Archive for the ‘When to use an Auto Attendant’ Category


Auto-Attendant or Real Person…Who is answering YOUR phone?

answering the house phone

Take control of your phone experience to elevate your company by knowing when to use an automated attendant.

Have you made the decision to use an auto attendant? What went into that decision? Your company needs an edge, and how your phone is answered is a critical area to start.

Consider this example: A company with a “live answer only” policy thinks they are pleasing their callers. But in reality, without a dedicated receptionist, a caller’s experience will be different every time. And with 4 dedicated sales people answering the call, callers only have a 25% chance of their salesperson answering the call. If they don’t, it means hold time, transferring, and maybe voicemail hell! That’s a difficult environment to make your company stand out!

Here’s where you gain an edge. This is a perfect environment to implement an auto-attendant solution. But give your callers the control over where they go. Offer your sales people’s extensions right up front, so callers can reach them by name, extension, or option. This gives them a precision experience, reaching exactly the right person 100% of the time.

A second benefit to your company is eliminating interruptions and distractions for your employees. Pugh Research says that every time a call takes your employee off task, it takes up to 10 minutes for them to recover. Once they no longer have to

handle calls for fellow employees, they will stay much more focused on the task at hand.

Your competition has made a knee-jerk reaction to how their phone is answered. Now you can get a step ahead by extending your superior showroom experience over the phone to your valuable callers.

Rock your customer’s world, while controlling the interruptions for your staff!

Live or auto-attendant? Evaluate your inside environment to make that decision with confidence.

So how does it feel to have an edge on your competition? Winning the phone war wasn’t hard, was it?

Enjoy your happy customers! (and that’s a win for everyone!)


Two ways your phone is killing your sales

Take control of your phone experience to elevate your company by knowing when to use an automated attendant.

Have you made the decision to use an auto attendant? What went into that decision? Your company needs an edge, and how your phone is answered is a critical area to start.

Consider this example: A company with a “live answer only” policy thinks they are pleasing their callers. But in reality, without a dedicated receptionist, a caller’s experience will be different every time. And with 4 dedicated sales people answering the call, callers only have a 25% chance of their salesperson answering the call. If they don’t, it means hold time, transferring, and maybe voicemail hell! That’s a difficult environment to make your company stand out!

Here’s where you gain an edge. This is a perfect environment to implement an auto-attendant solution. But give your callers the control over where they go. Offer your sales people’s extensions right up front, so callers can reach them by name, extension, or option. This gives them a precision experience, reaching exactly the right person 100% of the time.

A second benefit to your company is eliminating interruptions and distractions for your employees. Pugh Research says that every time a call takes your employee off task, it takes up to 10 minutes for them to recover. Once they no longer have to

handle calls for fellow employees, they will stay much more focused on the task at hand.

Your competition has made a knee-jerk reaction to how their phone is answered. Now you can get a step ahead by extending your superior showroom experience over the phone to your valuable callers.

Rock your customer’s world, while controlling the interruptions for your staff!

Live or auto-attendant? Evaluate your inside environment to make that decision with confidence.

So how does it feel to have an edge on your competition? Winning the phone war wasn’t hard, was it?

Enjoy your happy customers! (and that’s a win for everyone!)

Next week we’ll talk about how to make your auto attendant draw your caller in.


Breaking through the phone system!



How not answering the phone will help connect with your customer

Think about the last time you called a company, and were given the run around. “I’ll try to connect you” the perky receptionist said, before dumping you into a permanent hold pattern. After an eternity, someone did pick up the phone, but it was the receptionist again…”I’m sorry, I’m still trying to locate him…” more hold time. Pretty frustrating, isn’t it? So many companies don’t think how inefficient their caller experience really is, and it’s frustrating callers who just want to get right to their salesperson!

Just this week we worked with a fast-paced home sales company who required their calls to be answered live. But with up to 6 people answering the phone, the chance of a caller reaching their dedicated salesperson were pretty slim! “I’ll transfer you” was heard more often than “I can help you!”

