Annoyed by the Automated Telephone Attendant? You’re not Alone.
August 13, 2011
There seems to be no shortage of things we find annoying these days, and you certainly don’t have to look far to find them. Recently, Consumer Reports was nice enough to survey Americans on just what bugs us the most.
Among the top responses was Not Getting a Human on the Phone. Now when it comes to live telephone receptionist services, appointment scheduling and great customer service, we’re not the most objective. That’s why I’ve included the complete list below (just so you can see what else annoys you) or you can click here to read the original article.
Revenge of the Receptionist
August 6, 2011
Revenge of the Receptionist
How your unanswered telephone translates to an overflowing inbox and what to do about it.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
It was not much more than a decade ago that e-mail was just coming on the scene and, “You’ve got mail,” was music to your ears. How times have changed. Now the very thought of sifting through your inbox is enough to provoke anxiety in even the most well-tempered business professional.
If you were in business a decade ago, you may recall another change that started sweeping across the business world about that time: the demise of the telephone Receptionist. With the advent of email, the phone was ringing less often, and with voicemail becoming ubiquitous it was easy to tell clients and customers to just, “email it to me or leave me a voice message.” Read more
Savvy Attorneys Have Profitability Locked Up.
March 27, 2011
The key to a more profitable practice for Attorneys is to keep overhead low while still maximizing every opportunity to increase billable hours. Today, savvy law firms are taking advantage of a new secret weapon that helps them accomplish both.
An off-site Receptionist (sometimes called a virtual receptionist or remote receptionist), can help insure all your business calls are answered live while still avoiding the salary, expenses and administrative headaches of hiring an employee to answer the telephone. Just like a traditional receptionist, your calls are answered live, callers are assisted per your instructions, and calls you want can be privately announced and seamlessly connected in real-time back to you on any phone number. Your callers won’t even realize your Receptionist is off-site.
What’s more, your off-site Receptionist can perform a new client intake capturing key information and locking up clients for you in real-time even if you’re not personally available to take a call. They can even go so far as to schedule a consultation on your calendar. However, the true hidden benefit might just be the ability to manage your own workload more effectively. By eliminating unwanted interruptions and reducing wasted time with unqualified prospects, many attorneys quickly notice their billable hours increasing exponentially.
Victor Mataraso, M.B.A. is the Founder and President of Reliable Receptionist. Based in the East San Francisco Bay Area city of Walnut Creek, CA, Reliable Receptionist provides off-site telephone receptionist and appointment scheduling services that help attorney convert more callers to clients and increase billable hours. He may be reached at (925) 627-4200 or through their website at www.ReliableReceptionist.com.
Attention Contra Costa County Attorneys!
February 19, 2011
Reliable Receptionist is pleased to be affiliated with The Bar Group, an independent network of local professionals providing a wide variety of business resources to small and solo law firms in Contra Costa County.
Through our association with The Bar Group, we will be offering resources designed to help attorneys enhance their professional image, improve customer service and manage their workload more effectively. We also have experience helping attorneys to increase billable hours and convert callers to clients with our live, professional team of off-site Receptionists based in Walnut Creek (Contra Costa County), CA in the San Francisco East Bay Area.
For more information on how Reliable Receptionist assists attorneys, visit our Attorney page. For more information on The Bar Group, click this link.
The Most Important Ambassadors of Your Brand: Your Employees
May 25, 2010
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Conversations dominate our markets. We no longer live in the days where customers and consumers turn to companies for answers. Word of mouth and the opinions of others are worth much more than the company jargon on a web site. With the advent of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Yelp, your employees are talking and accessible outside of the office walls, and the market is listening to what they have to say. Whether you are a small business owner or CEO of a major corporation, your employees are your most important brand ambassadors.
The steps to having successful brand ambassadors are simple. Read more
When is an Answering Service not just an Answering Service?
January 30, 2010
When is an Answering Service not just an Answering Service?
Top 5 Mistakes Business Owners Make When Choosing a Telephone Service Provider.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Whether you are a business owner blessed with too many phone calls, or an entrepreneur looking to convert callers to clients with greater consistency, a telephone answering service can often be a valuable partner in maximizing your business. However, too many businesses do not get the results they are looking for upon choosing a telephone service provider. Here are the Top 5 Mistakes they typically make: Read more
Top 3 Qualities to Look for in a Telephone Receptionist.
November 4, 2009
Top 3 Qualities to Look for in a Telephone Receptionist.
by Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
There are many benefits to having a live, professional receptionist answer telephone calls for your small business. Among them are enhanced professional image, improved customer service and the ability to manage your workload more effectively. As with anything, there are certain people who are naturally predisposed to doing certain work and the receptionist is no different. When it comes to telephone reception, whether you are looking to hire a full-time receptionist for your office or outsource your telephone answering to a virtual receptionist service (sometimes called off-site or remote receptionist), there are several key qualities you will want your receptionist to posses.
1) Strong telephone personality – As effective a communication tool as the telephone can be, it is a somewhat narrow channel. By this I mean that messages and meaning can only be conveyed verbally and are only received using one of our five senses. The result of this is that the caller must rely solely on the voice coming through the phone line to interpret the communication effectively. This necessitates having a receptionist whose natural speech pattern is animated and friendly. Without the benefit of the non-verbal cues that dominate so much of face communication, meaning can easily be misconstrued if not delivered articulately and with appropriate emotion. Read more
Why a Remote Receptionist May Be More Intelligent than a Traditional Office.
October 19, 2009
By Victor Mataraso, MBA
If you’re in business for yourself and have considered hiring staff or leasing a traditional office to grow your small business, there may be a more intelligent way to enhance your professional image, improve customer service and manage your workload more effectively. Unlike a traditional telephone answering service, a remote receptionist (also known as a virtual receptionist or off-site receptionist) can provide you many of the same benefits as a traditional receptionist without the need to hire an employee.
Having a live receptionist answer your business telephone calls is one of the best ways to inspire confidence in your callers and maximize your professional image. With recent advances in telephone technology, it is no longer necessary to lease office space and hire staff just to have your phone answered professionally. A remote or off-site receptionist has the ability to answer your business phone calls at their location, assist callers as you’ve trained them to do, then privately announce and seamlessly connect only the calls you want back to you on any phone number. Read more
Do I Need a Call Center, Answering Service or Remote Receptionist to Answer Telephone Calls for my Small Business?
October 6, 2009
Do I Need a Call Center, Answering Service or Remote Receptionist to Answer Telephone Calls for my Small Business?
By Victor Mataraso, MBA
If you need help answering the telephone for your small business, there is a dizzying array of choices available. From massive call centers in distant countries to locally-based remote receptionists and telephone answering services, there is no shortage of companies willing to answer your phone.
The process of choosing a service provider can often be frustrating and confusing, which is unfortunate because, let’s face it, you’re already pressed for time. To streamline the process, it is helpful to determine what type of service you need and the experience you want your callers to have with your company. Although there is some cross-over among service providers in this rapidly evolving industry, the following categories have emerged. Read more
Top 5 tips to build, develop, and maintain a strong business relationship with an off-site receptionist.
September 23, 2009
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A
In light of our current economic state, outsourcing parts of business has become a popular option. Many small business owners have discovered the many benefits an off-site receptionist can bring to handling the front end of the business as they continue to maintain the back end. When answering the phone lines, the receptionist is often the first point of contact for your callers so it is vital to build, develop and maintain a strong business relationship with your off-site receptionist. Here are the top five tips to sustain and maintain a lasting partnership. Read more
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