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
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
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
3 Key Steps Every Small Business Should Follow to Create a Positive Telephone Experience.
July 8, 2009
3 Key Steps Every Small Business Should Follow to Create a Positive Telephone Experience.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Good customer service is not rocket science. Most of us know it when we experience it. However, as small business owners, many of us overlook these fundamental strategies in our own business, often to our detriment. Here are a few simple ways you can inspire confidence in your callers when they contact your small business.
1) A live, professional greeting.
For all the time, money and effort you spend getting prospective customers to call your business, it only makes sense to answer the phone when they call. The statistics on this are clear. Some 75% of first-time callers to a business will hang-up without leaving a message if greeted by a voicemail or automated attendant. If you are not personally available to answer your calls during business hours, hire a receptionist or outsource your telephone answering to a remote location. Read more
Reason #6-Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls? View phone calls as an opportunity, not an interruption.
March 5, 2009
Reason #6-Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
View phone calls as an opportunity, not an interruption.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
View phone calls as an opportunity, not an interruption. In our fast-paced, multi-tasking world, it is easy to get caught in the “phone interruption trap.” This occurs when you are concentrating on an important task, focused and on a roll. The creative juices are flowing and you are finally accomplishing something productive. Then, it rings. You know this could be a client or new customer calling, but you can’t bear the thought of answering the phone and losing your train of thought. “The voicemail will get it,” you think to yourself as if wishing clients would politely leave large orders with all their desired options spelled out concisely for you to retrive and process at your convenience.
The reality is usually a somewhat different picture where if you have ignored the interruption, you must now fight the urge to immediately retrieve the voice message and clear the intrusive light or icon displaying on your phone thereby derailing your thought train anyhow. Or perhaps, even worse, the dreaded voicemail hang-up where you are left to wonder interminably what opportunities have slipped away or make the anonymous return call to the unfamiliar ID stating, “Someone called me from this number.”
As an alternative, imagine shooting a quick e-mail to your off-site receptionist to say, “Please hold my calls until 11am this morning. If Mr. Roberts calls, tell him I am working on his project today and will e-mail him before day’s end. If Mr. Jones calls, please put him through to my cell phone.” Ahhh, blissful silence knowing your most important communications will be handled per your instructions without the unplanned interruptions.
An even more exciting scenario is one where your receptionist is actually taking your calls and capturing new clients or scheduling your appointments wihtout the need to interrupt at all. But you’ll have to wait for Reason #5 next week where we cover, “Scheduling your appointments on the spot.”
Reason #7 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls? Enhance your professional image.
February 26, 2009
Reason #7 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
Enhance your professional image.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Enhance your professional image. We’ve all heard the sayings, “Image is everything,” and, “You never get a second chance to make good first impression.” In business, perception is reality and if you don’t inspire confidence in your callers when they contact you, you run the risk of missing an opportunity.
As an example, there is a societal expectation that certain professionals do not answer their own phone. When you phone your doctor, an attorney or any other professional who bills out their time at hundreds of dollars per hour, it would not inspire your confidence in their practice if they were to answer their own phone. The expectation is that a receptionist will be available to assist you or schedule your appointment. In fact, it can present a somewhat awkward moment if the professional should answer their own phone, as one may feel they are interrupting.
Clients want to do business with stable and established businesses and greeting your callers with a voicemail can make you seem small. An automated attendent may seem more impressive, but customers are increasingly frustrated with these systems, and will press “0″ looking for a receptionist some 80% of the time. If you can’t afford to hire a dedicated receptionist for your business, an off-site receptionist (sometimes called a remote receptionist or virtual receptionist) can present a great solution that will solve this dilemma and enhance your professional image.
Reason #8 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
February 19, 2009
Reason #8 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
Privately announced calls and “back and forth” messaging help manage your workload.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Privately announced calls and “back and forth” messaging help manage your workload. Aside from the enhanced professional image for your business, an off-site receptionist can help you manage your workload more effectively in a number of ways. Having calls privately announced let’s you decide which calls to take and which to defer until later. Additionally, “back and forth” messaging refers to the ability of your receptionist to connect to you privately while your caller holds the line, take direction from you, then relay a message back to your caller without actually connecting the call. This allows you to work in a most efficient and productive manner by concentrating on the project at hand instead of being pulled of task by the whims of those to happen to call.
Reason #10 – Why choose an off-site Receptionist to answer your telephone?
February 5, 2009
Reason #10 – Why choose an off-site Receptionist to answer your telephone?
Seamless, real-time call connections.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Seamless, real-time call connections. One of the primary differences between a modern day off-site or remote receptionist and a traditional telephone answering service is the ability to connect calls seamlessly in real-time to any phone number. What the answering service used to refer to as call patching, has evolved into seamless, real-time call connecting and two-way communication with clients. This is evident in the technology used to connect calls as well as the manner in which live call connections are billed to the client.
Traditionally, for a telephone answering service to connect calls to their clients in real-time was a somewhat awkward process involving conferencing the parties together through the answering service phone system. This procedure typically made it evident to the caller that the Receptionist was an off-site, third party. Furthermore, due to the resources being used on the answering service phone system, connected calls would be billed to the client at a steep per-minute rate for the duration of the conversation.
A modern day off-site receptionist is equipped with the technology to make call connections as seamless as an on-site receptionist would. For example, the call is answered live at the receptionist service location, the caller is assisted, then briefly put on hold with music while the receptionist connects out to the client to privately announce the call. If the client accepts the call, the caller comes off hold and is connected to the client. If the client declines the call, the receptionist can return to the caller, relay a message or redirect the call to a colleague or private voicemail box. The process works so seamlessly, the caller doesn’t even realize the recepionist is at a different location. Furthermore, the client is only billed for the Receptionists time, regardless of how long they remain on the phone with their caller.
