Tips For Choosing the Best Telephone Answering Service

It's not as easy as people may think to choose an outstanding and reliable telephone answering service. Here are some tips that could help you make the right decision:

1. See for yourself how they function. If possible, go and visit the call centre and see how professionally they handle their calls, How the operators sound on the telephone, Look at how well presented the office is, If you were greeted in a friendly manner etc.
2. Check if the company is offering a free trial or some sort of discount offer. This way you can see, if by using them for a week free, they are the best for you or not. Then if there is any problems about their service that you are concerned about, talk through it with them and maybe they can address those problems.
3. Do they understand your business? Do they have the same sort of clients as you already? Will they know how to deal with your customers? Do they know all the correct answers if asked? and the correct terminology that is relevant to your business? etc.
4. Ask for recommendations. The telephone answering company may have a few recommendations from clients that are in the same industry as you, this means that you will be able to find out how they cope with their calls and subsequently if they are right for your business.
5. Look to see what services they offer. If they offer a number of different services and are able to deliver these services efficiently then they could be of great benefit to you. Later on down the line you may feel like you need another service for your business - perhaps they already offer that service instead of you going elsewhere and starting over with another company.
6. Check to see if the managing director of the telephone answering service is involved in the operations of their business. If they want their services to be the best, they are most likely going to be involved, this means that they are dedicated to providing the best for your company.
7. Don't choose your telephone answering service based just on price. You really do get what you paid for, so don't settle for a cheap and nasty service. Make sure you get a good deal whilst staying within your budget. Also make sure you know exactly what you are getting billed for.
8. Is there a call recording option available? You will want to know how your customers are being treated on the telephone, so it is a great idea to have a call recording option in with your package. This also means the operators will know they are being recorded and will be on their best behaviour.
9. Do they have a back up if their systems fail? You want a telephone answering service that has back up power and on-site spare parts and computer equipment in case this happens.

If you take all these tips in to account then you will have no problem finding a telephone answering service that will handle your calls professionally, just the way you want.

Kristy Howells is the Senior Accounts Manager at WagTap Contact Solutions which provides a number of first class telephone answering services that are designed to save clients time and money, reduce stress and staffing levels and improve customer satisfaction and retention.
WagTap specialises in Virtual Assistant services, out of hours and overflow call handling, sales order processing, information request lines, media response lines, customer service support, outbound telemarketing and market research services. Click this link to try our services for FREE!

How to Make Those All Important Sales Appointments, Improving Your Sales Results

The most important part of the sales process by far, for any business that deals with direct selling is to arrange a sales appointment. Direct sales companies need this appointment so that the company can explain and display their outstanding sales skills to the receiving end. This can, however result in rejection by the receiving end as most receiving parties will not give you an opportunity!

Here are some top tips to achieving these sales appointments, therefore improving your sales results;

Top Tip One:

Motivate yourself!

Who likes arranging sales appointments??? No one? I think that would be the case for the majority of direct sales companies. You can set yourself some objectives you want to overcome for each session, (time slot of allocated calls to be made) once you have overcome these objections, reward yourself! Set yourself a different reward for each set of objectives you overcome, set yourself a higher reward, the harder the objectives the bigger the reward! Think to yourself, how many calls to you want to make by the end of the day? How many of these calls would you want to have arranged a sales appointment? Each of these could be a different reward.

Top Tip two:

Your aim at this time is to arrange an appointment and nothing else!!

When you make the call, you are not selling your product, all you are asking for is just 30 minutes of their time so you can explain your product in person. Don't bombard the person on the other end with questions, just keep it plain and simple! You could plan what benefits are involved from the prospective client meeting with you, what they can gain etc. Catorgorise your call list into different categories and for each category list the benefits that particular client will have from meeting with you. These will be different for each category. By doing this you will come across much more confident on the phone as you will believe in what you are doing and how it can benefit the prospective client.

Top Tip three:

Keep it short and sweet

Just remember these key areas; Who are you? (State your name), and you are calling from???....(State your company's name and a one line promotion statement), and you are calling today because?....(any new promotions? a new, better pricing schedule?)

Top Tip four:

Get the prospective client interacting.

Make a conversation with the prospective client, you have done all the talking! Get them involved a little! Ask a question, but one that is specific to your line of business. Do you currently use this type of service? How do you currently manage your.....? Make sure the type of question that you decide to use does not enable the prospective client to end the call, the call always needs to be in your hands!

Top Tip Five:

The Benefits!!

Tell the prospective client about the benefits that you would have already listed from top tip one and ask that all important question (The aim of your call!) The fact that you want 30 minutes of their time.

Top Tip Six:

Make the move!!

Name a place, time and day immediately, you can offer them a choice of these, which ever is the most convenient for the prospective client.

Top Tip Seven:

Reward Time!

What I find useful is to practice, practice, practice what you are going to say to the prospective client, once you have it spot on, record it, listen to yourself, and keep doing this until you are happy with what you are saying and how you are saying it. Once you are happy, get dialing!

Remember to categorise the prospective clients into different lists and list all the benefits for each category.

Stacey Howells is the Operations Director at WagTap Contact Solutions which provides a number of first class telephone answering services that are designed to save clients time and money, reduce stress and staffing levels and improve customer satisfaction and retention.

WagTap specialises in virtual assistant services, out of hours and overflow call handling, sales order processing, information request lines, media response lines, customer service support, outbound telemarketing and market research services. Click here to try our services for FREE!

