A phone answering service is definitely something you can operate
from home as a home-based business. There are some turn-key
business opportunities where companies actually recruit home-based phone answering service providers, generally to accept
inquiry calls for product information. Some of these involve
sales, some involve technical support, and some are as simple as
taking down a person’s address and phone number and scheduling
them for a follow-up call or visit, or taking a message.
Another option is to start your very own phone answering service
and to build your own client base. Sometimes this is a better
alternative than going with turn-key opportunities because, with
a turn-key operation, if the company you are working for goes
under, your business is shot. When you’ve built your own client-
base, it may hurt your business to lose a client, but you can
always get busy finding new clients to compensate for the loss of
business.
One woman I knew signed up to answer phones for a company that
sold tarot readings. She figured it was a scam, but there were no
start-up costs involved, so she decided to give it a try. The way
the phone answering service worked was, when she was ready to
answer phones, she dialed a number and signed into the system.
When she was signed in, inquiry calls were forwarded to her home
phone. She got paid a flat fee for every phone call she answered
through her phone answering service, and then got paid a bonus if
she scheduled an appointment with the tarot reader for the
caller. She received weekly checks for the calls that she took,
plus the bonuses.
The benefits of this type of arrangement are, you don’t have to
do much work to get started, and you can work when you want to.
The main disadvantage is, it is an opportunity that could be here
today and gone tomorrow. Stability is sometimes a concern if you
are depending on the income and the company shuts down, or even
decreases their marketing because your volume of calls depends
upon their efforts, not your own.
If you start your own phone answering service, you may have some
trouble getting clients. Only certain types of businesses
actually hire phone answering services and many of them are
declining due to the availability of cell phones. Even so, some
service conscious entrepreneurs and service providers who simply
do not want their customers to have to speak to voice mail, and
some don’t want their work interrupted by phone calls, so there
is still a demand for home-based phone answering services.
If you open your own home-based phone answering service, you can
define a broad target market and get clients that are not local;
however, in many cases, the best place to get clients is from
your community. Entrepreneurs who provide services at a
customer’s home or place of business are great targets for a
home-based phone answering service. Plumbers, electricians,
painters, contractors, roofers, carpet and tile layers,
landscapers, home remodelers, home decorators, and so forth are
good examples. For instance, if they are roofing a house, they
don’t want to stop what they are doing to answer the phone, and
having office staff to answer the phone is not usually
financially viable for small trade businesses such as these. Your
home-based phone answering service may be just what they need to
keep their business professional without the overhead costs of an
office.
Some home-based phone answering services provide services for
standard office tasks as well. Typing, entering data into a
bookkeeping system, preparing bills and other mail, or filling
orders are some services you can offer that are complementary to
a phone answering service. By offering additional services, you
will make the most of your time, rather than just sitting around
waiting for the phone to ring. With a little thought and
innovation, and a good sales pitch to pick up clients, you can
make money from a home-based phone answering service.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
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or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
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