VoIP isn’t what it was ten years ago.
Rapid technological developments and improved internet speeds have allowed businesses to use VoIP to enhance both internal and external communication, resulting in an experience that delights customers and makes your team more efficient.
Just like computer prices have dropped dramatically over the years with a meteoric rise in performance, VoIP has undergone a similar evolution. Today, small and medium businesses can have enterprise-level features that were previously out of reach.
Years ago, businesses with a strong customer focus might have shied away from VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for fear of poor call quality. Now those issues are a thing of the past. AI (artificial intelligence) and more powerful networks have virtually eliminated instances of poor quality. This means that no matter where you are, whether it’s at your desk or on the freeway, you’ll enjoy a crystal-clear connection.
The right VoIP system can help you appear more organized and capable, at a fraction of the cost of those large corporate phone systems. When you combine cost savings with increased performance, you’ll be on a path to rapid growth.
This article includes valuable tips on how to use the power of VoIP to grow your bottom line.
8 Ways You Can Leverage VoIP to Grow Your Business
1. Free Up Funds to Invest in Marketing and Branding
Most VoIP solutions result in immediate cost savings. Calls are cheaper, and exorbitant long-distance and international calling fees are no longer an issue. Even if your business doesn’t make a lot of long-distance calls, you’re still likely to save money.
With a VoIP softphone system, you can send and receive faxes (as well as make calls) without having to invest in expensive hardware. You can apply those cost savings to sales, marketing, and branding initiatives that will help expand your operations and grow your revenue.
2. Delight Customers
Happy customers stick around, spend more, and invite their friends to work with you. And, it’s no secret that customer satisfaction isn’t strictly about what happens when they’re at your location. The communication they have with your company before and after their transaction is also a critical part of the overall experience.
A VoIP helps contribute to customer satisfaction by utilizing communication techniques that help clients while also making them feel valued. For example, a VoIP system could use an intelligent chatbot to handle routine customer inquiries. This technology works to immediately address an issue or concern while also leaving your human staff to handle more complex questions.
When your VoIP system is integrated with your customer database, you can take this communication a step further. When a customer calls, your system will immediately display their information on your screen. You’ll know their name, see their profile picture, and be able to view their entire client history.
You’ll never have to ask a customer for the same information twice. You’ll know their appointment and contact method preferences, whether they have a pet (and his or her name), their birthdays, and other special notes and instructions. All of the information is housed in one place, so you can say goodbye to post-it notes, tattered notebooks and paper calendars.
This type of system can also send automated reminders, collect payments, and correspond with clients via text.
3. Make the Most of Your Current Customer Relationships
You’ve heard the stats about how it can cost five to twenty-five times more to acquire a customer than to retain an existing one. So, by keeping your customers happy, you can stabilize revenue while you add new clients to your roster.
A strategy that companies often overlook, however, is maximizing the amount of revenue they collect from their current customers.
Take a look at your average customer lifetime value and determine the factors that influence it. For example, if you’re a dental office:
• How many times do patients visit you?
• Can you increase the frequency?
• Can you upsell other services that help them maintain a healthy smile?
• Can you reduce or eliminate no-shows or cancellations?
• If patients do cancel, do you have an efficient way to fill those appointments?
• Do you have a streamlined collection system that prevents default payments?
• Do you have a procedure that encourages everyone in the family to stay on track with their care?
• Do you have a script to prompt current patients to bring their family members to your office?
A VoIP system that’s integrated with your client database will prompt you to address any relevant opportunities while you have the patient on the phone. There are also automated procedures you can implement to remind clients of appointments, collect payments, and more.
Every single one of these questions is an opportunity to increase the lifetime value of a customer dramatically. If you stack some of these tactics on top of each other, you can grow your business even further.
4. Never Miss an Opportunity
The statistics about unanswered phone calls are scary. Small business owners don’t answer 62% of their phone calls. Assuming the call goes to voicemail, you now have to rely on a customer to leave a message and your staff to respond before the potential client decides to contact another business for their needs.
But what if you could immediately respond to missed calls with a text letting the person know you’ll call them back at a certain time. And, what if you could invite them to begin the conversation via text?
By never missing a call, you can capture potential customers that might have dialed the next name on the list. This feature can work 24/7, and all of the correspondence would be directly from your office line, not a third-party answering service. You can also customize the messages to match the friendly tone of your office. Imagine how fast your business would grow if that happened!
5. Take the Road Less Traveled
Small business owners are sometimes afraid to leave their office for fear of missing important calls or not being in the office when they’re needed. The mobility offered by VoIP phone systems allows you to go on the road to take meetings with investors or meet with valuable new clients.
Remember the days of long flights and being “off the grid?” Instead of being out of touch for hours at a time, your calls can be forwarded to a partner or trusted assistant.
6. Improve Workflow
Imagine not having to shout down hallways, place people on hold to track down a team member, and being able to communicate with your team members at lightspeed. A VoIP system streamlines communication between team members.
As a result, you save time, and your company becomes more efficient. Some of the real-world applications of this technology include notifying coworkers of tasks, discreetly announcing the arrival of a customer, or answering questions all without having to leave your workspace.
Other communication upgrades that come standard with most VoIP systems allow you to use digital whiteboards, forward voicemail as an email, and transfer large files. Before VoIP, these tasks would be cumbersome if they were possible at all.
When your organization works like a well-oiled machine, you can identify and eliminate bottlenecks, putting you on a path to rapid growth.
7. Get Insights from Call Analytics
Do you know how many people should be working at your front desk and what times? If you don’t have a clear answer, then you could be wasting money on extra staff or missing opportunities to take more calls. An integrated VoIP system will give you insights about:
- Missed calls versus answered calls
- Overall call volume
- The ratio of calls between current customers and non-customers
- Canceled appointments
- Active client growth (or decline)
- Revenue at a glance
All of this information is at the tip of your fingertips in an intuitive dashboard. You can also create custom lists that allow you to see which clients have overdue payments, how many clients have birthdays this month, and more. From your dashboard, you’ll also be able to contact the client immediately. No more switching between screens, devices, and notebooks.
Once you have a clear picture of what’s going on in your business, you’ll be able to allocate resources more efficiently.
8. Use Word of Mouth to Your Advantage
Nearly 95% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase. So, you know that getting more reviews is vital to the growth of your business, but how do you go about getting them?
Some VoIP systems (including Weave’s) have the capability to send a text to satisfied customers, inviting them to leave a Facebook or Google review. You’ll quickly establish yourself as a trusted provider in your community, attracting more future customers.
Conclusion
You already know that when you free up the time and resources that you use for mundane tasks, you can focus your activities on your core competencies and business growth initiatives. But, by implementing a VoIP system that also focuses on your customers’ priorities, you can exponentially grow your business through increased efficiencies, a better experience, and favorable word of mouth.
To see how Weave can help you grow your business, schedule a demo today.