Having some extra customer support surrounding pre and post holiday hustle and bustle pays off immensely. Not only will you be providing new and existing clients with consistent high quality, you will also cut down on employee stress and increase your revenue.

The first item to consider is how orders will be placed throughout the season. By phone? Email? Online order form? A call center provides highly trained agents to handle increased order volume. Call center agents will efficiently and accurately place and manage orders as well as cross sell and upsell your products or services. Agents are also available to answer questions about shipment status, product details, new inventory, holiday specials, and other important information before, during, and after regular business hours.

Post holiday customer service is just as important if not more so – business owners know to expect a high number of returns, exchanges, and various questions about product care, set up, or problems encountered. Strengthen your customer service department with a team of trained virtual receptionists. Virtual receptionists follow customized protocol to handle each situation appropriately, just as a member of your own company would.

Call center and virtual receptionist services are an extension of your business, used to reinforce your own staff during heavy call times. Virtual receptionists will answer the phone professionally and courteously, greeting callers with your business name and following customized scripts that you provide.

Consult with your team before you’re in over your heads – virtual receptionists save time, stress, and money during the profitable but sometimes trying holiday season.

Focus on the positive even when you don’t know the answer.
Realistically, you will not know the answer to every question a caller asks. Rather than appearing uneducated about the client you represent, focus on finding an answer for the caller. For example,

Caller:  “Is Mrs. Jones available?”

Refrain from this answer:  “I don’t know. Let me try her line for you.”
Use one of these answers:
“If you can please hold for one moment, I’d be happy to check for you.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Jones is unavailable at the moment but I’d me happy to take a message and let her know that you called.”

Skipping the statement “I don’t know” jumps right to offering help to the caller (the action part of the statement).

Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Time-sensitive questions are sometimes difficult to address when you aren’t certain of the time frame.

Common time-related questions:
“When will Mrs. Jones be in?”
“When will Mrs. Jones return my call?”

Instead of stating a time without Mrs. Jones’ consent, deflect the question and offer assistance in your control. This removes the “I don’t know” and replaces it with positive statements. For example:

“Unfortunately, Mrs. Jones didn’t check out with me but I’d be happy to take a message and let her know that you called.”
“Mrs. Jones generally returns her calls in the order that they are received, therefore, it is difficult to say exactly when that would be. However, I will make sure she receives the message immediately.”

Choose the method of communication preferred by your client.
Every person is different when it comes to communicating throughout the day. Some people prefer responding to emails, others like to talk it out on the phone. Know what your client prefers and point callers in that direction.

“Mrs. Smith is currently out of the office, but has Internet access and will happily reply if you’d like to email her directly.”
“I’d be happy to forward you to Mrs. Smith’s voicemail and she will return your call as soon as she can.”

Simultaneously satisfy your client and your client’s callers by being aware of communication preferences.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications. Alert Communications provides 24/7 call answering support.

Mr. Thompson is a testament to the fact that the life of an attorney can become overwhelmingly busy. Let alone not physically being available to answer every incoming call, sometimes it’s unnerving to switch gears quickly between a family member and a potential client. However, Mr. Thompson advises that attorneys steer clear of hiring an in-house receptionist and instead implement a virtual receptionist.

In his post, Mr. Thompson highlights the benefits of a virtual receptionist, including no overhead costs, 24/7 client communication, and effective task management (appointment setting, answering routine questions, etc.).

Read the full post to see how a virtual receptionist has improved Mr. Thomson’s office organization:  Virtual Receptionist Service: Who’s picking up your phone?

No Brick and Mortar Office = No Energy Expenses

Of the 77% of electricity produced by businesses running daily operations, the most energy-consuming category is office buildings (U.S. Energy Information Administration). Virtual receptionists allow you to save on heating, air conditioning, lighting, office equipment and appliances, and many more expenses that quickly add up.

Paperless Operations

Since the duties of virtual receptionists depend highly on technology, there is very little paper waste. Virtual receptionists conduct their day using email, chat, and traditional or web-based telephone. Cloud technology has also made going paperless easy, with platforms such as Google Docs, Google Calendar, and more. With one solo employee disposing an average of 10,000 sheets of paper a year, virtual receptionists are a valuable option to retain resources.

