Answering With A Purpose

Does it matter who answers your business line if the person answering does not know why he or she is answering?

Whether you are a receptionist or a contact center agent, gathering names, numbers, and messages are not difficult tasks. However, does successfully completing these tasks give callers the feeling that the they matter and that their issues are being handled??

In my experience selling contact center services, I am regularly asked what we do and what are the different ways we can do it. I’ve also often been asked what sets us apart from other services, but I’ve never been asked why we have taken on the responsibility of being a contact center.

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New Customers and First Impressions

First impressions are important.  Psychologists, seminar leaders and other experts estimate that you may have less than 30 seconds of interacting with a new customer before he or she forms an impression of you and, by proxy, your business.  When a customer calls your business telephone number... what impression are you leaving?  If no one is available to take the incoming call is it sent to voice mail, simply not answered or do you send them to one of those frustrating automated menus?  Statistics show that 33% of callers will not leave a message in voice mail and 45% of callers will not call back if their call goes unanswered.  It is obvious that not managing inbound calls appropriately can result in a loss of potential customers and leads.  An answering service can offer you assistance in handling these inbound calls.  Answering services assign real live operators to answer your calls in a professional manner with your company name and a greeting.  The caller doesn't even need to know that they aren't speaking to someone at your location.  Live telephone operators can take a message, provide callers with basic information about your business, schedule appointments, make reservations, enter orders or even patch calls directly to another phone number like your cell or home phone.  Your client will be left with the feeling that his or her call is important which will also leave them with a positive first impression of your business.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.

1-800-645-2616

www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Receptionist & Call Center Solutions

Live Answering Services vs. Automated Phone Systems

We've all had the experience of calling a business that uses an automated phone system to answer their calls. Most of us immediately hit “0”, hoping that we can get an actual live person on the phone. It's very frustrating when these systems don't allow you to bypass them to speak to a warm body. And, it's even more frustrating when they don't process voice prompts properly or when your call gets dropped after you repeat, “speak to a representative” more than 2 or 3 times. Have you ever had anyone tell you how much they love automated phone systems? Business owners should be interested in providing good customer service in order to keep their customers happy, retain business and possibly even gain referrals. With these goals in mind, why do so many businesses choose to use these automated phone systems?? Are they really saving money by irritating existing and potential customers??

Live business answering services offer business owners and independent contractors a better option than sending their calls to voice mail or an automated phone system. Answering and messaging services are more affordable then paying a full-time employee to answer your phones but allow you to offer your customers the level of service that a full-time receptionist does. Remote receptionists can take orders, schedule appointments, offer technical support, give callers directions, provide callers with information about your business and more. At AnswerFirst, we offer all of these services and more. Call us today for more information about how we can help provide your customers with excellent customer service while keeping your overhead down.