When you are running a franchise, answering the phone can feel like just another job on an already endless to-do list. You are meeting customers, delivering a service, managing staff or travelling between appointments. The phone rings, but you cannot answer. By the time you call back, the potential customer may already have found someone else.
For franchisees, missed calls can mean missed revenue. For franchisors, they can also raise questions about how consistently the network handles new enquiries and looks after prospective customers.
The challenge is that being available to customers should not mean being permanently tied to your phone. So, how can you make sure your franchise does not miss valuable opportunities while still giving yourself time to run the business?
Sixteen years ago, when I started Get Ahead, one of my first decisions was who would answer our phone. Since 2010, the answer has been a telephone answering service. It still answers our number today, and in all that time, we have never missed a call.
What is the real cost of a missed call?
Consider a franchise that receives 50 calls a month and misses 5 of them. If half of those missed calls are genuine enquiries, that is potentially two to three lost sales every month.
The financial impact will depend on the franchise, the value of each sale and how effectively enquiries are converted. But over a year, even a relatively small number of lost opportunities can add up.
The cost is not just financial. Repeatedly missing calls can affect customer confidence, damage your brand and leave franchise owners feeling they can never properly switch off.
What is a telephone answering service?
A telephone answering service ensures a real person answers in your franchise’s name whenever you cannot: when you are with a client, on a job, in a meeting or, just as important, on holiday. You divert calls to them when you cannot answer, and they pick up as if they are part of your franchise, using your business name and passing each message on.
You may also see it called a call handling or message taking service, or outsourced telephone answering. It sits between voicemail, which records a message and leaves the caller waiting, and a receptionist, whom you employ to sit in your office. It suits owner-led franchises that are too busy to answer every call but do not want to miss out on precious new enquiries.
How does a telephone answering service work?
You divert your landline, mobile or internet phone system to the answering team. They answer with a greeting you have agreed on and send you each message by email or text. You can often set it up the same day, and switch it on for afternoons, evenings, weekends, a busy season, or a fortnight in August. Whatever works for you.
A trained call handler answers in your business name, takes the caller’s name, number and reason for calling, reassures them that you will be in touch, and passes the message on. You decide what counts as urgent, who to contact (for example, for a tradesperson’s emergency call-out) and whether you want to receive messages by email, text or both. When you are ready, you simply switch the diversion off, and your calls come straight back to you.
A good call handler does not just write down a name and number.
Depending on which telephone answering service provider you choose and what you agree to, call handlers can:
- answer common questions about your opening hours, services or prices
- book appointments in your online booking system or calendar
- find out who is calling and put the call through to you when you are free
- pass urgent calls to you, or to someone you nominate, straight away
- take orders and capture the details of new enquiries
Like an email out-of-office, a recorded message saying you are away until the 14th tells a new customer to try someone else.
A real human being who answers, takes the details and says when you will be back in touch keeps the new enquiry live.
Especially if you are a busy franchise owner trying to take a well-earned break on holiday, you do not want to be thinking about work calls. You need time to recharge and to reconnect with yourself and the people you care about. You cannot do that while checking your phone by the pool. By using a telephone answering service, you can return to a clear list of who called and why rather than a full voicemail box.
Telephone answering service, voicemail or AI: which should you choose?
Voicemail, automated answering tools and live telephone answering can all play a role in managing customer calls. The right choice depends on the type of business you run and what your customers expect.
Voicemail is straightforward and inexpensive, but it risks losing callers. Automated tools are improving and can handle routine enquiries and provide information quickly. But the calls that matter most rarely follow a script: a worried customer, an urgent job or a new client deciding whether to trust you. A real person who answers in your business name, takes the details and reassures the caller you will be in touch can make all the difference.
As Christmas approaches, it is a good time to review who will answer your phone while you are spending time with family and friends. Your franchise should be able to deliver a great customer experience without depending on you being available every minute of every day.
If you do not know how many calls your franchise is missing, start there. You may discover that the cost of doing nothing is greater than you think.
Key takeaways
- A franchise receiving 50 calls a month and missing 5 of them could be losing two to three genuine sales every month if half of those missed calls are real enquiries – a cost that can add up over a year.
- Missed calls carry a cost beyond lost revenue, affecting customer confidence, damaging brand reputation and leaving franchise owners feeling they can never properly switch off from the business.
- A telephone answering service differs from both voicemail and an in-house receptionist – a trained call handler answers in the franchise’s name, takes full details and can often be set up the same day.
- Depending on the provider, call handlers can answer common questions, book appointments directly into a calendar, pass urgent calls through immediately and capture new enquiry details in full.
- Rebecca Newenham has used a telephone answering service at Get Ahead since 2010 and has never missed a call in that time.
