Customer Service - Answer that Call…It IS Important

Jeff Gitomer, the world-renowned sales trainer and author, hit the nail on the head in a recent column (Long Island Business News, Aug 17-23, 2007) when he pointed out that it is crucial to your customer service to have all of your calls answered “live” rather than having them go to voicemail or through the labyrinth of an automated attendant - - “Press 1 if you have a question about your invoice, Press 2 if you have…” and so on.

Roger Kahn, owner of the Intelligent Office in Garden City, New York asks, “How many times have you called a company and heard something like this? “You have reached the Acme Widget Company. All of our representatives are helping other customers right now; however, your call is important to us, so please listen to the following menu so that we may serve you better…”

Kahn says, Gitomer correctly observes that if the “call is so important, how come [they] don’t hire more people to answer the phone?” and, Kahn adds, “with the harebrained menu of options, are they really trying to serve the client better, or are just trying to save money by eliminating staff?”

Think about your business. When your prospects and customers call are they greeted by a friendly and professional voice – other than yours – or do they go directly into voicemail, or a frustrating and time-wasting automated attendant? If your callers don’t get that friendly, professional voice – other than yours – when they call in, then you are sending them the wrong message…that their call is NOT important.

The Intelligent Office offers an extremely cost-effective solution to this dilemma, Remote Reception Services, where each client’s calls are answered by trained professionals who screens each call, and then, through computer-telephone integration, announces the call to the client and then seamlessly connects the caller with the intended recipient.