Calling Services Focus on Customers
Calling services serve an important role for businesses seeking an all-inclusive, professional way of handling their calls and chats. The customers of these businesses benefit too. And that’s just as important, if not more so.
In her article “It’s Not All About You”, Phoebe Netto writes about shining the spotlight less on one’s business—how well it performs or its innovative technology—and more on addressing “the deepest concerns and desires of both its clients and potential clients.”
In other words, I could talk about the cloud-based software and intuitive CRMs used by calling services to ensure seamless integrations with their clients. I can point out all the bells and whistles: web chats, order management, call routing, lead capturing. I could bring up the fact that calling services are cost-efficient, economical and scalable till I’m metaphorically blue in the face. But I’d be missing the point.
The bottom line truly is, what do the customers gain when a business uses a calling service? How do they benefit?
They get to talk to someone. They get to avoid menus and phone trees and, as a result, feel heard. If a customer calls to speak to someone who happens to be unavailable, their message will reach its recipient much more quickly via call service than via voice mail or answering machine. They’re able to take care of that task at any hour, at their own convenience, by phone or through chat, rather than having to match their schedule to a company’s normal business hours. They’re more empowered and they likely feel far more connected to the brand.
Which is another way of saying “loyal.” To a business, higher profits hardly ever happen quickly, with a new killer app, consumer product or service. More often, higher profits come from combinations of targeted marketing, filling a market niche, competitive business and supply chain strategies, efficiency, quality products and services, cohesive branding, you name it—and strong customer loyalty.
You don’t generate brand loyalty by ignoring your customers when they call. You generate loyalty by picking up the phone when they call, every single time. That’s how calling services generate profit.
Attachment Issues
Trevor Prideaux’s smartphone is like an appendage. Literally.
Having been born without a left forearm, Mr. Prideaux is proficient with his prosthetic limb, but he has trouble operating newer smartphone models. Because a cell phone is so central to his Britain-based catering business, however, he worked with the Exeter Mobility Centre and Nokia to customize a prosthetic arm with a built-in smartphone dock.
Prideaux’s ability to turn an obstacle into an innovation is inspiring, illustrating an entrepreneur’s ability to examine a problem and develop a ground-breaking solution that benefits anyone facing similar problems.
The story also illustrates the incredible importance we’ve bestowed upon our smartphones.
Trevor Prideaux could never compete with other caterers without his smartphone. That’s understandable. His smartphone lets him access his email and social media accounts, GPS, appointment calendar, customer contact book and, of course, the Internet. Why wouldn’t a man want to carve out a smartphone dock in his prosthetic arm?
Other people’s reliance on their smartphones reveal far deeper concerns than simply running a competitive business. Critics observe that many people aren’t only attached to their phones, but neurotically dependent on them. “Cell phone addiction” is a new term cropping up in addiction recovery circles. Websites ask, in what I imagine as gentle, concerned tones, “Do you feel anxious when your cell-phone signal does not have good signal strength?”
Personally, the strength of my cell phone signal has little bearing on my ability to relax, although I will admit to feeling uneasy should I leave my phone behind.
Recently, I decided to enjoy one of the last clear, sunny days of fall and go on a short hike. Immediately upon realizing that I’d left my cell phone on the kitchen counter, I became certain that day would be the day I fall down a ravine.
Honestly, this experience made me feel a little off my axis. I couldn’t help but wonder at my discomfiture over missing a device that’s been around for less than a decade. Webster’s New World Dictionary 2006 Word of the Year was crackberry. That was an innocent year.
So what do you think? Are smartphones tiny miracles of technological connectivity, letting us run our businesses and daily lives more efficiently? Or are they another technological extension to which we’re becoming entirely too attached?
‘Tis the Season for a Call Answering Service (Already)
Let’s try a quick experiment in Pavlovian conditioning:
Black Friday.
If you’ve ever worked holiday-season retail, you probably flinched. If you’re a die-hard shopper, your pulse probably quickened. If you’re a business owner, you’re probably crossing your fingers that this year’s holiday shopping season will turn higher profits than last year’s underwhelming results.
