There are a lot of important customer service skills your employees need to have, and one of them is great phone communication skills. While some people may argue that the phone is dead, that is far from the truth. Even in this modern world, a lot of people’s preferred method of communication is by phone.

While it’s important to have other channels your customers can use to reach you, you should still have a business phone number. But this doesn’t mean you should use a regular phone line. Instead, you should go above and beyond and use business phone services.

Here is why.

You can be reached anytime and anywhere

When someone mentions phone communication for businesses, a lot of people picture the old-fashioned desk phone. And while desk phones still exist in some companies, that isn’t what you get with phone services.

The system will allow your customers and team members to reach you no matter where you are and what time it is. You don’t have to be sitting at your desk in the office. You could be on the other side of the world or working from home and you can still pick up that business line.

Call forwarding is also very seamless and simple thanks to these services. Even if one agent can’t help a customer, they can instantly forward the call to someone else.

It allows you to provide amazing service

Customer service is one of the most essential departments in any company. As much as 93% of customers say they are more likely to purchase again from companies that provide excellent customer service, so you need to take your customer service seriously.

With business phone services, you have a lot of useful features that make contacting your business via phone simple and effortless. You will have access to multiple phones and lines that are all interconnected into a single network which allows for longer congestion and better connectivity.

Let’s face it, while other communication channels all have their benefits, nothing will ever replace the personal touch you get with a phone call. An agent can provide an explanation over the phone much better than they could via email or a social media message.

They come with CRM integration

Anyone who owns a business nowadays knows how important business tools are. And when it comes to creating positive customer relations, no tool is better than a CRM. A customer relationship management tool is filled with useful data your agents need to make every customer interaction perfect.

If you use a CRM, you’ll be happy to know that business phone services should come with a CRM integration. Thanks to this feature, an agent will instantly get all relevant client information on their computer screen as soon as they pick up their phone.

This allows them to familiarize themselves with the customer, and provide a custom and personalized experience. Additionally, they can use the customer’s history with the business to help them quickly and efficiently without too much effort.

Another great feature that comes with the CRM integration is automatic call recording. These recordings will be stored with the customer’s information and can be used for monitoring, training, and even legal purposes if necessary.  

It helps take off the pressure

One of the reasons why the phone isn’t dead is that 65% of people prefer to contact a business by phone call. However, regular phone calls take a toll on the customer service employees who are receiving them.

When you have an old-fashioned desk phone, your agents need to worry about call routing, people who are waiting to get on the line, frustrated customers, and more. But with an all-in-one business phone system, those stressful things become a thing of the past.

Not only does the system has all of the features you need to make phone calls more pleasant for your customers and agents, but it also comes with the ability to enable an auto attendant or a queue. This will take the pressure of human error off your employees.

Additionally, you will also have support and help from a vendor. This means that you and your employees won’t have to deal with anything other than learning how to use the features and perhaps some basic troubleshooting. The rest will be taken care of by a trustworthy IT technician.

Conclusion

Don’t let the popularity of modern communication channels deceive you, phone calls are here to stay. Even though some people consider phones to be outdated and irrelevant, you can’t run a successful business without one.

And thanks to business phone services, you can benefit from the classic appeal of a phone call while taking advantage of modern technologies and features.