Fierce competition in today’s economy means a small business owner must be a few steps ahead at all times. While your business may be offering the same products or services as another, you can still differentiate yourself.

As A Better Answer offers many types of services, we like to provide information on these services so that each client’s needs are being met effectively. We have tackled the difference between a call center and an answering service. We even offered clarity on our inbound, outbound and executive level telemessaging services. Now we’ll look deeper into the inbound call center and help explain more details.

Our December hero, Ariana, went above and beyond to help a caller who was almost left out in the winter cold.

Sometimes a call comes in that brings forth even more empathy and humanity from our call handling heroes. Elizabeth took the extra steps to possibly save a life as November's Call Handling Hero^® .

If you’ve ever watched the TV show Shark Tank, you either have an entirely new appreciation for entrepreneurs, or quite possibly, you may be an entrepreneur yourself! Imagine pitching your awesome startup idea to a group of investors. You’d better have done your research and be very convincing. Now imagine that you’ve landed a large sum of cash from these investors. What would your next steps be? Maybe one of your first steps should be to hire an experienced answering service. Here’s why.

A business in the service industry is defined as any business that does work for a customer. These services could include anything from food services to household contracting such as plumbing and HVAC. In many cases, service businesses are running a tight ship, with employees wearing many hats. Outsourcing is a highly debated topic among those in the industry and for good reason. When your business pays the bills, how can you trust someone else with your customers?

Outsourcing any task in a small business can be a frightening proposition. Hiring an answering service especially so, as it is an extension of your business. After all, the first line of communication with your customers, other than in person, is through the telephone. Just as your industry has its own lingo, a business owner needs to speak the language when hiring an answering service. Understanding key terms and how to contract with an answering service can make the process more agreeable.

Starting a business means that, at some point, you hope to grow bigger. Believe it or not, sounding bigger can do a lot for your image and help contribute to your bottom line. You’ve heard the expression, “Dress for the job you want”? Making your business sound big is the way your small business is dressing for the part.

Frustrated callers can challenge even the most patient business owner. Often times, the easiest way to calm frustration is communication. Our call handling heroes do everything they can to put callers at ease - as demonstrated by October's Call Handling Hero^® Kyle.

Many companies are faced with the question of outsourcing certain tasks in order to continue growing their business. Hiring an answering service doesn’t limit the options available for outsourcing. Many answering services may offer unexpected and specialized services.