Answering Services for Small Businesses: Saving you Time, Stress and Sanity!
April 20, 2012 by admin
Filed under Articles, Blog, Call Center and Answering Service Information, Tips
Today I just happened to stumble on this article by Business Insider: Small Business Owners More Stressed Than Ever: 3 Tech Tips That Can Help. It made me chuckle because while we’ve known that hiring an answering service will help a small business owner save time by delegating tasks they’d normally be doing themselves, we just wrote and uploaded a whitepaper on just how helpful it is to your productivity to do so! You can read our report here!
Here’s an excerpt from Business Insider’s article:
The survey of 1,000 small business owners found three-fourths of the respondents report physical symptoms of work-related stress. Those symptoms include headaches, back pain, and anxious thoughts. Most cited a fear of losing their business and losing clients as a cause of their stress. The economy has taken its toll on many small business owners, who are feeling more pressure than ever to keep things going.
With all of this pressure, it’s more important than ever for small business owners to use technology to automate processes. By automating mundane tasks, small business owners can continue to operate with limited staff, while freeing up their time to focus on more important things. Here are three tech-related solutions that can help your day run more smoothly.
- Take it online. Whether it’s appointment scheduling or information about your operations, you’ll save time and money in the long run by putting as much information as possible on your company website. Tally up the number of calls and e-mails you field on a daily basis with basic questions and consider how much time could be changed if just a fraction of those calls could be resolved via a visit to your company website
- Employ an answering service. If you’re still answering your own calls, how much could you save by paying a fee to an answering service to take care of your calls. If you have someone in-house who takes calls and even makes appointments, again think of the website option. Could time be saved by allowing customers to make appointments through your website? Unless you can somehow link your appointment book to your website, this might require copying and pasting the information into your software, but it will save time with answering phone calls, as well as making appointment scheduling more convenient for the customer.
- Automate your inventory. No more counting and writing numbers on a clipboard. By using inventory automation software, you can always stay in touch with the items in your inventory. Not only will this speed up inventory, but you’ll be able to have instant access to what is in stock, which makes reordering easier.
Tips From an Answering Service: Using Your Voice
February 10, 2012 by admin
Filed under Articles, Blog, Call Center and Answering Service Information, Tips
You can set the entire outcome of any call by how you sound: You can give a caller a high level of comfort or a high level of anxiety just with your voice!
The voice you project is determined by four factors: Energy, Rate of Speech, Pitch, and Quality. You have complete control of all of these factors and can change them to gain call control as well as create a professional environment between you and the caller.
Energy
Answering the phone with a smile and smiling often while talking during a call will help keep your energy level up and positive!
Energy reflects your attitude and your level of enthusiasm. Higher and positive energy will make your callers and customers feel like they are being listened to and will give them confidence that their message is being handled properly. Lack of energy translates into different meanings to the words we speak. It can make the secretary come off as indifferent and give the caller a sense that their message or issue is not of importance.
Rate of Speech
The normal rate of speech is 125 words per minute. A faster rate of speech creates the image you’re rushing to get rid of the caller of that the caller might not be able to understand what you are saying. A slower rate of speech creates the image to the caller that you do not know what you’re talking about OR that you’re talking down to them. BOTH conclusions reflect poorly on the operator and can cost you control of the call.
Pitch
The pitch of your voice (the height or depth in the tone of your voice) can also affect the way you are perceived by a caller. A monotone pitch, where there are no changes in the tone of your voice, is the most difficult to listen to for any long period of time (think Ben Stein as Ferris Bueller’s teacher). A High pitch wears on nerves very quickly and sounds unprofessional. Low pitch is the easiest to understand and listen to while ending sentences by bringing your voice up to a high pitch will immediately turn whatever you’re saying into a question instead of a statement.
Quality
All of the above combined makes up your unique personal voice profile. Maintaining a positive energy level, talking at the normal rate of speech while avoiding monotone and high pitches is something our virtual secretaries at A Better Answer utilize at all times. Remembering these voice control tips will guarantee that you or your telephone secretaries will sound professional and credible during any call! Your voice becomes your portrait and your signature on every call. Make sure you have complete control of all four aspects and you’re sure to impress any caller!