As a small business owner it can be difficult to delegate your duties to somebody else. Many entrepreneurs fear their enterprise will crash down around them without their presence at the helm, overseeing everything.

But if you answer every phone call and respond to every email and text that comes your way, then you’re not using your time effectively. More importantly, you’re not giving yourself time to complete your most crucial tasks. Growing your business and winning new customers.

Business owners need to ask themselves how available they are to their customers.

Being accessible to customers both new and old is very important but too much accessibility is unproductive. If you’re always being dragged away from projects then nothing will ever get completed.

In my own business, there are occasions when I feel it’s right to answer the phone and I do. But I will only answer the phone if I can.

If I’m tied up on a project which needs finishing, the phone will be answered by someone in the office. If not, then it goes through to our virtual office where it will be answered in my own company name. We can then return the call when it’s right for us.

On a personal level, I don’t give out my mobile phone number unless it’s the right thing to do. Generally, this is for the customers who spend more money with me and warrant a higher level of assistance.

Everything we do in this industry isn’t life or death and I’m accessible by phone or email. I will return calls promptly but I have to use my time effectively – otherwise nothing else would ever get done.

I talk to lots of business owners who never get the time to pull their staff together for a team meeting. These meetings are hugely important for boosting morale and ensuring staff feel included and informed.

For those business owners who don’t employ anyone else, time spent answering calls can consume hours of valuable time. With little left for critical business functions such as ordering supplies, etc… this can quickly result in disorganisation.

A virtual call answering service is an ideal solution. Customers are important to every business and are critical for profit. Ensuring their calls are answered and are dealt with by a human being will keep them on your side until you have quality time to set aside to respond to their call.

I hope this article has made you think about how accessible are you - whether you’re too accessible or not accessible enough.

Good customer service is vital to keeping old customers and attracting new ones but you also need to value your own time.

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