Jerry Pelzer started Commercial Cleaning and Restoration Services as a one-man company, so he was seldom in the office when the phone rang. After his old answering machine died, he realized he needed a reliable voicemail system. “The voicemail was sound and functional,” recalled Jerry. “It gave me p…
Bret Haas opened Barista Bravo a decade ago to meet the need for a local, homegrown coffee shop and hangout. He had a great location and developed a regular clientele within his first year. He wanted to add some bakery goods to complement his hot and cold specialty coffees. When he developed a relat..
Allan and Peg Miller purchased their first investment property two years after graduating from college. Today, they own a small property management company that includes twelve units in three buildings. Surprisingly, they credit the success of their small company to their telephone answering service…
Danita Foster, an accomplished professional, made a decision that changed her life. After her second child was born, she decided to leave her job as a corporate communications officer for a public utility and stay at home full-time. “It was so hard to leave my first child and go back to work, I just…
By B. Miller Creating a successful business depends less on products and more on the sales approach. Marketing strategies are important, but even more crucial is the customer’s journey, from start to finish, as they work with a company. Regardless of product quality, a business will struggle if they…
By B. Miller Every business knows the pain of dealing with angry customers. An irate customer can cost a company new business. According to Marketing Metrics, it takes twelve positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative interaction. News of bad customer service reaches more than twice…
Successful telephone answering service marketing is hard. Many answering services make the mistake of promoting the features they offer. Instead they should focus their marketing message on the benefits their prospects want. As you develop your marketing materials, put yourself in the perspective of…
In a prior post we discussed what to give your call center broker for your first project. This time we’ll address what information you should provide to a call center broker when switching call center providers. By supplying your call center broker with this information, you will equip them to find…
If you have a call center staffed with nurses to handle triage calls, you need to make sure the work your nurses do matches their level of compensation. Some work in a triage call center doesn’t require the attention of someone with healthcare training. Depending on your geographic area, the hourly …
For telephone answering services to find success in today’s competitive marketplace, a key essential is quality. Quality consistently ranks as clients’ top concern when selecting an answering service. Here are some key considerations when it comes to providing quality service. Clients Expect Qualit…
A call center broker can locate an outsource call center to handle your calls. A professional broker’s job is to find a call center vendor who will meet your specific needs, reduce your time to launch, and verify billing. But selecting the right call center vendor is key. If this is the first time …
Though by definition, a call center is a centralized place where calls are answered, technology can now expand this basic understanding to include multiple, interconnected sites that comprise one unified call center operation. We’ve discussed the benefits of having a multilocation call center, which…
Too many answering services generate invoices that are too confusing. These folks include surprise fees and unexplained charges. And too often, these charges are not at all what clients expect. Let’s look at some of the creative ways answering services have tried to hide their real rates from unsusp…
Businesses thrive on statistics. At all levels of an organization, leaders make key decisions based on what the numbers say. Entry-level workers win affirmation, supervisors receive bonuses, and managers earn raises all courtesy of numeric results. While all businesses produce reams of statistical d…
At the heart of every call center is a heart that beats with the imperative for quality: Quality service provided by quality agents to drive quality interactions and produce quality outcomes. Everyone talks quality. Everyone wants quality. But how can you know if quality actually happens? The soluti…
Although many factors can spur growth in outsource call centers and telephone answering services, the key growth driver remains sales and marketing. While reputation, quality service, and referral programs all help produce sales, the most results come from strategic marketing and professional sales …
There are two ways to grow your telephone answering service. One is through a strategic sales and marketing initiative, and the other is through acquisitions. Both have their advantages. Some answering services prefer the controlled month-after-month growth achieved through a deliberate sales and ma…
Like any service business, a telephone answering service strives to provide quality service to its clients. While performing outstanding work stands as a key answering service goal, a critical support component is billing for all the work done. A failure to bill for all services rendered—along with …
We’ve looked at benefits of pursuing a strategy of answering service growth through acquisition along with the possible risks. Armed with this knowledge, we’ll now consider the steps to follow once you’ve signed the deal. Assure Staff: Regardless of how you’ll structure your acquisition, you will…
The concept of telecommuting, that is working from home, has gained traction in recent years. Home-based employees offer many benefits to both the employer and employee, that makes them a compelling consideration. But can this employment option work effectively in today’s corporate call center? Thou…