Client
McNeil Advantage is a business management consulting firm offering coaching, consulting, financial management, strategy, planning, marketing and more. Its mission is to provide customized solutions that save time and money and improve overall efficiency for clients.
A firm that sells responsiveness has to be reachable itself. Consulting clients reach for the phone at the moment a problem appears, not during a scheduled check-in, and how that call is answered is part of what they are paying for. As McNeil Advantage grew, keeping a live person on the phones at all hours became the problem to solve, the same one Abby answers for firms across business services.
The Challenge
Before partnering with Abby, McNeil Advantage faced significant challenges managing client communications, particularly during peak seasons:
- Limited availability: a lack of 24/7 phone support meant clients often encountered voicemail instead of a live person.
- Increased call volume: high volumes during busy periods led to missed calls and delayed responses.
- Client frustration: delays in communication created a perception of unavailability, especially for urgent issues.
“We struggled to have a live person available to answer calls 24/7, especially during our peak season.”
To enhance customer service, the firm set three objectives: ensure 24/7 availability for client inquiries, improve response times to avoid missed calls, and increase overall customer satisfaction with prompt, professional service. Hiring more in-house staff to sit by the phone would have solved the coverage problem by creating a payroll problem, so the firm looked outside.
The Solution
McNeil Advantage researched various receptionist services, focusing on reliability and customer service. The selection criteria: 24/7 availability, capacity to manage high call volumes, seamless integration with existing systems, and a proven track record of enhancing customer satisfaction.
After evaluating several options, the firm chose Abby. Every McNeil Advantage call is now answered by Abby’s live human receptionist service: real, U.S.-based receptionists who answer in the firm’s name around the clock, take messages, route what is urgent and deliver everything to the team in seconds.
Onboarding was as light as the quote below suggests: the firm transferred its line, and the receptionist team answered from that moment on with McNeil Advantage’s own greeting and instructions. Messages arrive by text, email and the my.abby.com portal within seconds of each call, coverage runs 24/7 with no after-hours or weekend upcharge, and bilingual English/Spanish answering is included on every plan. And because Abby is one subscription used three ways, the firm can route any share of its calls to the AI Receptionist whenever it chooses; a minute with the AI uses half an Abby Minute.
“Setup was so easy. I just transferred my line to Abby and that was that!”
The Results
For a consulting firm, the arithmetic is straightforward: every answered call is a client who felt looked after, and every hour not spent covering the phone is an hour spent on client work. McNeil Advantage got both, without hiring.
- Reduction in missed calls: a noticeable decline in missed calls and improved responsiveness during peak hours.
- Enhanced customer interactions: all client calls answered by a live receptionist, leading to quicker resolutions of inquiries.
- Increased customer satisfaction: a decrease in call abandonment rates and a surge in positive client feedback regarding phone interactions.
- Cost savings: less need for additional in-house staff to manage calls, leading to payroll savings and a revenue boost.
- Resource reallocation: internal staff freed from call management to focus on core business activities.
Behind those outcomes sits a simpler change: the firm stopped being unavailable. A client with an urgent issue reaches a person at midnight exactly as they would at midday, and the consultants hear about it as a message within seconds instead of a complaint the next morning.
In Their Words
“Partnering with Abby has enhanced our customer interactions.”
“Leveraging Abby’s services has allowed us to reallocate resources more effectively, focusing our budget on core business activities while maintaining excellent customer service.”
McNeil Advantage enhances customer service for its clients. Now it is your turn: every Abby plan starts with a free trial and no setup fee.
