Abby Connect®, the premier provider of live virtual receptionist services for small businesses in the US and Canada, is proud to announce that we answered over one million calls during 2020 and the height of the COVID pandemic.
No one could have imagined the impact that COVID19 would have on small businesses in the US and throughout the world. CEO Nathan Strum remarked, “Our way of life, as we knew it, changed dramatically. And, for better or for worse, Abby was there to answer the call.”
Strum stated that “Abby’s focus on compassionate, clear, and consistent communication paired with a 24/7 answering service for small businesses helped keep many businesses not just stay open but even helped them grow.”
As the effects of the pandemic settled in, some small businesses started to go under and even close their doors for good. But clients of Abby Connect had a much different experience. Although storefronts and offices shut down for companies that went remote, business owners that used Abby as their answering service never felt their doors close. And, neither did their callers.
As experts in customer excellence, receptionists at Abby know how to make your callers feel like they just stepped through your lobby and right up to the front desk. “Callers never feel the disconnect that they get from calling businesses that use other answering services,” said Strum. “And, we can assure you that we understand the challenges of making big changes like this and all while pushing through the effects of the pandemic.” While businesses had to move their offices to remote locations, Abby Connect had to make a big move, too…
The BIG Move
In the spring of 2020, Abby Connect moved to a bigger location. Abby Connect was expanding and needed a bit more room. CEO of Abby Connect, Nathan Strum, found the perfect spot to grow and thrive in, and Abby Connect opened a new larger office …the weekend prior to the city of Las Vegas issuing the necessary restrictions to aid in reducing the spread of COVID19.
This presented a great challenge. You see at Abby Connect; we believe it’s best that our family-like team works under one roof. Remote working isn’t something we do very much of around here. And, there is a good reason for that. Unlike other answering services, we at Abby have a training program and team structure that surpasses any other format of operations for live answering services.
Marianne Mlechick, Vice President of Operations, explains, “Our client’s callers never get just any random receptionist answering their calls. We’ve divided our receptionists into teams of no more than five with a team leader assigned to head each grouping. With three shifts in the day, a team of five covers each shift. So, if you have traditional office hours with us, you’ll get very familiar with the select five voices assigned to answering your calls. If you have custom answering hours, say 24/7 service, then you’ll never have more than fifteen fabulous receptionists taking your calls.”
“Our operations system is the best in the business! But not as easy to execute when we’re not all working out of the same building. So, believe me when I say that we understand firsthand how hard it was getting through those first weeks of quarantine. No matter what the challenge was though our CEO pushed forward, our leadership supported us all, our business prevailed, and so did our clients’ businesses.”
How We Helped Businesses Stay Open
There was nothing more confusing for business owners that went remote than figuring out exactly how to get the quality of working from their office implemented into their homes. At least, for those that didn’t already have their home offices set up. Which, by the way, applied to the majority of office workers in the US.
Abby Connect took away those concerns SMB owners felt towards their business phone lines. As leading experts in business phone systems and top business phone carriers, Abby was able to forward lines and set up services for our clients faster and more efficiently than other services. This seamless act helped control the gap that many SMB owners began to feel in their sales margins when they chose to take all their business calls on themselves or go with a lesser quality answering service.
When you miss calls, you miss the chance to communicate with current or potential clients. You’re missing an opportunity to do business! With quarantine in effect, the only options for people to reach out and do business with you are limited. Having an attractive, user-friendly website is a must for your visitors. But a clear way to contact you is just as important.
Marketing Director, Sam Schwartz, remarked, “Many businesses that went remote relied on their company’s website and online search engines to bring them their customers. Although it was a great place to start, many online visitors start looking elsewhere once they see that there isn’t a clearly posted customer service phone line on your site that they can contact. Resorting to chat, these businesses drive a great wedge between them and their buyers. And, that division is artificial intelligence.”
People want to talk to people. Not a machine. Recent statistics show that 80% of callers sent to voicemail, don’t leave messages because they don’t think they’ll even be heard. It’s an accurate assumption considering 30% of voicemails never get listened to for at least three days, and 20% of people that have voicemail never listen to it, according to The New York Times.
Schwartz continued, “At Abby, we put that human touch on every call. Our receptionists receive empathy training and constant support from leadership to help them in providing the most genuine human experiences one can have over the phone. And, when you call Abby it feels like you just stepped through the lobby and right up to your front desk. This is how we kept our client’s front doors and businesses open.”
How We Helped SMBs Grow
So, it’s one thing to keep your doors open in times of economic crisis. Growing your business, however, is an entirely different playing field. In a storm, most can only keep their heads above water. Treading water is about all you can do in times of economic crisis, right? WRONG!
Customers of Abby Connect not only maintain business, but they have also thrived throughout the pandemic. Many of our newer clients that turned to the remote way of work in 2020 had an option that they never even considered before. 24/7 answering services! And man, let me tell you, these businesses went from busy to booming, all while enduring an international health crisis.
Most companies, before switching to an answering service, in 2020 had a very traditional office setup. All of which had the staple position of receptionist operating within the company. A receptionist that, just like everyone else in the office, worked a certain shift. These offices, never having a receptionist stay longer than the traditional eight-hour workday, suddenly began to realize the benefits of having someone answer your calls twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days out of the year.
With their phone lines always being attended by the best receptionists in the business, Abby’s clients saw major growth within their sales margins. No longer missing out on the opportunity to grow their business over the phone, our clients have seen nothing for success in the expansion of their businesses.
And, it wasn’t just our clients that experienced this growth. We too grew as our high-quality services developed a higher demand from those SMBs seeking out the very best for virtual receptionists. As a matter of fact, we were listed in the annual INC5000 for 2020 and are proud to be represented among the top fastest-growing private companies in America.
About Abby Connect
Abby Connect’s virtual receptionists help busy professionals save time so they can focus on running and growing their businesses. Abby’s receptionists are top-rated on Clutch.co and ConsumerAffairs.com, and are professional, friendly, and become a natural extension of our customers’ teams. Abby Connect’s founders maintain that having tight-knit company culture which emphasizes team building and personal development, will extend into creating a better service for clients. We make working with an offsite receptionist team seamless for our customers, with an easy-to-use Mobile App and Portal, dedicated Customer Success Managers, and a unique 14-day free trial. As a result, we help our customers capture more calls and improve communication with existing contacts, which leads to more business.
The “Abby Way”
We value our culture and encourage communication, growth, and teamwork by using our core values as a guide. The Abby Way seeks to empower, inspire, and encourage growth by making connections with others. Abby Connect’s receptionists are professional, reliable, and relatable. Our team knows that connecting and empathizing on a personal level is the foundation for establishing trust and confidence within callers. With this in mind, we invest our time in making sure we embrace the human connection within this world of technology. We are committed to providing incredible experiences to both our team and our clients by using the power of the human connection.
