Posts Tagged ‘live answering service’

Free Attorney White Paper Downloads Now Available: Capture and Retain Leads

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Alert Communications is now offering two free download-able white papers on attorney marketing efforts. Our white papers explain everything you need to know about retaining leads once they reach you and eliminating space for competition.

White Paper #1 – Turning Leads Into Clients: Professional Call Center Etiquette for Personal Injury Lawyers

Capturing leads can be daunting, especially without a strategy in place. Utilizing an attorney answering service is an affordable, repeatable avenue for more lead captures. Attorneys spend a considerable amount of money on marketing, so once a potential client picks up the phone you want to ensure that all pertinent lead data is collected. With customizable scripting, legal receptionists can obtain the information needed to answer all of the caller’s questions and point them in the correct direction. Don’t allow a missed call to become a missed opportunity; consider a professional call center for efficient data intake and call management strategies.

White Paper #2 – Turning Bankruptcy Inquiries into Attorney Appointments: Professional Call Center Etiquette for Bankruptcy Attorneys

Bankruptcy attorneys will benefit from the use of a call management system to organize caller information and scheduling. An attorney answering service simplifies these jobs by implementing specific strategies for data intake, appointment setting, and general messages. With a virtual receptionist every call is an opportunity for new business. By implementing strategies that work for your goals, simple inquiries can efficiently become appointments.

Legal receptionists act as the face of your law firm, so make sure the correct steps are taken to acquire and retain more leads once they reach you. Alert Communications will deliver an effective call management solution to save you money and exceed your business objectives.

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

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Posted in Answering Services by Alert, Attorney Answering, Call Center Service, Virtual Receptionist Services | No Comments »

Can You Afford NOT To Have A Small Business Answering Service?

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Small businesses do have to be money-smart when choosing where to place their pennies; but what may seem like a cost-efficient idea may be doing just the opposite. Small business answering services are prime examples of this common misconception.

Think of yourself as a customer for a moment, searching for a new product or service provider with which you are unfamiliar. Reaching voicemail after voicemail leaves you doubtful that you will ever receive a return phone call. As a result, finding a business that utilizes a business answering service instantly gives that company a one-up over competition. Businesses that are available to their customers 24/7 are the ones that persevere.

A Company With A Business Answering Service Increases:

  • Potential client acquisition – callers are less likely to hang up the phone when they reach a live person
  • Ability to measure call volume and number of prospective clients
  • Less opportunity for competition to grow
  • Ability to filter calls
  • Acquisition of important information to send the caller in the right direction
  • Promotion of products and services – a call center representative can easily mention additional products, promotions, and deals to increase your company’s bottom line
  • Locking in business leads

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

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Posted in Small Business Tip, Virtual Receptionist Services | No Comments »

Are You Selling Socially?

Monday, March 21st, 2011

The Internet is a great way to sell, but how do you find the right people online? Check out some of these small companies and web sites that can help your sales force effectively use social media.

  • Online vendors – eBay and Craigslist are great ways to reach a large market, but find a niche market for what you sell. Check out sites like www.clickbank.com or www.amazon.com to find categories or sites like www.etsy.com to direct sell your products/services.
  • Promotion – Once you find the right place, let people know you’re there. Your sales people can promote products on Twitter and create a company fan page on Facebook.
  • Group buying – This is becoming more popular with sites like Groupon, Deals for Deeds and Social Buy. Remember that most of these sites are regional so make sure you find one in your area or one that will sell your products online.
  • Foursquare – This is a powerful tool, allowing salespeople to offer rewards/special deals to loyal customers or new ones. Some businesses offer certain discounts only on Foursquare. It’s a great way to measure the effectiveness of specific promotions.

Regardless of which route you pursue, beware of one thing – preserving your brand. Define your brand and determine how to market it without compromising your authenticity. Then you can use social media to sell your products or services with real results.

If you have advice to share on how to use social media in sales, please share your comments below.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications provides 24/7 call answering support including: Call Center Service, Live Answering Service, Spanish Answering Service, Attorney Answering Service, Virtual Receptionist Service.

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Posted in E-ffective Marketing | No Comments »

Don’t Damage Customer Loyalty on Your Web Site

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Chances are your customers will either find your business online or visit your site once they purchase from you. So are you doing everything you can to build customer loyalty online?

I could give you a long list of things to try on your web site to increase customer loyalty, but I’d rather give you some tips to make sure you don’t lose it.

  • Keep it simple – If your web site is too difficult for people to navigate, they will look elsewhere. Use easy-to-read signs to guide them, and make sure your navigation bar is simple and in the same spot on every page.
  • Deliver on promises – Nothing is more aggravating than finding out “guarantees” are only lip service. If you’re not going to do it, don’t put it on your site.
  • Limit bells and whistles – You want people to immediately know what you do. Don’t distract them with flashing icons, pop-up windows and rotating banner ads.
  • Be current – Promote new products, services, discounts and special offers. Tell people when an out-of-stock will return. Don’t frustrate them by waiting until check out to tell them.  
  • Don’t hide your contact info – If it’s too difficult to reach you, visitors may go elsewhere. Offer a variety of ways to reach you – toll-free phone number, e-mail address or a live, online chat.

While you work to discover new ways to build customer loyalty with your online presence, be sure your site isn’t working against you.

Is there something else you’ve done to make sure you’re not damaging customer loyalty? Please share your comments.