Customer Service Representatives - The Key To Your Customer Satisfaction

The responsibilities of customer service representatives include handling and resolving complaints and to be of assistance to customers who require information about products and services. They also need to build a loyal relationship with the customer and the information they provide to the customer has to be accurate.
Most businesses provide customer service and the customer service representatives are there to be a direct source for the customers needs. Excellent customer service means that the customer will feel happy knowing that the organisation is there to cater for their needs and always willing to help them resolve the problem if there is one.
Most customers would prefer to contact the customer services by telephone whether it is for a complaint or for any other general enquiry. There are also other ways such as Email, faxes or general mail, but a call centre type telephone answering line is the most quickest and easiest way for the customer to get their point across, their complaint resolved or for a quick answer to their query.
The customer service representative has to be polite and friendly and always able to be there for the customer in order for the customer to come back. This makes the business more profitable. Outstanding customer service also makes the business very competitive. The more excellent the service is, the more customers want to stay and be loyal to the business or even helps new customers join.
Customer satisfaction means that the customer is provided with great service and their expectations are met. Not all customers that are not happy complain, most customers will just tell other people about it, which is much worse as you cannot resolve their problems if you do not know about it. This then results in the business losing the customer and them and potential customers going elsewhere. So the business will need to gain trust from the customer and control it, in order for the customer to stay loyal.
The customer needs to feel that they can trust the business in order to stay committed. They need a good relationship in order for them to communicate and say how they feel, this then helps the business grow and gain customer loyalty.
The business should have a policy in which they do whatever it takes to make the customer happy. The business should continually assess the customers perceptions of the business in order to keep the customer on board and the business should always compromise with the customer in order for them to feel that there is always a solution to their problems.
Excellent customer service may be difficult but if carried out correctly, it will work out to be very profitable and the business will grow. Whether it's to promote a new sale, handle a complaint, answer a query or even to take a compliment on the service the business provides, the customer service should always be excellent in order for the customer to have good thoughts about the company and tell their friends about it. This will never go wrong as long as the customer service representative is willing to go the extra mile with the customer.
So always remember the representative needs to be polite, willing to go the extra mile, answer queries accurately and make the customer feel welcome. With all this in mind the business will always have it's profit and will not go wrong.
Kristy Howells is the Senior Accounts Manager at WagTap Contact Solutions which provides a number of first class telephone answering services that are designed to to reduce stress and staffing levels, saving their clients time and money, and improving customer satisfaction and retention.
WagTap specialises in Virtual Assistant services, out of hours and overflow call handling, sales order processing, information request lines, media response lines, customer service support, outbound telemarketing and market research services. Click here to learn more about our FREE trial

How to get the most from your Virtual PA

Business managers and owners are devoting all their time and energy these days to protecting themselves against the global economic downturn. This has an overall effect on their lifestyle because they are spending the majority of their time working towards the success of their company, resulting in no time for themselves. There should be a balance between your professional and your personal life, which could mean that business owners need a helping hand with some of their basic business activities.

A Virtual PA (also commonly known as Virtual Receptionists, Virtual Assistants or Remote Receptionists) is an excellent way forward in helping you receive that extra help in day to day business activities. Virtual PAs will meet deadlines, complete all the work in the office, arrange appointments at your convenience, or cancel appointments at your beck and call, thus leaving you at total ease knowing you can now dedicate all your time concentrating on achieving your business goals and objectives.

There are some tips that will maximise the benefits of your Virtual PA, these will be discussed shortly. You should develop an understanding - a working relationship with your Virtual PA, this way you can ensure that you extract the maximum benefits from your virtual assistant.  Don't forget that your virtual assistant will perform the majority of tasks for you on a daily basis which will cover all aspects of your business.

These tips will maximise the benefits of your Virtual PA...

Select a Virtual PA that meets your needs

It goes without saying that you will need a Virtual PA that will suit your business needs and ticks all the boxes in relation to meeting your company's requirements. You will need to ensure that you approach a company that employ skilled PAs or receptionists from various fields.

Effective Communication

Even though your Virtual Assistant is not physically present at your office, they will still be assessable at all times. You must ensure that the communication lines between you and your Virtual PA are always open and accessible. If anything arises you must ensure you are able to contact your Virtual Assistant there and then.

Give detailed, clear instructions to your Virtual PA

In order to gain perfect results from your Virtual PA it will be a good idea to meet with them in person or over the phone once you have selected them. During this time it would be beneficial to provide your Virtual PA with clear instructions of what you expect from them, and clear instructions on completing different tasks. It is important not to assume that your Virtual Assistant will know actually what is expected from them. They can then be responsible for these duties and tasks that you have assigned to them.

A Virtual Assistant can provide a consistent means of contact for your customers which doesn't tie you up on the telephone. They will ensure you never miss another call, they can trnsfer important calls straight to you based on your specification and can perform a range of tasks at your request. Your small business will look instantly bigger with a Virtual Receptionist and you will find the cost very reasonable compared to hiring your own member of staff – and less stressful too!

WagTap specialises in providing first class Virtual Assistants for all kindsof business ... Click here to try a Virtual Assistant completely FREE for a week

A Guide for Private Secretaries and Personal Assistants

Welcome to the WagTap blog ... Keeping you up to date with all things customer focused!

Hi, we've decided to set up a blog where we plan to post lots of useful information for business owners and managers to help them improve their customer satisfaction and retention, save time and money, and generally improve their business.

WagTap specialises in providing first class telphone answering services including virtual receptionists, sales processing, customer service lines and brochure request lines, basically handling any inbound (or outbound) contact with your company.

Add this blog to your favourites and check back often as we'll be adding plenty of information for you to get your teeth into.

Regards

Richard
Managing Director