Thinking of engaging the services of a telephone answering service?

Good for you, taking control and making sure you are providing fantastic customer service and ensuring you don’t miss any business. There are lots of service providers out there and in essence each does the same thing. However not all answering services are created equal. It really isn’t a, one size fits all first result after a quick ‘Google’ will do.

What do you want from an answering service?

Have a very clear idea of what you want the service to do for you. Make sure you speak to someone and chat about your requirements. Make sure your requirements are fully understood, as well as the type of business you operate and how you operate.

Getting the right phone number

Do you need a phone number to be supplied for your business if you don’t have one already? If so make sure that you have explored all the details of what is on offer. 0845 0870 and 0800 numbers are all fine if called from a land line but for people calling from a mobile phone there are cost implications to consider.

Think about an 03 or other geographic number instead as more and more people make calls from their mobile phone. Be clear on who actually ‘owns’ the number and what are the implications if you move away from the service? Would you want to lose all your past customers because they have the wrong phone number if you don’t own yours and can’t take it with you?

Questions to ask your potential provider

1. Can I divert my calls?
2. What hours does the service operate?
3. Will I be allocated a receptionist or PA?
4. Are the operators located in one place or do they work from home?
5. What environment are your calls being answered in?
6. How will my messages be delivered, by Email or SMS or even Fax?
7. Does the service offer a trial period?
8. Do you offer diary management, to book appointments?
9. Does the service charge for sales calls / recorded messages?

Paying for your service

How does the service, charge? Some charge by the amount of time a call takes, others charge by the message. Some services offer a Pay As You Go BUT beware there may be a minimum spend or ‘credit’ per month.

Top tips

Make sure you have a read of any case studies or testimonials that are on offer to get a feel for how the service benefits other businesses.

Make sure that the contract period you are entering into is acceptable. Some offer a standard 28 days others up to 3 months, be aware of what you are signing up to.

Finally make sure that you can communicate with the service easily and any preferences you have can be changed or updated without a lengthy procedure.

Contact Answer-it today to arrange a free trial of the service.

Originally published as a guest post by  Chris Markham,  of Bizfix, the Cambridge-based business advice and support company

It’s hard to believe we are celebrating our 5th Birthday! It is shocking how fast 5 years has flown by.  It is even more amazing that online statistics state that 95% of businesses fail within the first 5 years.  We count ourselves among the 5% of survivors and having started up mid recession we are quite proud of our achivement.

The 5% Club!

To celebrate our 5th Birthday and a pat on the back to the rest of the 5% of survivors.  We want to help other businesses. 

We are offering a Free no obligation Trial Month of the Answer it service to the first 5 business’s that call  or Email us.

If after the trial you decide to stay with the service once you have used the service for 2 months we’ll give you another little bonus too!

So act quickly and call or Email so that you do not miss out!  http://answer-it.co.uk

(Our usual rule of not taking our trial when you are on holiday still applies)

I often attend networking meetings where my clients speak about the Answer-it service to other people (usually when introducing me to someone.)  I quite often hear them say ‘they do more than just taking a message.’ 
Being on the inside it has made me stop and think about what we actually do beyond the mechanics of simply answering the phone on behalf of our clients and relaying a message to them

We Answer The Phone and….

It is true we do answer the phone when you need us to.  So when you are out, need overflow cover, holiday cover, business continuity cover or just an extra pair of hands to manage your calls so you are not disturbed.

We also send items out by post for some of our clients.  Application forms, catalogues and invoices.
Some clients like us to use their diary and book in appointments for them.

However what we actually do is so much more.  We help each business we answer for continue their marketing message, far beyond their website or printed collateral.
We offer continuity to this message.  The business is contactable and approachable.

Those Who Don’t Answer The Phone.

In stark contrast to those who either don’t answer their phone, rely on voicemail or use an automated system.  Surely there is no stronger oxymoron than listening to a recorded message for the umpteenth time telling you how much the company who you are calling ‘cares.’  You know they really don’t otherwise they would be talking to you rather than keeping you on hold. The same with the voicemail ‘Thanks for calling’
So in fact it isn’t what we physically do that is as important, as the result of what we do, and how we do it.

Answer-it

‘Call Forwarding ‘ or ‘Patching’ is something we at ‘Answer-it’ get asked about….

This is something that we sometimes get asked about.

Yes we can do this for our clients.  However following the old adage ‘Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.’  The following is why.

If you are using a service such as ours and your calls have been diverted to come through for us to answer on your behalf, it usually for a good reason.  Most of the time it means that you are too busy to take  calls. 

Imagine this

So just for a moment – Imagine this

You make a call to be it to a customer or a client

The person that takes your call says they will ‘put you through’

 You dutifully hold on the line

The ‘operator’ is trying to connect (you are still on hold) but they are unable to.  This could be because the person you are trying to reach is out of area on a mobile phone, in a meeting, or for any other reason, too numerous to mention.  (Voicemail can take some time to connect.)