Frances Starr, Director of Sales & Marketing for Alert Communications.  Alert Communications provides 24/7 call answering support including: Call Center Service, Live Answering Service, Spanish Answering Service, Attorney Answering Service, Virtual Receptionist Service.

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Posted in Community Service, Cultivating Customer Loyalty | 1 Comment »

Don’t Let a Lack of Staff Lead to a Lack of Business

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

You can’t afford a full-time receptionist in your small business, but you also can’t risk missing a call. Is there a fix? Yes. Alert Communications’ small business answering services eliminate that risk.

We use advanced technology and trained agents to mirror the job of your on-staff receptionist, intake specialist, appointment scheduler or emergency dispatcher at a fraction of the cost. No matter what industry you’re in, we can tailor our services to meet your financial and business needs — without signing a contract.
—Emergency calls – Our agents follow your customized escalation protocols so each call/message gets to the right person, right away. We also provide reports so you can track your calls.
—Work-hours calls – Alert agents can handle calls during lunch times or whenever you don’t have coverage in your office.
—After-hours calls – We provide 24/7 phone answering service 365 days of the year, so your calls are answered on sick days or during vacations.
—Bilingual calls – Alert offers 24/7 bilingual answering services at no extra charge.

With our options, you have the flexibility to choose when to forward your calls to Alert. We also can work with you to combine your existing automated system with our live services for customized answering. Take advantage of the small business answering service options Alert Communications offers, and never miss a call again.

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.

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Posted in Business Answering | No Comments »

Live Answering Service for Santa?

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

live answering serviceAs I started thinking about the upcoming busy holiday season, I thought about how busy good old St. Nick is quickly going to become. And that, inevitably, raised the question — wouldn’t his life be much easier with a live answering service??

There’s no question he needs 24/7 phone answering, but he also needs more than simple message taking. Imagine the variety of call protocols he’d have to have.

- Is someone calling about the availability of a specific toy? That would need to get to the right elf. Customer service of the highest priority.

- Maybe Blake or Brenda is unsure whether they’re on the naughty or nice list. That would obviously have to go to someone pretty high up in North Pole management. And the agent handling those calls would have to be sympathetic but always in control of the conversation.

-  What about questions on cookie preferences? If you want to score points with Santa, it’s a good idea to have his favorites on the plate. That call might have to go to Mrs. Claus or whoever she decides to have on call each day. Or maybe the call protocol changes daily to reflect Santa’s current choice.

And what about incoming information? Santa must have a standing order for weather updates starting on Dec. 23 or Dec. 24. That info needs to get to him immediately. Wouldn’t text messaging be perfect so he could be up to date throughout his delivery schedule?

Of course, bilingual services — or more appropriately, multi-lingual services — would be a huge help. Though I’m not sure any call answering service could provide coverage for as many languages as the variety of callers Santa gets.

So after thinking about it, maybe my holiday prep work isn’t quite as overwhelming as I was thinking. After all, I get a couple of e-mails, a few phone calls and some lists to work from. I don’t need multi-lingual services or call protocols. And thank goodness — I don’t need 24/7 coverage!

I think I’ll leave the worldwide present-delivery business in Santa’s capable hands this year — but I’d be more than happy to tell him how Alert Communications’ answering services can lighten the load for him next year.

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.

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Posted in Business Answering | No Comments »

Live Receptionist vs. Voicemail?

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Just for kicks, go to Google and type in “how to reach a live person.” One of the top listings shows “Phone numbers, shortcuts and customer service tips” — on a site called GetHuman.com. It made me smile.

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.

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Posted in Small Business Tip, Virtual Receptionist | 1 Comment »

Well Trained Answering Service Agents Are a Must

Friday, February 26th, 2010

If ever I’ve been tempted to handle a phone call in a less than professional manner (yes this has happened), I think about virtual receptionists, answering service agents and call-center staff. They don’t have the luxury of letting customers even think they might be gritting their teeth. Fortunately, there’s training available that helps these folks create win-win situations out of the most emotional calls.

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.

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Posted in Attorney Answering, Cultivating Customer Loyalty, Virtual Receptionist | 1 Comment »

6 Ways to Save a Few Dollars With Your Answering Service

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

In today’s economy, we’re all looking for ways to save a few dollars, even on the things we know are absolutely necessary. So if you’re looking for ways to reduce your monthly virtual receptionist/live answering service charges, you might want to try to reduce the number of minutes you’re using. Whether you’re already an Alert Communications customer or are currently with another company, think about doing some of the following:

  1. Instead of having your calls go to the answering service throughout the work day, forward your calls only after hours and on the weekends. This reduces the number of overall minutes used.
  2. In the same vein, forward calls for portions of the day instead of all 24 hours. If you or someone else in the office can answer the phone for a few hours in the morning or afternoon, take advantage of that time to save on minutes usage.
  3. Use a voice-mail screen to help prevent non-emergency calls going through to your virtual receptionist.
  4. See if your service can notify you about calls using text messaging/e-mail instead of a more expensive phone call.
  5. Call your customers back instead of having calls patched through. The less time spent using out-dialed resources, the fewer minutes accrued.
  6. Refine your call-protocol guidelines so you have just a one-number or one-person contact. More isn’t necessarily better when you have to pay in minutes for each one.

If you’d love to save a little money each month, try implementing some of these cost-saving ideas with your virtual receptionist/live answering service provider. If it doesnt feel like money is growing in your backyard, at least you may end up with a few extra coins in your pocket.

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.

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Posted in Small Business Tip | 1 Comment »