As with anything in business, it is vital to set out a clear budget for every aspect of your company. This means you will need to work out how much you can afford to spend on different parts of your business throughout the year, ranging from your media campaigns to your staffing costs. Part of running a marketing campaign is being able to handle the influx of new customers that you will attract as a result. This means you will need to set out a clear plan as to how you will handle and manage these new customers, as there is no point is going to the effort of attracting new clients if you can’t handle the extra work.
However, it can be expensive to hire new members of staff for the period immediately following your campaign and it is far more cost effective to employ a professional call handling service to help you manage your calls instead.
Check out some of the costs of employing a member of staff:
- You will need to pay them a salary
- You will need to provide them with equipment
- You will need to find a space for them to work from including furniture
- You will need to pay sick pay, holiday pay and possibly maternity/paternity leave
- You will need to supply them with perks and benefits such as health insurance
If you outsource your call handling to a specialist company you can avoid having to pay all of these costs that will quickly add up, especially if you run a small or medium sized company.
How to Create a Budget
Creating a budget for each individual part of your company is vital, as you need to know what each area is costing you and what you get in return for your investment. When you run a marketing campaign and you set aside X amount of money to spend on it, make sure you include how much it will cost the company to handle the influx of business as a result. This is where you will need to add in the cost of using a call handling service and companies such as Netcall Solutions are competitively priced and are well worth checking out. You can often contact a company like this to create a personalised package for your business and the cost of this will vary depending on how many calls they will need to handle and how long you want to use their services for.
Why You May Need a Call Handling Service
There are many reasons why your company may receive a sudden influx of telephone calls, including:
- In the aftermath of a successful marketing campaign
- In the wake of a new advert being released
- Due to general growth of your company
 When your company grows, so does your client list and while you will need to employ more members of staff to do certain jobs, it is far more cost efficient to outsource some tasks such as handling incoming calls. Customers will need to call you to get a quote, to find out more about your services or products and to request a brochure to be sent to their home or business.
 Whatever the reason your company is receiving more phone calls, it is important that you are able to manage them because every phone call that goes unanswered is a missed opportunity to grow your company.
 Benefits of Using a Call Handling Service
 Some companies may choose to employ a call handling service on a fulltime, on-going basis and here’s why:
- It gives you peace of mind that no phone call ever gets missed
- It saves you the hassle of finding a reliable member of staff
- You can save money on your telephone costs
- They can handle a high volume of calls
- You don’t need to worry about your staff being overwhelmed with an influx of calls to handle on top of their regular work
 You will need to find a company that can offer their call handling services throughout the year and it is also important to find one that is based in the UK. It should offer a support system for you to use should you have any questions or enquiries, and you can usually choose how you want to receive your messages from the company – either via email or SMS.
 You will need to discuss the following when you contact a call handling company, in order to get the right package for your needs and budget:
- Tell them what your budget is, so they can create the best package for you
- Discuss the amount of calls they will need to manage
- Inform the company about how long you want them to handle your calls for
 You can usually complete an online form or you can pick up the phone and make a call to enquire about the different prices of various packages. Good companies worth using will know that one price doesn’t work for all companies and you should look to employ a company that is happy to create a bespoke package to suit your budget. This allows you to only pay for the services that you want to use and helps you to avoid wasting money.
 Intelligent Budgeting
 Sensible budgeting is key to the success of a company and this means it is important to identify opportunities where you can save money, as well as know when to spend and how much to spend. Outsourcing jobs like call handling is important, as it means no phone calls will go unanswered. If you employ a new member of staff to manage these calls in-house, there will be days when they are off sick, time that they go on holiday and who will answer the calls during their lunch break? When you employ a professional call handling company, you will find that it is often far more cost efficient than hiring a member of staff in-house and this is what intelligent budgeting is all about.