Starting a telephone answering service

[dobutler80]

Hi,

I've been toying with the idea of starting a telephone answering service for my wife to run, but unwilling to take the plunge in quitting her job until I know I can find some clients.

I was looking for a reseller or white label solution so that I can set the website up, market the business, but outsource my clients (until I build enough clients to make the business feasible).

I was looking to pay around 50p to 60p per call (to outsource) as I am trying to make my prices competitive in the market (80p to potential clients).

Can anyone help, or know of anyone (such as a VA)???

Regards,
David

 

[projectfriday]

Hi David,

When we started we offered Call Answering services (amongst other services/packages), it worked out very well and we still offer this. A good site to join is peopleperhour, there are tons of businesses who require someone to take calls for them for an hourly rate. I would suggest choosing a reliable VoIP provider such as voipfone (who are our telecoms provider), this kind of service is popular with VAs who offer call answering services, VoiP providers are not expensive at all and with many you don't need to sign a contract. If you and your wife would like some friendly advice from someone who has been there, please feel free to PM me.

 

[cjd]

This may help you:

http://www.voipfoneuserforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=4200

 

[S-Marketing]

Hi,

I've been toying with the idea of starting a telephone answering service for my wife to run, but unwilling to take the plunge in quitting her job until I know I can find some clients.

I was looking for a reseller or white label solution so that I can set the website up, market the business, but outsource my clients (until I build enough clients to make the business feasible).

I was looking to pay around 50p to 60p per call (to outsource) as I am trying to make my prices competitive in the market (80p to potential clients).

Can anyone help, or know of anyone (such as a VA)???

Regards,
David

Finding clients for such a business is the easy bit. It would be very easy and cheap to quickly find you enough clients.

The tough bit with such a business is finding the balance between too many and too few clients. Too few and you dont have enough work to earn a decent sum, too many and you need to build alliances with others to cover during busy times. There is no point having so many clients that your wife will often miss calls as she is already on the phone.

 

[No Missed Calls]

Hi David,

We have a number of resellers and affiliates that we work with. Would be happy to discuss the options with you.

Thanks

Emma

 

[onlinevideo]

Hi,

I've been toying with the idea of starting a telephone answering service for my wife to run, but unwilling to take the plunge in quitting her job until I know I can find some clients.

I was looking for a reseller or white label solution so that I can set the website up, market the business, but outsource my clients (until I build enough clients to make the business feasible).

I was looking to pay around 50p to 60p per call (to outsource) as I am trying to make my prices competitive in the market (80p to potential clients).

Can anyone help, or know of anyone (such as a VA)???

Regards,
David

Sounds like a cautious and sensible way of doing it. I'd ring up some and act as a customer, getting some prices as you go. See if you are competitive. But then when you set-up, see if they will offer you a deal.

 

[Jet Virtual]

Hi,

I've been toying with the idea of starting a telephone answering service for my wife to run

Regards,
David

HI David we have others reselling our telephone answering services and we offer a full whitelable solution where you can brand as your own.

You are definitely going down the right path starting out reselling as opposed to starting it in-house. The challenge will be getting enough clients to cover the costs etc.

Please feel free to PM me and I will be more than happy to assist.

Best of luck,

Daniel

 

[Ashley_Price]

Hi,

I've been toying with the idea of starting a telephone answering service for my wife to run, but unwilling to take the plunge in quitting her job until I know I can find some clients.

I was looking for a reseller or white label solution so that I can set the website up, market the business, but outsource my clients (until I build enough clients to make the business feasible).

I was looking to pay around 50p to 60p per call (to outsource) as I am trying to make my prices competitive in the market (80p to potential clients).

Can anyone help, or know of anyone (such as a VA)???

Hi David

Welcome to UKBF.

Until the end of last year I provided call answering services, so I think I can give you some advice here.

Firstly, if you're looking at white label, be very careful who you use. You need to make sure they are not going to tarnish your (or your wife's) business name. Remember, your clients will think your wife or her team is answering the phone, so if the company you use to actually answer them provides a poor service then you're going to suffer. What insurance do they provide if this happens? You also need to make sure that they then don't try and poach your clients by offering them a better deal.

Secondly, you're going to need to decide on VOIP or ISDN numbers. This very much comes down to your internet speed and how stable it is. I had ISDN rather than VOIP as our internet was a little unstable.

Third, you need to consider how this will work once the number of clients builds up. Your wife can only answer one call at a time, and even with only two clients, there could be occasions when a caller for each client happens to ring at exactly the same time, so what happens then? If one of those calls goes to voicemail then there's little point the client having a call answering service, if his/her calls aren't being answered.

Fourth, you need to think about how, once your wife leaves her job, you are going to deal with holidays, sickness etc. We had two members of staff as well as my wife and myself, and most of the time this worked fine. However, for example, in January, February and March last year, my wife tried to have a day off, and on all three occasions one of the staff went ill, meaning my wife had to be in. Also, holidays can become problematic. Your wife will find that, unless she has a good number of staff, she is not going to be able to get away from the office very often during business hours.

So those are just four major things to consider, I am happy to give you more advice or guidance if you wish, just PM me.

 

[Tbozz]

Hi David

Welcome to UKBF.

Until the end of last year I provided call answering services, so I think I can give you some advice here.

Firstly, if you're looking at white label, be very careful who you use. You need to make sure they are not going to tarnish your (or your wife's) business name. Remember, your clients will think your wife or her team is answering the phone, so if the company you use to actually answer them provides a poor service then you're going to suffer. What insurance do they provide if this happens? You also need to make sure that they then don't try and poach your clients by offering them a better deal.

Secondly, you're going to need to decide on VOIP or ISDN numbers. This very much comes down to your internet speed and how stable it is. I had ISDN rather than VOIP as our internet was a little unstable.

Third, you need to consider how this will work once the number of clients builds up. Your wife can only answer one call at a time, and even with only two clients, there could be occasions when a caller for each client happens to ring at exactly the same time, so what happens then? If one of those calls goes to voicemail then there's little point the client having a call answering service, if his/her calls aren't being answered.

Fourth, you need to think about how, once your wife leaves her job, you are going to deal with holidays, sickness etc. We had two members of staff as well as my wife and myself, and most of the time this worked fine. However, for example, in January, February and March last year, my wife tried to have a day off, and on all three occasions one of the staff went ill, meaning my wife had to be in. Also, holidays can become problematic. Your wife will find that, unless she has a good number of staff, she is not going to be able to get away from the office very often during business hours.

So those are just four major things to consider, I am happy to give you more advice or guidance if you wish, just PM me.

i am aware this is a very old thread, hence not expecting people to comment, however i need some information about this business from you please, have tried to Pm you but couldn't.
will really appreciate if you can drop me a Pm.

cheers

 

[Ashley_Price]

@Tbozz Good morning... I don't know why you can't PM me (you're not the only one who can't).

Please feel free to send me an email to the address in the signature below.

 

[Tbozz]

@Tbozz Good morning... I don't know why you can't PM me (you're not the only one who can't).

Please feel free to send me an email to the address in the signature below.

Thanks i have just sent you an email