I’m Responsible

Posted by Christopher Reed on September 27th, 2009

Recently, I implemented a new program at my office. It is called “I’m Responsible”. Each employee was introduced to the program and given a sheet of paper to sign and date stating that they too were RESPONSIBLE.

What is “I’m Responsible”? It is nothing hard and nothing anyone doesn’t already know. It is not only for the employee’s work life but can be implemented into their life away from work as well. It is a pledge to themselves, to me (their employer), to our customers and their co-workers. This program can be used at any workplace; any employer or manager can implement this to work for them. Give your company and your people the power and enrichment of being RESPONSIBLE.

Each employee is a key member to the success of any business, otherwise why else would they be there. Each employee needs to know that they are vital to the big picture and that their actions are paramount to the success or detriment of the organization. I went to each employee and asked them “Will you do more than just your ‘JOB’ and make sure the customer’s needs are being met instead of just following the path of least resistance? Will you become RESPONSIBLE?”

I gave each employee ownership over their daily tasks. I charged them with being responsible for their actions. When an employee stops feeling like just another anonymous cog in the business and they themselves become responsible for the company, they become a greater asset to the business. When they feel they are an integral part of the path to success they become just that.

I believe this shift in thinking and accepting responsibility will pay dividends greatly in the long run. I truly believe this will translate into more satisfied customers, more satisfied employees and will enhance the way we do business here at Iowa Answering Service. It was a simple, painless and near effortless approach. At every workstation, in the break room, at the time clock, by the lockers –everywhere employees go, I put up a simple sign that reads “I’M RESPONSIBLE” in large black letters. This will remind them they have ownership over their actions.

There are two ways to go about one’s life, not just your professional life, but your personal life as well. You can own up to what is yours. You can take ownership of your actions. You can be responsible to those your life affects. I have asked my employees to become responsible to our customers and our company.

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Small Business Saves Hundreds Each Month

Posted by Christopher Reed on September 22nd, 2009

Recently, one of my “mom and pop” customers came to me for ideas to save some money in today’s economy. They wanted to know if I had any ideas that would allow them to both save money and maintain customer service. Their small service plumbing business was doing well, but the felt they needed to cut some costs “just incase”.

Currently, they have the owner (master plumber), two service techs and a receptionist. The two service techs are full time as well as the receptionist. The following scenario is what we came up with.

They pay their receptionist $10.50 per hour. Without figuring in all the “hidden” costs of their receptionist (holidays, sick days, overtime, FUTA, FICA, SUTA etc) is costing them more than $1800 per month. As a full time employee the receptionist is currently working forty hours per week, however, during peak times she sometimes logs a few hours of overtime.

Although they are available 24/7, the office is only “open” from 8am -5pm Monday through Friday. The plumbing service is already utilizing our services for their after hours emergency service calls, ensuring their customers are tended to every hour, every day. Since they are already a customer, there will really be no more cost to further utilize our services. I proposed to him that he have his receptionist come in at 9am and leave at 4pm each day. This will cut his employee expenses for the receptionist by 10 hours per week, saving him about $500 dollars per month.

I went on to explain to him that his office will not suffer because the receptionist is not there for those two hours each day. Our answering service will cover the calls that come in during that time. Folks calling will not know the difference and we can dispatch any service calls to the service techs, get messages to the owner as needed and generally field his calls to keep his business “open”.

Now, my customer is happy to have the extra $500 each month to pad his bottom line. Instead of finding something new to spend this money on, he is using it as a “buffer” in his bank account incase anything unforeseen occurs. This was a simple, pain-free way to adjust his bottom line.

The above story is just one example of how my service can help you and your business save money. For more information please contact me today, I would be happy to put my 11 years of service to work helping you trim the fat off your monthly expenses.

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How it Works

Posted by Christopher Reed on September 9th, 2009

My staff is on duty 24/7. We are live, professional and ready to take your calls. Any hour, every day we take calls for businesses just like yours. However, I know that no two businesses are exactly alike, therefore our extensive, industry leading equipment allows us to fully customize each account according to the needs of that company.

Most of my customers utilize call forwarding to direct their phone calls to our location. Call forwarding is a feature available through your phone company. By entering a specialized dialing code into your phone, you direct your calls to us. My equipment recognizes your phone number and “pops” your account onto one of my operator’s work station.

Since we have already loaded your account, my operators know (the computer shows them) how to answer your phone (phraseology), they know what to do with each call based on the callers needs, per your instructions. My professional staff is armed with the instructions to handle your calls and collect the information you need as well as dispatch the information where and when you need it to go.

Each client receives regular email (or fax) of all message transactions, orders and appointments that transpire. In addition to this regular report, each client is free to arrange personalized dispatch of particular messages as they come in. For instance, I have a client with no office, no (hired) secretary. He forwards his business line to us and goes about his work every day. As calls come in for him from customers needing a service call, my staff collects the information for him. This customer prefers to receive a text message every time we get a service call for him. Therefore, if “John Q. Public” opens the yellow pages and finds his ad, calls his number, we answer the phone for him, and then he gets a text immediately with the customer’s name, address, phone number and what they need. He is able to call the customer and tell them when he can be there.