Employee Commutes Eliminated

Many larger businesses will employ a separate department solely for administrative and receptionist tasks. Depending on the size of the company, this could mean a large chunk of employees are commuting on average 30 minutes or more to and from work each day. For example, if 50 employees commute a total of one hour, this equals 27.35 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per week (Carbonica.org Commuter Calculator).

It’s simple to reduce your company’s carbon footprint by implementing remote business communications. In addition to saving resources, virtual receptionists can help cut spending and convey the image of an environmentally conscious company.

Business Identity and Caller Empathy

When handling incoming calls, agents should always identify themselves right away with his or her name and the company they are representing. After politely inquiring about the reason for the call, agents should be patient while letting the caller fully explain their questions or concerns. Allowing the caller to speak without interruption helps develop a trust factor. When the customer is finished speaking, agents should display a level of concern for their needs and follow up with probing, relevant questions to help resolve the issue at hand. As a call center, one of your main goals is to ease any uncertainty the caller may have about making a commitment later in the conversation.

Establishing Desires of Clients

When prospective clients make the very first call to a business, they may not know exactly what they need or even what to look for. This is where call center agents use custom scripting and industry training. Call center agents must ask probing questions to discover the caller’s needs, collect useful information, and develop a rapport.

Eliminating Cancellations

Post-call remorse may occur after getting off the line with a caller who has agreed to set an appointment, purchase a product, upgrade a service, etc. Many agents will rush to get off the phone after upselling, cross-selling, or appointment setting in order to avoid sudden changes of heart from the caller. While this may seem effective, it can actually leave the new customer feeling regretful and panicked. To significantly reduce cancellations, call agents should follow a post-close script that will leave the caller confident in their decision to utilize the business’s services.

Call center agents who develop a healthy rapport with callers are proven to capture more leads and make more conversions than those who do not establish an agent-caller relationship.

Service providers that offer 24/7 emergency assistance receive calls around the clock. Naturally, not all of these calls can be taken and voice mailboxes fill up quickly. Some businesses don’t even have the time to go through all of their messages, let alone return calls. Allow a 24-hour virtual receptionist to handle this for you. Especially in emergency situations, callers are more likely to keep dialing until they reach immediate assistance. When a caller reaches a live person, they are much less likely to drop the call.

Whether you are fixing a broken air conditioner or sending out roadside assistance for an overheated car, virtual receptionists for service providers ensure that your business is reachable 24 hours a day for the ultimate in customer care. Virtual receptionist services allow you to customize scripts in line with your business objectives so no information slips through the cracks. Answering services can take incoming calls 24 hours, after business hours, or simply just for overflow. Automated services can also be used solely or in combination with a live receptionist to screen calls before answering. Several options are available depending on the size of your business and its needs. Choose to receive messages via email or text, or even implement bilingual call center agents for Spanish-speaking callers.

Virtual receptionists take over the administrative duties so that you have time to run your business. Virtual receptionists will manage scheduling tasks, collect accurate client information, dispatch calls to technicians, put through emergency service callers, record messages, and provide post service customer satisfaction calls. Service packages can be purchased with no contract according to your call volume. As a service provider, your leads can now become clients with the help of a virtual receptionist.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications provides 24/7 call answering support.

“The practice of law has always been a relationship business and remains a relationship business despite the growing importance of the Internet,” Weiss says.

People like to be informed, especially when dealing with a lawyer. Keeping clients in the know can include receiving new awards, joining new associations, adding new staff, making changes to procedures, and much more. It also means being available when the client is trying to get in contact. Law firms that are proactive and maintain open communication with clients and colleagues gain trust and are more likely to get a large share of the client’s legal work and referrals. Lawyers can also ultimately charge higher rates for higher quality services.

One way to keep an open line of communication in a law firm is by implementing an attorney answering service. Customer service plays a huge role in a lawyer or law firm’s success. A legal receptionist guarantees that callers will reach a live agent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Attorney answering services offer the flexibility of creating a custom script to obtain all pertinent caller information and leave little room for miscommunication. By reaching a live person rather than voice mail or an automated service, callers are less likely to hang up and give business to competitors. Consider an attorney answering service to get leads and increase revenue – don’t let a missed call become a missed opportunity.