The ‘operator’ comes back to you to say that the person you were trying to reach isn’t available.  Politely asking if you would like to leave a message so that they can return your call.

Perhaps it would have been better for the operator to simply take a message in the first instance, saving the caller the indeterminable ‘on hold’ time.

Reality

However it is fair to say that call forwarding works for some clients, those who are larger organisations or those that do keep us informed up to the minute of their whereabouts.  Reality is that a lot of our clients are simply too busy to keep us this informed.  If they get a last minute call to attend an important client meeting they are safe in the knowledge their calls are handled professionally.  Safe in the knowledge that even though they aren’t answering the call their competitors certainly aren’t either!

So at this time of year it’s often good to take a little time out to reflect on the year gone by.  The good the bad and the ugly. As well as taking a  look at how to change the things that didnt work this year for the coming year.
For the past few years I have asked Duncan Bannatyne for his thoughts about small business and the coming year.  Well this year his quote is quite negative.  He said ‘A very tough year ahead I’m afraid’

There has also as always at this time of year  been a lot of talk on Twitter about New Year’s Resolutions.  Well it appears some people start to take action on their’s in December.  Creating a habit to carry them through into the new year and the rest of the year beyond.  It’s a great idea and a habit is likely to last longer than a resolution, just think about how hard it is to break a habit!

So a tough year ahead, well looking back on this year I saw a great movie ‘Senna’  at the the end of the movie flashed up the following as a strap line for the Senna Foundation.  ‘Dedication Determination Perfection’  If this year is going to be tough then this little mantra is going to be something thatpersonally I will be looking to for inspiration.  However, keeping the ‘perfection’ bit in check.

So have a wonderful 2012 everyone.  I wish you much success despite the doom and gloom and the naysayers!

To my mind customer service is all about communication.  This is relevant on so many levels,there is probably a book written all about it by one much wiser than I.

However in my industry we work in communication on 2 levels.  That is customer-facing as well as (for want of a better word) internally.

Our clients clearly believe in communication.  They want their calls answered rapidly in a polite, friendly and professional fashion. They wan ttheir callers, be they customers, prospects, or suppliers to be able to speak to someone that will treat them well and will be helpful and polite.

Sensible Conversations

By having a sensible conversation and relaying the information from the caller back to the client, it means that the service the caller receives on a call back is mostly seamless.  Our client is able to have all the relevant information to hand, having had time to research if necessary, calling back at a convenient time, meaning they are less likely to be interrupted.

The anonymous voicemail and customer concern of when the message theyhave left might get listened to, even worse when they might get a call back.

Information and Knowledge

Conversations and communication likely mean information and knowledge, the sharing of which is rarely a bad thing.
For example if you call a business and get no reply, or even a voicemail, how do you feel?  Wouldn’t you rather speak to someone who can perhaps answer your question or advise who can answer and when they can get back to you?  The clients we support like the more professional image and the great customer service that they are able to deliver, even if they do work alone.

Please visit www.answer-it.co.uk for more information about great communication between you and your prospects, customers and suppliers.

This blog post was written as a guest piece for Graham Frost  

A Moral Tale for Business

My to-do list this morning involved calling a number of small business owners that I already know. I used the numbers that they have listed on their profiles on the 4Networking.biz website – I was calling them to follow up on conversations we had recently had at networking meetings.

The first call went straight to an answering machine  that had a bit of a scratchy-sounding message. The second call went to an answering machine that told me it was the 2^nd November (it was the 7^th) and invited me to call a mobile number. When I called that, it went straight to voicemail as well. I tried to call six people this morning before I got to speak to a person. It wasn’t the person I was calling, but it was a professional young lady who asked me who I was and what I was calling about, then promised to get my message to the person I was calling. He called me back an hour later, from the Lake District, where he is taking a short break, and we are now doing business.

The moral to the story? If you are really unable to answer your phone, hire someone who will such as Answer-it. You may miss countless opportunities if you don’t!

 Graham Frost

www.grahamfrost.com

Well you don’t do you.  The statement sounds a bit philosophical doesn’t it.  But actually it is pretty logical.  If you don’t know about something, then you simply just don’t know about it.

So what don’t you know?

Did you know that your height is equivalent to the distance between your two longest fingers?  See you didn’t know, that you didn’t know that, before you read that did you?
[Of course there will be the odd smarty pants who did know that]

I bet you don’t know how many phone calls you might miss throughout the course of a normal day.  Could you even guess?  Does it occur to you those that hang up before voicemail kicks in, those who hang up when they get an engaged tone.  Ok so you don’t know the answer to that and actually it would be very challenging if not impossible to really work that out.  But all the same now you know that they are there.

What you probably know.

However you do probably know what an average sale for your business is worth.  You probably also know what your conversion rate on telephone enquiries to sales is.

Would you like to know? 

So would you like to get an idea of what calls you might be missing? Would you like to know about potential sales that are going directly to a competitor as your customer couldn’t reach you by telephone?  Even more importantly would you like to capture those missed calls and have the opportunity to convert them to sales?

