Who is answering your phone? Do they give your business the right image?

Telephones used to be so easy—you could place calls and receive calls. That was it. Suddenly things got a lot more complicated—not only could you do the aforementioned, you could add another person to the call, take a message automatically, call forward, actually identify who is calling before you answer …and about a million other things Alexander Graham Bell never thought of in his wildest dreams—after all, when he invented the telephone, he was actually trying to develop a device that would aid the deaf!

One thing that’s been pretty much a consistent factor in this whole telephony thing since the beginning is the need for the phone to be answered. We’ve come a long way from lifting the earpiece and shouting “ahoy” into the speaking part!

The important thing to remember is that in spite of all the wonderful technology we have available to us today, the way your phone is answered actually “speaks” volumes about your company. How many times have we all been frustrated by getting on the voicemail merry-go-round of some large company or government office? I’m sure that wouldn’t happen with your firm but have you ever stopped to consider how your phone is answered? Go out right now and call your office. Who’s answering? Is it a recorded message? Does it sound business-like yet cordial? Does the person, or recording, sound like they actually care that you called and do their best to route you to the person you’re calling with minimum fuss? Do they speak well, not resorting to slang or being overly familiar?

The worth and quality of your business and its product/services are being judged by the way your telephone is being answered. Don’t leave things to chance.

When we set up our business, we knew we would not be able to always be on hand to answer every call as we were often out of the office. In fact, we didn’t have just one office; we were each working from a separate home office—in separate towns! We found a professional service that could answer our phone calls and direct the callers to each of us no matter where we were. And what’s more, they were able to provide a big city phone number and a toll-free number as well. Callers, who have no idea how small our office really is, often compliment us on how well our telephones are answered by the angel voiced telephone receptionist at the service we use. Image is everything.