Relying on voicemail can have a detrimental effect on the bottom line of the smallest businesses, new research suggests. Moneypenny, the telephone answering service, says that the majority of callers are unwilling to leave voicemail messages.
In a survey of 300 micro businesses (0-9 employees) which included plumbers and plumbing contractors, and an examination of its own call data from 10,000 businesses, Moneypenny found that a third of the businesses surveyed failed to consistently answer their incoming calls.
In its report, Small Business Call Report 2016, Moneypenny revealed that 69% of the callers who were answered by voicemail declined to leave a message, and instead hung up.
“A customer getting through to voicemail instead of a person is like tearing up money. It’s akin to walking into a shop with no one at the till. Buyers simply ring the next supplier on the list,” says Ed Reeves, Director at Moneypenny.
“A phone call is the final reassurance prior to a purchase. This results in fewer, yet higher, value phone calls coming from only the most serious of buyers.”
The report states that those who do let their calls go through to voicemail are letting themselves down with their message greetings too. 54% relied on the standard network message. Only 33% of recorded voicemail messages actually referenced the business with a professional greeting, whilst 13% used a personal recorded greeting with no reference of the business.
Moneypenny’s services provide a real person to answer missed mobile calls, specifically designed for small businesses to avoid losing revenue through missed calls. Find out more here: www.moneypenny.com/uk
