Comments for Emma Fryer

Comment on Voicemail Vs Telephone Answering Service by Jacqui Kemp

Jacqui Kemp — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:16:03 +0000

I know that I have missed calls in the past and people calling me who have not left messages on my voice mail, then I switched to using Answer It and now I don’t miss any calls, and I always return messages when I am free.
I agree for some people it is not a problem to leave messages on answering machines, but for others when they take a big step in calling a therapist like me the last thing they want is an electronic message, and what they get is someone who knows about the services I offer and my availability, much better than a machine.
Jacqui

Comment on Voicemail Vs Telephone Answering Service by Julian Lewis

Julian Lewis — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:04:08 +0000

I would always rather speak to a person, agreed, but we dont live in an ideal world, thats all I am saying.

Comment on Voicemail Vs Telephone Answering Service by emma-fryer.com

emma-fryer.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:52:22 +0000

Hi Julian – and Thanks for your comment.
I totally agree with you that there can be an issue with return phone calls. However having spoken to many people about this I am now aware that lots of people are telephone phobic in one way or another. Many of our clients would admit to this. They find that if we(Answer-it) take their calls the caller is encouraged to leave plenty of information and so some of the fear in returning the call is taken away. The unknown factor is eliminated and they can be prepared when they return the call.
Whilst I appreciate that you don’t mind leaving a voicemail, as long as you feel confident you will get a call back. Surely speaking to a real live person, who might be able to help with your enquiry, take details from you to facilitate a faster response, or at the very least indicate when a call back might be forthcoming, must be preferable. Finally surely you would rather not wait in a queue or speak to a machine when you can speak to a real live friendly helpful person?

Emma

Comment on Voicemail Vs Telephone Answering Service by Julian Lewis

Julian Lewis — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:14:45 +0000

Voicemail is only as good as the people who use it.

I dont mind leaving a voicemail if I know that person will get back to me. In fact I would rather do that than have to call back later in the event of no answer. If the phone is answered by somebody who can only take a message then this is simular to voicemail, its only good if I do get a response.

I think most people appreciate that some times not all calls can be answered first time and that they may have to either wait in a queue or leave a message when that company is busy.

The real issue is do you return your calls? If you do then how you take the message is not important.

Comment on Perfection by Ann Hawkins

Ann Hawkins — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:01:50 +0000

Just had another thought on this and that’s about consistency. As you say Emma, its important that your customers should know what to expect.
One of the reasons that MacDonald’s, or any good franchised product or service works, is that everyone knows what to expect. However, if one branch of MacDonalds started to buy in more expensive ingredients in an attempt to exceed customer expectations, the results on their profitability would be disastrous.
Its a good idea for businesses to strive for perfection, but only if their prices truly reflect this level of service. If not, they must work within their margins or they’ll soon end up with cash flow problems!

Comment on Networking – My Thoughts by Ann Hawkins

Ann Hawkins — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:13:56 +0000

Emma, you’re so right! Only last week I was so keen to point out the differences between various networking organisations that I nearly upset someone who offers a very different experience to The Inspired Group.
The main word here is ‘different’ not inferior or better!
The organisation that gave you your first taste of networking is hugely successful all over the world and many people like it and get lots of business through it. Other people prefer a more relaxed approach but, as you point out, there is a huge variety of organisations and my advice to everyone is always to try as many as possible and see what suits you.
I’d also like to point out that the best networking doesn’t just take place in networking meetings. The very best networkers are always ready to share their contacts and put people in touch with each other even when they don’t benefit directly from it.
As someone once said “Networking is not about you!”

Comment on Perfection by Ken Seymour

Ken Seymour — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:14:24 +0000

Interesting post, due to work, I am a bit of perfectionist – self confessed, but then computers need to be right. There is a place for perfectionism (is that a word)? But good reminder that we don’t need to carry that over into everything otherwise things may not get completed.

Oh did I metion the speeling mistook in your post the speel chequer miffed.

Comment on Perfection by Gary Dickenson

Gary Dickenson — Fri, 21 May 2010 07:01:37 +0000

Interesting post Emma. I freely admit that I seek perfection for our reputation and what we deliver. However the perfection is mostly based on what has been promised in our proposal and thus the client expectation.

One phrase I find useful is ‘Under promising and over delivery’. As a business that gains most of its clients via referral we live and die by our reputation so delivering ‘perfection’ or indeed over delivering is very important.

So perfection is both a variable bar and subjective.

Comment on Perfection by Katherine Connolly

Katherine Connolly — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Interesting thoughts on perfection there Emma – I like how you relate it back to customers’ needs and expectations. Maybe the only perfection any of us actually strive for is in our own eyes and we either live up to it or we don’t, without really involving the customer. As you rightly say, the customer wants consistency and he/she should have that from each and every one of us in business, regardless of how close to perfection we come in our own eyes!

Comment on Perfection by Ann Hawkins

Ann Hawkins — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:24:28 +0000

Great post Emma. Perfectionism is a trait that often trips business owners up. As well as being a great way to fritter away profits it is also a good reason to procrastinate. My watchword in most business situations is “you don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going” and improvements can be made along the way but only up to the point where they are useful to the business.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be the best but if it just comes down to ego or a fear of criticism then its not useful.