Who’s Answering Your Phone?
No one can argue that technology has opened up a lot of options for home-based businesses. When my dad started his business in the 1960s, my mother answered all his phone calls and took messages for him to return when he returned from his service calls. That worked well because he didn’t have to pay her, and because they wanted her to be at home with the kids when we were young. When we got a little older and his business was bringing in a more regular income, he engaged a professional answering service. It wasn’t a perfect arrangement, but it worked well and he continued operating that way for many years. Although he could have purchased an answering machine at some point, he believed that customers prefer talking to people than to machines.
When voicemail was introduced, it was widely adopted not only by businesses, but for personal use as well. (Wikipedia has a detailed history of voicemail, if you’re interested.) In fact, these days, it’s very unusual to call someone and get a busy signal or no answer at all. Voicemail allows businesses to have their telephone answered around the clock very inexpensively, and many large businesses have even replaced their switchboard operator with an automated attendant.
Some automated attendant systems work well, but I think we’ve all experienced the frustration of listening to lengthy lists of menu options, only to have to repeat them when it’s not clear which option we need. I have actually called a number of businesses where it is virtually impossible to speak to a human unless you already know the name of the person you wish to speak to and/or their extension number. I understand that it’s probably intentional, so their staff aren’t losing productivity due to calls from telemarketers, but what about potential customers? Are they doing so well that they don’t have to worry about people hanging up the phone and calling their competition?
Telephone answering is not one of the services I offer as a virtual assistant, but I have on occasion agreed to look after calls while a client is on vacation. In one case, I had to call in to check the client’s voice mail twice a day, then call back anyone who left a message. In most cases, I would return the call only to reach the client’s voicemail. So back and forth it went – I probably only connected with half of the people who called. So what became of the others? They, most likely, went to my client’s competitor for services. (My client, meanwhile, still had to pay me for my time.)
Another client uses a system where voicemail messages are delivered by email. When she went on vacation, she arranged for the messages to be delivered by me. This was better than the previous system, because I didn’t have to make a point of calling in to check for messages, and because I was able to return the call immediately in most cases, I had more success reaching the clients, although I still got their voicemail a few times. What I really noticed, however, was the number of blank messages that came in. These were probably people who knew they couldn’t be reached by return phone call, so they would either try again later, or move on to the next business on their list. Although it was a better system for me as a VA, I am not convinced that it was ideal in terms of customer service.
A third client regularly uses a team of consultants who all work from their home offices, of which I am one. In the past, we had to dial in regularly to check for messages, similar to the first scenario described above. Since our work involves a lot of telephone contact, and people could never reach us directly, we tended to play a lot of phone tag. This year, she signed up for a service where all incoming calls are routed to a remote receptionist, a live human being who answers the call and then redirects it to the appropriate consultant. This is much better for the team, because we can talk to callers when they are available to talk to us – which is better for them too! If I’m not available to take the call, the receptionist will offer to connect them with another consultant, or they can leave me a voicemail message, which will be delivered to me by email.
I highly recommend this type of service to anyone who wants to provide superior customer service without the expense of hiring a full-time receptionist. My client uses Smiledog but I’ve also heard good things about Encore Tele Solutions and Appointment-Link.
Do you want to get organized, but don’t know where to start? Have you tried to get organized, without success? If you live in or near the GTA, you’ll soon have a chance to learn about the four steps to organization, and the reasons why some people have more difficulty than others getting and staying organized.
There was a time, not so very long ago, that I felt like I was one person when I was at work, a different person with family, another person with friends, and so on, and at that time the thought of all these people from different corners of my world seeing the same side of me would have made me quite uncomfortable. Since starting my own business, I feel like I’m just me, no matter where I am or who I’m with. The guest list for my 50th birthday party included family members, former co-workers (from different jobs), and business contacts – something I would never have done in the past. Had I not gone through this transformation in my own life, I might not be as receptive to Savage’s comments, but the explosion of social networking seems to have occurred at just the right time in my life, and I don’t worry at all about the "wrong" person seeing something on my blog or on one of my online profiles.