Black Friday—that day after Thanksgiving when shoppers swarm retail stores in the wee hours of the morning, hoping to score big deals—has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S. since 2005. It’s a day retail businesses prepare and hope for, and a call answering service can handle the inevitably increased phone calls.
I write from experience; one of my first retail jobs was for a chain bookstore. Every August, sometimes as early as July, I’d open up a box of just-arrived magazines and be startled by wreath-bedecked covers inside. It was then I learned how different retail calendars are from my own, and that the twelve days of Christmas are more like twelve weeks. Toys R’ Us is already planning on adding 40,000 holiday jobs nationwide.
Well-prepared retailers should add “answering service” to their pre-Black Friday to-do list (along with “festive soundtrack” and “holiday display tables”) to make sure phones are properly staffed.
Any increase in business is an increase in calls. Customers want to know extended holiday hours, store directions, product pricing—questions that a call answering service could answer just as easily as store employees. Call centers can even place orders and access company sites to check inventory.
Another benefit of using a call answering service for handle holiday overflow: It frees up in-store employees to work with in-store customers. That’s better customer service for everyone.
Hey, it’s like having your own elves.
Answer Connect Leaves No Stone Unturned
0 comments | Posted by: Terri on October 24, 2011 | Categories:
What sets Answer Connect apart from all the other answering services? It’s all in the details.
From the moment operators answer calls to the moment they relay messages, take orders or book appointments, Answer Connect evaluates each stage of the customer/client interaction.
There are a lot of answering services out there, each offering their own features and pricing plans. Most take messages, place online orders and update customers’ accounts. Some only answer local calls. Others receive and place calls nationally or internationally. The difference are important: Things like call quality, operator demeanor and attention to detail are crucial aspects of any service representing your business.
Answer Connect offers highly customizable services. When they partner with your business, they really partner with you. You can manage every aspect of your call handling, right down to the number of seconds you’d like each call to last. Remote business associates can ask your customers as many questions, with as much detail, as your company needs. You can provide employee contacts for operators to transfer calls, reach the right answers or access on-call schedules. If it’s needed, remote associates can access your appointment book, order site or customer database. You can get your messages through multiple channels like phone, fax, text or email. You have a lot of options.
After setting up your account to your satisfaction, you can log on from anywhere and access detailed reports on each call. Client services are available 24 hours a day to make changes or answer questions.
On their side, Answer Connect evaluates calls, ensuring each meets their high customer service standard and verifying that your messages are delivered appropriately. Remote business associates are held to strict quality guidelines.
Answer Connect is a firm believer in quality trumping quantity. They go to great lengths to make certain each feature of their answering service meets their—and their clients’—expectations.
Live Answering Services for Small Businesses
Live answering services for small businesses can give start-ups a fighting chance to establish themselves.
With many Americans unemployed, underemployed or downsized in a grim job market, some would-be entrepreneurs are using their newfound free time to start the business they’ve always thought about.
Unfortunately, starting your own business isn’t as simple as simply providing a product or service. According to SBA.gov, about half of new businesses make it past five years.
Hiring a live answering service can help:
Don’t go overboard.
Fledgling business owners with limited capital shouldn’t spread themselves too thin in the beginning. A virtual receptionist costs a fraction of an actual receptionist but offers many of the same capabilities. In some cases, a contact center can replace the need for a physical office: Many call centers can route calls to home or cell phones.
Understand your market.
Answering services aren’t just upscale answering machines; business owners can also employ them as lead generators. Remote operators can capture callers’ information in detailed surveys or respond to customer interactions via chat through the business website.
Build a reputation.
Never underestimate word of mouth. Building your reputation on exceptional customer service is a massive marketing advantage. Conversely, not being available or not returning calls promptly can leave potential customers with a negative impression that can be hard to change. An answering service guarantees 24-hour availability for the customer and instant notification of missed calls for the business owner.