Solution? They should have used an Auto-Attendant to answer the phones. Callers would be greeted with a consice greeting, then given the option to speak the name of their salesperson, or enter their extention. If the sales person was available, the caller would be talking (and buying!) in very short order. And if the sales person was not available, the call goes straight to voicemail, where a custom greeting assured they would be called back that same day.

Bottom line? There are companies that should answer the phones with a live person. But there are plenty of times where an Auto-Attendant will actually give your callers what they want, in a more efficient, easy way.

Have you called your company lately? Go ahead, do it now. Comment below on your experience.

Next week, we’ll talk about making an impression over the phone.


Implementing an Auto-Attendant keeps employees on track



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Methods and logic behind your Auto-Attendant, and how to make it helpful for your callers, while keeping your employees on task.

 



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The decision to implement an auto attendant to handle calls is often done without all the facts and data needed to fully understand the pros and cons. Many businesses feel that the only way to not frustrate callers is to have a live person answer the phone. While people do like to talk to a live person, as we’ll see below, there are specific situations where having an automated attendant can actually be less confusing for your caller, while keeping your employees more organized.

 

A recent home sales client of ours has a policy of only answering the phone with a live person. With no dedicated receptionist, any of the sales people may answer. Each homebuyer works with a dedicated salesperson throughout the process. So let’s take a look at the typical caller experience:

 

·      You call the Home Sales center to speak with Bill about your new home.

·      Sally answers the phone, asking how she can help

·      You ask to speak to Bill

·      Sally looks for Bill at his desk, doesn’t see him, and asks to put you On-hold.

·      Sally comes back to the phone after not being able to find Bill, and asks if she can put you into his voicemail

·      You leave a message for Bill, hoping that he checks his voicemail often!

 

With six people answering the phone, the chance of your dedicated salesperson answering your call is less than 17%! You have a one in six chance of reaching them on the first call!

 

So let’s examine the caller experience process if the home sales center made one small change…to have an Automated Attendant answer the call:

 

·      You call the Home Sales center to speak with Bill about your new home.

·      The auto-Attendant greets you, and asks you to say the name of the person you are calling, or enter their extension.

·      You speak “Bill”, and the system immediately transfers you to Bill’s phone

·      Bill either picks up if he is available, or the call goes directly to his voicemail, saving you time, and the frustration of explaining why you are calling to multiple people!

 

Now, as a business owner, there is something else to consider in this process. The methodology of having a person answer the phone causes Sally to be sidetracked from her work.

In fact, New York consulting firm Basex reports that workers are “losing” 10 hours per week to interruptions. That’s 500 hours per year!

With an average pay of $21 per hour for knowledge workers, the implementation of a simple Auto-Attendant could save you $10,500 per employee per year. Is now the time to reconsider your “live answer” policy?

 

Next week: Image enhancing methods to improve your caller experience


Can technology forge stronger relationships?

Making your callers feel good about your company starts the moment your phone is answered. If you want to forge strong relationships, you won’t give your callers the runaround. And oftentimes, having a “live answer only” policy will actually frustrate your callers!
Let’s consider the example of a recent home sales client. They felt that having a live person answer the phone, every call, would be the best way to serve their customers.

In the case of this company, each new homebuyer works with a dedicated salesperson to customize their experience. But with four salespeople answering the call, it would be unlikely that a customer would speak directly with their salesperson without being put on-hold or transferred!

A better solution would be for the company to implement a custom Auto-attendant. Yes, that goes against the grain of customer service, but consider how it would feel to reach an auto attendant, with the option of connecting directly with your salesperson! (some even give the option to reach them by cell phone if they’re not available!) Which means less hold time, less transferring, and only one time of having to explain why they are calling!

You can enrich your caller’s experience with an Auto-attendant. Yes, you can use technology to actually improve your relationships with your customers.

Next week we’ll talk about what image you are presenting to your customers.