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

Lately when I have been out and about at networking events or just generally talking to people about the Answer-it service the phrase ‘Customer Experience’ has jumped to the tip of my tongue.  I got to thinking about it and wondering about both ‘Customer Service’ and Customer Experience’  I wanted to know what people made of this (to me anyway) new terminology.  I am guessing it originated in the USA.

Talking and Understanding

So I got to talking to people about it, in terms of both what they understood it to mean to them, both as a customer and in terms of how it related to their business.  Thoughts were varied but really, most people came to a similar thought, that Customer Service  is something given to a customer and ‘Customer Experience’ is something that is in the hands of the customer, it’s what they take away having had an interaction with your business.  Important to note here though that to have a ‘Customer Experience’ lots of people mentioned that you don’t necessarily need to have bought / made a transaction with a company.  Indeed some went on to say that the customer experience continues even after a transaction has been made. 

It was clear that there are many facets to the ‘Customer Experience’  interaction with the website, making a telephone call to the business, the literature and printed material, reviews and blogs as well as social media interaction.  So an awful lot to take in and to manage as a business owner.

Personal thoughts on giving and taking

Personally I keep coming back to the same thoughts though and that is – If the ‘Customer Experience’ is what the Customer ‘takes’ then surely the business has to provide this.  Following this then if the business has to provide it, it is given and is therefore one and the same as ‘Customer Service’ albeit perhaps highlighting the fact that this can be on the different levels mentioned earlier, and not necessarily involve a transaction, but always an interaction.

So is ‘Customer Experience’ the right term or do we need to add ‘Prospect Experience,’  ‘Current Customer Experience’  to the repertoire too?  Personally I don’t think so, but the USA and business speak type people might think so.  Perhaps ‘Service’ on it’s own is a better fit?

Regardless what you call it though, it’s all about caring for all the people who come into contact with your business and creating a brilliant impression on them.  Whether they are your oldest most faithful customer or a passing prospect who might just become your newest raving fan.  So however you interact with them make sure you are sending out the right message.

STOP READING HERE or   How we can help – Simply

Of course I’d like to advocate here the benefits of Answer-it Telephone Answering Service and how we can help you in this quest.  Making sure anyone who calls your business get’s that brilliant impression of your business.  Really something as simple as letting people speak to real people every time they call is getting even more important.  But I’ll stop there!

As always look forward to hearing your comments.

Emma

Auto Attendant – Your Thoughts

I recently started asking people for the their thoughts about ‘telephone auto attendants.’  You know the ones, you either have to press a series of buttons and listen to seemingly never ending menus,  if it is a really fancy system you can speak to the robot and it is meant to recognise what you need.  More than likely it can’t understand you if you have any sort of accent, speak too fast, soft, slow or any other variation along the same theme.

I got some strong and passionate responses to the question, including  ‘Any business serious about customer service shouldn’t use a telephone auto attendant’  In fact someone responded ‘They should be banned.’

Why do you make me feel this way?

We agreed, but the question remained – what is it about the telephone auto attendant that makes us feel this way.  It seems that when the auto attendant picks up the phone the immediate thought is that the caller is going to be placed on hold for a long time.  The other fear was that of sucessfully navigating through the auto attendant menus and then being cut off for no apparent reason.  The frustration then builds and  the  caller then feels that they are wasting their time.  It is clear that callers feel that when they call a business using a telephone auto attendant that they are not getting a good customer service experience and that the business they are calling simply does not care.
Customers want to speak to a real live person that can either help them immediately, connect them to who they need to talk to or feel confident in that leaving a message with a real person that the right person will call them back and assist with their enquiry

There is a solution!

Answer-it started working with a client recently who had made the decision to move away from their telephone auto attendant.  The feedback they have had from callers to their business has been very encouraging.  People are relieved not to have to navigate (what they confess was,) a confusing system.  This particular business has found a solution and are pleased to have made the change to using a telephone answering service as their solution.  If the caller cannot be helped immediatley or connected to the relevant person, then a detailed message is taken and forwarded and the caller gets a timely response to their message.

Technology a step too far?

So  has technology gone a step too far.  Should  customers, reasonably be expected to speak to and deal with robot’s.  My sales experience  tells me that people buy from people, and my customer service experience tells me that people like to deal with people, you simply can’t beat the human touch.  So ditch the auto attendant! and join the ‘Answerettes’ at Answer it in their newest mission to ‘Beat the Bot.’

Would your business survive a CRASH Test in customer service?

Contactability

As a business are you contactable.  Can customers reach you when they need something?  Or do they leave a voice mail or have to dial one of the many numbers listed on your business card?

Reliabilty

Can your customers rely on you for consistent service? Surely this is the key to turning them into advocates of your business and recomending you to a contact.

Acceptability

Are your terms and Conditions and they way you trade acceptable to your customers.  Is the way you resolve issues acceptable?

Speed

Do you act quickly in your business.  Are any issues resolved swiftly and without delay?

Helpfulness

We all like to think that we are helpful to our customers, but is it the right kind of help.  Is everyone in the business empowered enough to be able to help?

In recent discussions with various people about ‘Customer Service’ the biggest issue that people complained about was  not being able to speak to someone on the telephone.  People found it very frustrating either listening to the phone ring out or reaching a voicemail. www.answer-it.co.uk can help!

Answer it,  Cambridgeshire based Tele PA – Telephone Answering Service
Is offering the 1^st  5 small businesses  to contact them a free month of their service.  As part of Small Business Week (Starting 19^th October)
The service supports all sizes of business but is particularly helpful to small business in key areas of time management, customer service and growth.
By taking telephone calls for small businesses when they can’t ‘Answer it’ helps create a great impression to existing clients and prospects as they get to speak to a real person each and every time they call the business.  Small business owners are often constrained by time and getting tied up on long unnecessary phone calls can be stressful, with that ‘To Do’ list growing longer by the minute.

Interested Business owners should contact Emma Fryer at Answer it on 01954 253770 or Email info@answer-it.co.uk for more details.