A good employee is hard to find, and everyone knows that once you find one, you should try and hold on. It will save you money in the long run, but exactly how much money?
CRM News has an article about employee motivation and retention in the answering service industry. It has many figures explaining the monetary value of employees and urges you treat employees as resources rather than numbers.
Internet retailers like Amazon.com are not required to charge sales tax. In fact a supreme court ruling in 1992 says that the purchaser is supposed to pay the tax on his or her own.
New York governor, Eliot Spitzer, is wanting to change all of this. His state is losing $47 million dollars a year to internet sales.
The full story is on The New York Times website.
Years ago, in the ancient days before the world-wide-web, way before Yahoo appeared and Google and Wikipedia provided topical information on any subject, how did people get their information?
In the dark ages before time as we know it there existed a company with a fiery beacon of light called The Question Shop which fielded questions on any subject. They performed much like the oracle in ancient Greece or like Google today. However, they did not require a devine presence or search engine technology. Imagine!
Here’s the link!
I ran across a couple articles dealing with phone rage today, and let’s face it; Phone rage happens. An important tip to keep in mind is that phone rage arises in people when they feel their concerns are not being addressed. This usually happens because of service issues that cannot be dealt with exactly at the time of their call. Billing issues are a prime candidate.
This problem is so bad in Scottland that the government has released a digital phone rage guide to call centers around the country.
Here is the site which talks about it. It also gives some tips for you.
The other article I saw today goes a little more in depth into the diplomacy of irate calls.
Okay this is so cute, I had to post it.
You too could have an aardvark answer your phones…
or You could just click on our main page for a legitimate quote…
Deciding on an answering service can be a rough trial. With Globalization and the rise of cheap, easy to get equipment, the number of answering services in the world is climbing. There are many tactics you can use to help determine which answering services are legitimate and which is right for you.
The first is the age of the company. How long have they been in the business? Many new answering services are hurt by poor customer service. If it is an older company, then their customer service techniques are tried and true. If they have been training employees for years and are still going strong, then they will surely be able to meet the needs of you and your clients.
Another important item to check on is if the answering service has any specialties. Today there are many nich specific answering services that deal only with one type of business. For instance: medical answering services, real estate answering services. These are generally smaller companies that cannot handle large amounts of calls or varying types of calls. Most non-nich services also specialize, but train their operators to takes all kinds of calls. It is always good to ask and see. Especially if your business has needs that spread out over many areas.
Price is always a factor when you’re in the market. As with anything, you pay for what you get, but you must always keep your budget in mind. Price varies considerably with different companies so it is a good idea to shop around. Many services will allow you to pay by the month, rather than roping you into a year long contract. These are great because then it is possible for you to test them out.
Lastly, ask them for references. Any reputable answering service will have several clients who will be willing to provide testimonials. Make sure to pay special attention to references from people in the same line of work as you. For instance a plumber would not care at all how well someone’s operators can enter orders into a clothing website.
As always, use common sense and ask a lot questions. If you are expecting over 200 calls a night, it may not be a good idea to hire Nancy, who just set up a home answering service next door in her living room. If something seems fishy, ask questions in different ways, or go somewhere else. Answering services can be powerful tools if the business is a professional one. I wish you the best of luck in finding the service that is right for you and your clients.
Real Estate Agents are on the go constantly! They need to be reachable at anytime of the day. Unfortunately, this often extends after hours. Answering services can help you get the calls that you need immediately and save the ones that are not as urgent. You can then get your messages in any way you see fit in the morning. It’s a very simple setup and it works great.
Here is an article that explains this issue further.
Yes they do! They also want to do it as cheap as possible. T-Mobile rolled out a new service for subscribers in Dallas and Seattle. These user can now choose to have T-Mobile handle all of the telephone calls - not just their cell phones.
The $10 service allows for unlimited local and long distance. However, you must already have cell phone service through them. You will also need to purchase a router which costs around $50 dollars. Vonage, the trail-blazer in VOIP technology, currently charges $25 per month for their service. As you can see, given a small amount of time T-Mobile’s service becomes the better deal.
Hopefully they will have success in their venture. I know Vonage has had a rocky time recently. If they do well in Seattle and Dallas, they plan on making the service available nation-wide. T-Mobile has not commented on how long their test run will last, or when they might offer everyone the service.
Working the graveyard shift can drive you to exhaustion. You are forced to constantly shift around your schedule to cope with everyday life. Errands must run in the day, and social outings and prime time television are always in the evening.
It turns out that mixing up your daily schedule can put quite strain on your heart.
So third shift operators, please, take it easy! Try and make your daily schedule as routine as possible and refer to this article for more information.
Wondering what to do with your old cell phone? Don’t throw it away! Many of the chemicals used inside cell phones are hazardous. They contain lead, cadmium, arsenic, and zinc. So what do you do with a drawer full of discarded cell phones? Sell them!
That’s right! There are also good things in cellphones: glass, plastic, and gold. Yes, gold! It doesn’t amount to much, but gold is used in the circuit boards because of its excellent conductivity.
Many communities are proactive on this topic and hold recycling days where they will take your old cells. This will generally happen a couple times a year.
However, if you are in the mood for cash, try looking at this website. They also host a catalogue where you can look up much your cell phone is worth.
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