Contractors are too busy with site visits, client meetings, and crew management to answer the phones to telemarketers, robocallers, and scammers peddling business opportunities. Not only do those distractions fragment focus during key processes, but they also produce a false sense of urgency, drawing contractors away from real billable work.
It gets even trickier when the spam is hidden in between bona fide business calls. Contractors can end up losing out on thousands in revenue by inadvertently missing out on a genuine customer inquiry while trying to avoid telemarketers.
In this post, we will examine the reasons behind the flood of spam calls targeting contractors, as well as practical measures you can take to automatically redirect spam calls, such as getting an answering service from Signpost into a black hole while allowing critical business communications through.
Why Are Spam Calls Common For Contractors?
Contractors easily attract a lot of spam calls since they are evident in business directories and licensing databases. As contractors register their companies, acquire permits, or list services online, their contact info is sold to data brokers who sell those leads to telemarketers.
Most of the services offered look like potential customers to contractors due to the project-based nature of the construction industry. Since contractors are in constant need of equipment, materials, insurance, and financing, spammers consider them easy cold calling targets. Contractors also work with several subcontractors and suppliers, resulting in an assumption that they will regularly get business calls. As a result, contractors are finding it more difficult to distinguish between spam calls and genuine work-related calls, which means a lot of contractors are answering calls that they should ignore.
How Answering Service Helps Contractors Filter Out Spam Calls
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Advanced Call Screening Technology
Contemporary answering solutions screen calls by checking caller ID, scanning blocklists, and recognizing patterns in call activity to block known spam numbers from reaching contractors. These are for automatically blocking robocalls and numbers identified by telecom authorities.
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Human Call Assessment
Trained operators assess incoming calls quickly using a specific set of criteria. About 99% of the time, when they answer the phone, they can separate the business proposition from the sales pitch in seconds. Industry data confirms that professional call screening can eliminate as much as 85% of spam calls, yet it has a 99% call forwarding accuracy for actual business development calls.
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Customizable Filtering Rules
Contractors can set rules for their answering service, which consist of:
- Call forwarding within business hours only
- Only allowing calls from specific area codes or numbers
- Asking callers to have project information or a reference source
- Prioritizing your current customers and vendors
How to Find The Best Answering Service For Contractors
Evaluating providers based on their construction industry experience and ability to filter spam calls is essential to finding the right answering service. Find a company that speaks contractor (emergency) fluently; there are introduction processes involved in every response.
Supporting features to consider:
- 24/7 Availability
- Mobile App accessibility
- Detailed Call Reporting.
- It should provide you with scripts that are customized to your business personality while remaining as professional as you need to be to prospects.
Unlike typical answering service providers, Sign Post is unique, focusing on contractor communications only. Their spam filtering combines technology and construction-trained operators. The system recognizes your customers’ habits and gives an extensive summary of calls to contractors, helping to prioritize callbacks. Transparent pricing (no long-term contracts) allows contractors to assess the bottom-line effectiveness of their spam filtering easily. The service works with existing business phone systems and sends real-time notifications for high-priority calls requiring immediate attention.