The above transaction happens so fast, the new customer doesn’t have time to call any of my customer’s competition. Also, since my client uses my LIVE operators to answer his phones professionally instead of voice mail or an answering service, his caller knows that the message was received and feels confident that someone is going to return his call soon. This gives my customer a HUGE advantage over his competition.

No matter what industry you are in, my company can help you achieve the service advantage. More and more these days, people are sick and tired of getting voice mail or talking to machines, pressing “one” for this or “two” for that. Let your competition do things the impersonal way, you should be the one to tell your customers you care enough to spare them the machines and want them to get a warm, live, professional, caring person each time they call, no matter when that call comes in.

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Superior Service on a Budget

Posted by Christopher Reed on September 2nd, 2009

How does a small business, in today’s economy, manage costs and still compete with their larger competition?

 Easy.

 Limit your payroll staff and outsource your receptionist work. My company has been helping the small business man or woman succeed and excel for the past 11 years. Many of my customers are service professionals with no office staff. They forward their number to my office and go out and work all day either in the office or on service calls. We handle their phones, take their messages, book their appointments or take their orders. All the while, they are free to get the other things done to keep their operation, well, operating.

 For pennies on the dollar, a business can utilize our service instead of paying an employee. Unlike employees, we work around the clock, don’t take sick days, don’t demand holidays off and never call in to say we won’t be there for you. Don’t pay an hourly wage to one employee, when you can take advantage of a small monthly fee and get the use of ALL of my employees.

 No matter what industry you are in, we can help you excel. How much more work could you get done everyday, if you weren’t tied to the telephone? Let us take that burden from you. We’ll take your calls, and per your instructions, each type of call can be handled as you want it. Most of my clients have their messages sent directly to their cell phone, via text, as they come in. This allows them the freedom of not having to answer every phone call, yet they can stay on top of what is going on. Since they get a direct text of all calls, they get to choose which calls are important enough to stop working to handle. Some of my other clients have us “patch” certain callers directly to them. This means they have arranged certain protocols for us, where if a certain person calls or someone needing a certain service calls, we can ask that person to hold, dial our clients phone and “patch” the two together.

 Most people calling my clients have no idea they are dealing with an outsourced receptionist service. We work seamlessly with our clients, providing them the image of a much larger company, yet saving them several thousand dollars per month in payroll and expenses. Some of my clients don’t even pay rent for an office or building. They do it all out of their home and a truck. However, their customers have no idea; they have a mental image of doing business with a large conglomeration, only one with the superior service of a smaller, more personal business.

 Contact me today for more information.

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Work ON your business, not IN your business

Posted by Christopher Reed on August 30th, 2009

In today’s hectic and volatile business climate, it is more imperative than ever that a business owner works ON his business rather than IN his business. There are far more important things to do each day than answer the phone or take messages, orders and book appointments. Nowadays, a business owner must spend the lion’s share of their time attracting new clients, tending to current clients and dealing with employees. If you are spending time on the phone with customer service issues or processing orders or booking appointments you are just spinning your wheels.

The next question is… who should do this for you?

Well, you have two solutions. First you could hire a receptionist to accomplish this task. There are lots of expenses involved in this process. You have to run the ad, take your valuable time interviewing several candidates (we all know that every interviewee only puts their best face forward, not their true self), make them an offer they will accept, take more of your valuable time training them to do the job. Let’s say you are going to pay this receptionist $10 per hour. Just on salary alone, you are over $1700 per month ($10/hr x 40 hrs/wk x 4.3 wks/month). Atop this salary amount are benefits, vacation, sick time, federal and local taxes and the list just keeps on going. To be conservative, one employee at $10/hr is going to cost you over $2000 per month. How many new clients do you need to land just to pay for this person?

Thankfully, there is another option for you. This is a service that my company specializes in. Don’t pay $2000 per month when you could pay us around $100 per month. Your receptionist only works 40 hours per week (unless you are going to get sunk by overtime wages and taxes); my staff is there for you around the clock. Live operators answer your phone 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, holidays and weekends too. What could you do with that savings each month?

Not only will my company save you loads of money, we offer you many other distinct advantages. With a full staff of round-the-clock operators, utilizing our service, you will give the impression of having a huge office building full of staff just waiting to serve your customers. All this while, you will be able to provide the service of a smaller company that your competitors cannot. We handle your customer service calls, take your orders, schedule your appointments and more. Using a state-of-the-art computer system, we are fully customizable to suit the needs of your business.

Contact us today, if you would like to discuss what we can do for you. With over 11 years of experience providing this service, I’m sure we can assist your business and help you capture market share.

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