To read more about the surveys and results reviewed by Bob Weiss, click here.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications provides 24/7 call answering support.

I even got a survey recently from an orthopedist’s office I visited, and one of the questions was “How long did you have to wait to see the doctor?”  Notice the question wasn’t “Did you have to wait to see the doctor?” Waiting was assumed, even by the survey writers.

So where does your business fit into this paradox? Are you contributing to the expectation that your customers will get less even though they’d like more? Or are you the exception?

Are your customers disappointed when they call your office during the day or after hours? Maybe they expected to get an answering machine but were hoping they might reach a real person. Maybe you should give them more than they expect.

The whole idea behind using virtual receptionists and business answering services is to provide customers with an immediate response. Answering-service clients want their customers to speak with a “real” person, 24/7, who can either patch them through directly to someone or immediately get a message to the client. Shouldn’t that be something you want for your customers, too?

If your business is already the exception to this want-more/expect-less paradox, then good for you. If your answer is “not so much,” then I encourage you to think about what you can do to bring an end to it. If your customers are reaching an answering machine instead of a virtual receptionist during office hours or a business answering service after hours, maybe it’s time to reconsider. Professional answering and/or virtual receptionist services can help you be the exception to the paradox.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications is a 24/7bilingual inbound call center, specializing in professional attorney answering, virtual receptionist, Spanish answering and business answering solutions.

A live receptionist is as “human” as you can get.  If you can’t afford an onsite receptionist then try a virtual receptionist service.  Many offer their services in Spanish as well as English.

We know what so many companies are finding out — people want to talk to people, not machines. And it helps if they speak the same language. When your customers call, they want a live person to answer the phone and talk with them.  There is definately value in human interaction and a personal touch.  It doesn’t matter whether their handling emergency calls or covering your office while you’re out to lunch, live receptionists care about your customers as much as you do, and are dedicated to providing a professional, courteous service when you’re not there.

A machine never goes out of its way to calm someone down, get the right information or can’t determine just how urgent a call is. A live person, given the right training, can.  A machine may very well make an upset customer irate or overwhelmed. A live person, given the right training, won’t.

If you want to get your company’s name off the GetHuman.com list — or ensure your business never makes the list — try a virtual receptionist service. You can “get human” in no time.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications is a 24/7bilingual inbound call center, specializing in professional attorney answering, virtual receptionist, Spanish answering and business answering solutions.

The first step is to be able to split yourself into two. (Just kidding, but it can help.) One “you” needs to step back and look at the call from outside all the emotions. The other “you” has to decide how to diffuse the situation. At this point, an agent may benefit from visualizing Robert Plutchik’s flower-petal model of emotions to determine exactly what the customer is feeling. Once he knows that, he knows how to manage the call by asking the right questions and letting the customer know he understands his distress and will help resolve the problem.

Through it all, agents need to remind themselves to hold onto their composure. If they lose that, they lose — period. Plus, they must remember they ARE their customers’ business as far as that caller is concerned. Every caller is important, and should be treated courteously and professionally, no matter the emotions involved. With the right protocol many customer service issues can be handled by the call center.  However, when a call is escalated directly to their client, the call center agent should know how to document a caller’s emotional state so their client can quickly and efficiently handle the situation.

While agents are busy splitting themselves into two, they need to remain flexible throughout it all. Every situation is different, and what worked well with one caller may not help the least with another. It’s important to hit just the right tone with callers. Not aggressive, but assertive enough to take control of the call. And definitely not passive. It’s best to engage the caller, identify and acknowledge their feelings and assure them that they will be helped, while gathering the necessary information in order to do so.

The next time you’re tempted to slam the receiver down or hit “End” on your cell phone, take a deep breath and figure out how to turn the call around. I promise to try and do that the next time I’m “discussing” my prescription coverage with my insurance provider.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications is a 24/7 bilingual inbound call center, specializing in professional attorney answering, virtual receptionist, Spanish and business answering solutions.