 If you would then why not take advantage of a free trial with us at Answer-it and find out exactly what you didn’t know that you didn’t know. Call 01954 253770 or Email us today.

It’s fair to say that on this last trip to the USA we have done some travelling. We have changed plans which has involved plenty of driving and changing hotel reservations. We have experienced the most excellent customer service. However at the time of writing we are sat at San Diego Airport, willing the airline we are travelling with to give us an update. On when we might expect an aircraft to appear and spirit us back to the UK.
No one can control the weather and this is what is taking the blame. Communication is seriously lacking, initially it was forthcoming albeit brief. Flight has diverted to LAX and we will update you later. Later comes and goes and then we are told ‘They’ are talking to the captain and ‘They’ will let us know. (Who are ‘They?’)
Having had a few conversations with friendly TSA staff as well as kiosk owners no one has declared the weather ‘bad.’ More worryingly is that the flight we are waiting to board showed as arriving here at SAN some hours ago…..
We booked this airline and their ‘Premium’ product, having used another airline’s similarly branded service. On the outbound portion of this flight I must say I did puzzle and wonder over what was Premium  + about the service we were receiving. In contrast with the A N Other airline that offers a similar product there was no dedicated check in, there was no pre boarding (to speak of) there was no pre take off drinks, there was no different meal choice from our comrades in the ranks of basic economy. I did find and old magazine abandoned beside my seat. Was that it? Was that the +? There was indeed a very good article that I did enjoy inside.
We have just been comfortingly assured that the flight we are waiting for is going to be coming in from LAX once the get ATC clearance. Also been comfortingly reassured that our flight will leave ‘At some point’ forLondon

Compare and Contrast

So compare and contrast with a famous hotel brand. On arrival we were greeted, offered a drink of water, and generally greeted as old friends. We were asked what time we would prefer housekeeping. Huge apologies our room was not ready but it was being serviced and we were welcome to use all the facilities etc. We had friends staying in the same place so simply went to their room and sure enough within the hour as promised we had a call to say our room was ready. A quick elevator ride to the front desk and keys were in hand. Lovely touch here was that the staff member didn’t just hand / shove the keys across the desk to me. She walked around the desk she walked part way t the elevator with me making sure I knew where I was going and asked if I needed anything else at all.
After getting into the room we decided to waste no more time and get to the pool and soak up some rays. The pool was small and part of a much larger complex (we were welcome to use) It was beautiful! We were greeted poolside, asked if we wanted sun / shade, taken to some loungers, towels were laid out for us. I am pretty sure they would have picked you up and laid you on it too had you asked! The great service continued, a jug of iced water materialised and plethora of frozen fruit and other goodies was brought round as well as cold towels or Evian spritz, just in case you look too warm. (Well with temperatures of 101F you would wouldn’t you!)
All very nice you say…..

So what really put the icing on the cake for this brand I hear you ask. Well we only stayed 3 nights but had such a fabulous time, we changed our plans and drove 300 odd miles back there the following weekend. We got a great rate and on arrival the Valet recognised us, welcomed us back, we got to our room and were greeted by a lovely hand written welcome back card as well as some cupcakes. Later in the afternoon the manager even called the room to welcome us back personally. She noted we had, had a small issue with the wifi connection and that she had spoken to the IT dept prior to our arrival to check everything would be ok. (It was)
On our second night we had an issue with the bath and shower drains. It was resolved very fast and with huge apologies and contingency plans in place.
Even the house car driver remembered us and asked how our drive had been, and how the interim part of our vacation had been.
Everything during the 2nd stay more than matched our experience of the 1st stay. The concierge had arranged show tickets for us and even got us in to a very popular Sold Out show. When we checked out there was minimal fuss, the valet organised the car, the Bell Captain whisked away our luggage and loaded it and by the time we came out to the car, it was running with the air conditioning comfortable, 2 bottles of cold water set up. The door was opened for each of us and we were soon on our way. All staff wishing us well and looking forward to seeing us again soon.

You might not think this a fair comparison. Airline to Hotel and all that this may imply and the logistical differences. BUT the crucial thing to note is that it’s the total an utter lack of communication from the airline that is frustrating. That is causing angst for passengers that have connecting flights. That for some of those in the know they are wondering why a flight travelling a mere 35 mins has been refueled, when it is unable to land fully fuelled. Why they won’t make it clear the flight has not left LAX yet. Why they haven’t made it public knowledge that if the flight does not arrive here shortly we will have to spend the night here in SAN.

Communicate

I bang on and on and on about this all the time. COMMUNICATE please, it helps it makes your customers feels valued, appreciated even. Whatever you do keeping them in the dark and even telling lies is not productive and is damaging. I now remember WHY I haven’t flown with said airline since 2002. I think it will be at least another 9 years before I try them again. If not much, much longer!

From the Business Hub Radio Show – Broadcast  28th August 2011.

Talking Cold Callers with Mark and Ian – The good the bad and the downright dreadful!