a reception team.

More than someone answering the phone

Your telephone manner is only one part of your professional business presence.

A virtual office can combine telephone support with:

• A professional business address

• Mail receipt and handling

• Mail collection or forwarding

• A local telephone number

• Personalised call answering

• Reception support

• Access to meeting rooms

• Coworking or day-office facilities

This can give home-based, remote and mobile businesses the professional support associated with a physical office while retaining the flexibility to work elsewhere.

Unlike a basic remote answering facility, a virtual office connected to a genuine business centre can also provide somewhere to collect mail, work occasionally or meet clients.

UBC Flexible Offices provides virtual office services through physical UK business centres, with reception teams available to receive mail and support visiting clients. Meeting rooms and flexible workspace can also be used when required.

Using call answering as additional cover

A telephone-answering service does not have to replace your existing team.

It can provide additional cover when:

• Your receptionist is already handling another call

• Employees are in a meeting

• The office is temporarily short-staffed

• Key team members are visiting customers

• Call volumes are higher than usual

• Your business is expanding into a new region

This allows the business to maintain a professional response without permanently increasing staffing costs.

It can also give owners and employees uninterrupted time to concentrate on work, knowing that an important caller will still reach a real person.

Make every call count

You may not be able to answer every call personally, but that does not mean every caller should be left waiting.

A friendly and professional call-answering service can help protect potential opportunities, support existing customers and create the right first impression. When combined with a professional business address and access to physical workspace, it can also provide a stronger and more credible presence for your business.

With a UBC virtual office, your telephone calls can be answered in your company name by a professional receptionist, while your business benefits from the support of a genuine UK business centre.