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.”
