The holidays may be over but we're still remembering the holiday cheer brought by a special Christmas visitor. Santa came to A Better Answer during the week of Christmas to share the holiday spirit with our employees and clients!

As a small business owner, you have to be on all the time. A blossoming business needs you at the ready for any crises or opportunities. A new study shows that small business owners are taking calls, even in the bathroom, and yet still missing out on new business.

A UK based call handling solution company commissioned the research as part of a study of 2,000 small business owners and their phone habits.

According to the study, 70% of small business owners admit to having taken a business call in the bathroom to avoid missing out on new business. 18% also say that they have taken a business call at a funeral, and 13% at a wedding.

The research also detailed that the business owners:

• Receive upwards of 20 calls a day
• Miss approximately seven calls a day
• Noted 9% of calls are new business inquiries and the cost of a new lead is worth on average $160

In total, small businesses are losing over $5,000 a year each in missed opportunities.

It's no secret that a small business owner is overwhelmed. A missed call means missed income. Wouldn't you breathe easier knowing a professional answering service was handling your calls so that you could take some time for yourself and your family?

Source: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130801006323/en/Microbusiness-Owners-Calls-Toilets-Research-Penelope#.VJDiVivF9hx

We're excited to have Santa and Mrs. Claus visiting our Plano location as a special free event for our employees and clients!

This is a special time of year and as part of the A Better Answer family, we want to share it with the people who mean the most to us! Come join us and have your picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus in their sleigh.

Santa's sleigh will be here on December 22nd and 23rd from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. We will accept donations for Habitat for Humanity if anyone else from the community would like to attend.

Thank you and Merry Christmas from A Better Answer!

Update: We've just received a special phone number so kids can call Santa Claus! Just dial 972-943-4400 for a message from Santa himself.

Roseann Gibbs has worked at A Better Answer nearly 34 years. It is with mixed feelings that we announce her retirement.

As a small business owner, you are probably concerned with having too many expenses. However, an answering service should be seen more as an investment because it can save your employees time, increases the satisfaction of clients, and allows clients to be able to speak with a person any time of day. Basically, it's a lot of bang for your buck!

Happiness is an important part of any workplace. Generally speaking, employees that are happy will be more productive, produce higher quality work, and remain with the company for a longer time. While certain aspects of workplace happiness depend on good chemistry between the members of your team, there are several things you can do to improve workplace morale by improving working conditions, reducing stress, and interjecting fun into the workplace. Here are five ways to increase the level of happiness in your workplace.

For the third consecutive year, all three A Better Answer Call Centers have been honored with the CAM-X Award of Excellence. This annual award is presented by the Canadian Call Management Association (CAM-X), the industry’s trade association for call center services including telephone answering and message delivery. ABA was presented with the award recently at the CAM-X 50th Annual Convention and Trade Show held at the Fairmont Chateau in Laurier, Ottawa, ON.