Businesses today have many options available when choosing an answering service. Why does it make sense to choose Flat Answering Service’s US-based service rather than an overseas one? After all, doesn’t everyone know that the overseas companies are “cheaper”?

Well, there are many ways that “cheaper” can cost you. Your answering service represents you and your company to the public. It’s an industry where professionalism and courtesy are the key elements of success.

And regarding the “cheaper” aspect — we understand it’s a struggle for small businesses in today’s economy and have priced our monthly packages with affordability and scalability in mind. Our starter answering service plan is only $39 per month, an amount almost every business should find affordable.

Problems with a overseas or “outsourced” service can mean lost sales and customers. Here’s how using our US-based service can help:

Using a US-based company eliminates problems with difficult-to-understand accents and cultural differences in conversational styles. Your customers can feel more comfortable talking with someone they can easily understand and who can easily understand them. This enhances your customer’s experience and thus can generate more positive feelings about your business and what it sells or the service it provides. Surveys also support the idea that US residents prefer US call centers. One study by the CFI group found that customer satisfaction rose from 58% after using a foreign call center to 79% for a US call center.

Second, if you have problems, who are you going to call? If your call center is in India, for example, there’s a substantial time difference. How many times are you ready to get up in the middle of the night to chase down a middle manager who doesn’t return your email? How do you know you’re talking to the right person? Meanwhile, there’s only one time to make a first impression and these unsolved customer service problems could be hurting your business.

Third and finally, when you consider the advantages in customer relations and ease of use, that cost differential may actually shift to the US-based answering service. We charge rates that are roughly comparable with overseas competitors, due to greater efficiency in operation.

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