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.

Do you have a small business? Many businesses that provide services such as general household repairs, landscaping and lawn maintenance, HVAC maintenance and repairs and other contractors are typically small businesses. These businesses may be a one or two person shop: one to take appointments and handle billing and another to do the actual work. As the business grows there is a tipping point where there are more calls coming in than ever, and that is where an answering service can help you.

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.

Telephone messaging, or telemessaging, is a frequently requested service among answering service companies. A telemessaging service is typically provided for small companies, service contractors, medical offices, and other businesses who want to be represented as a larger enterprise.

At ABA, we offer three levels of telemessaging services – Inbound, Outbound, and Executive.

Sometimes, a call can challenge even our best call handlers. September's Call Handling Hero^® is Eric, offering compassion, patience and calm during an extremely trying call with a patient.

Our Fall Family Festival is always a great time for A Better Answer staff, our friends and our families but we do our best to turn our yearly good time into something special for others too. This year, we were so honored to present $5,290, collected from our Plano, Hurst and Houston locations, to Bikers Against Child Abuse!

Your employees’ psychological well-being can be affected by their personal lives and also their time at work. Work relationships can either hinder the quality of life for those that work for/with you or bring value to them. Believe it or not, the quality of a person’s workplace can contribute to overall happiness or illness in an employee.

How can you make the workplace bring value to a person’s life?