1 – Use a staffing calculator (Erlang-C is commonly used) there is a free one here.  This will help you calculate the average number of employees needed to keep your average hold time to a minimum. Every customer and business has a different tolerance for hold time but most studies show that customers are willing to wait for about 18 seconds (the equivalent of about 3 rings) with much of an impact on customer service and retention.  You will need your average call time (in seconds), average calls you handle per hour, and what you would like your average hold time (in seconds) to be.  You can experiment with different scenarios with your business.

2- Hire an Answering service for overflow and ask your telephone provider to install “no answer” call forwarding.  This will allow you to maintain the most efficient staffing levels, but when you have un-expected influx in call volume your callers will not have to wait for answer.
Here is how it works. Any time a customer calls and your office is on the phone and the line is busy or you phone ring more that 3-4 times (you set the number) the call is rerouted to the answering service. The Customer Service rep at the answering service answers the phone in your company name and performs the basic functions that a receptionist would. They can take appointments, messages, or pass the call to sales person, you decide.

What does an answering service cost? Most answering services have starter packages that start out at $3-$4 per day. Compare that to a full time employee that can cost more $100 per day. Consider the cost of lost business and cost is not the real issue but, quality.

The answer to the quality issue,  is my next article.

We all want better customer service, here is an inside look of how Starbucks takes on the challenge.   I think most Small business tend to be better at customer service, but I think we can all learn a little something from this clip.

While this may not be the case in your store, it probably is exactly the situation for visitors to your website. They wander your obviously intuitive website looking for information that you’ve placed right in front of them and then they leave. When they leave without sending you an email or calling you, you figure that they really weren’t interested in want you offer.

In today’s world of more competition for fewer sales, are you sure? Wouldn’t it be better to engage with them to learn about their needs and wants? Even if you didn’t have what they wanted, wouldn’t you like to know what interests a potential customer?

More and more businesses are using live chat on their websites to engage with visitors, learn about them, and increase sales volume and profitability.

Live chat is simply a way of using text messages between a visitor on your website and a person in your business. Like answering a telephone call, a live-chat session is an opportunity to answer questions, make suggestions and take sales orders.

However, unlike a phone call, often multiple chat sessions can be handled by 1 person. This capability has the potential to make live chat more cost effective than telephone calls.

One of the most useful features of modern live chat systems is the ability to track visitors’ navigation paths on your website in real time. You can use this information to find common preferences, patterns and even problems with your website. Some systems will even allow you to “greet” or invite visitors to chat when they arrive at your website or at specific pages.

Basically, enabling your website with live chat is just like having a sales & service person in your store ready to greet and serve customers when they choose. While some people may not want a sales & service person to follow them around the store, most people want to be served when they want and right away.

In other words, when the customer knocks on the door of opportunity, be sure to answer it right away and in the manner they choose whether in-person, phone, email or live chat.

Guest Writer-

Tim Ryan – Mind My Site

Jason (manager-on right) rewarding Jackie with cash (Agent-on left) for the great job he has done for the company!

How often do you tell your colleagues, employees and co-workers how much you appreciate them? You can tell them any day of the year. There should be no special occasion required to tell an employee they’re doing a good job. Surprise compliments to show appreciation can help make your employees feel appreciated year long. Here at Contact One we strive on showing appreciation to our employees.  Customer service skills also apply in the interoffice environment. Here are some tips about how to commend coworkers and employees.

1. There are not very many people who are unappreciative of food. Celebrate a coworkers birthday, special occasion or just for no reason at all. Take your coworker to lunch and let them pick the restaurant.

Jennifer: “Hey Jason, Let me take you to lunch today to celebrate your promotion?”

Jason: “Thanks Jennifer, “That’s so thoughtful of you!”

Jennifer: “It’s your day, so you pick the restaurant!”

Susie: “Wow, thanks!” “This is a great day!”

2. Utilize the phrase “thank you” to show appreciation. You have no idea how much people appreciate being appreciated.

Amanda: “Thank you so much Jessica for helping with the training course!”

Jessica: “You’re welcome, I was glad to help!”

3. Don’t be demanding, say “please” as often as you can. Being polite makes the workplace much more comfortable.

Jeff:”Dan will you please finish that report by Friday?” It would be greatly appreciated!”

Dan: “Sure, I will have it on your desk Friday morning!”

4. Commend your coworkers for something they’ve done well. Make sure you are detailed on what exactly was done so well.

Judy: “Jennifer, you programmed the Dr. Jones account so well!” “You’ve really become an expert at this!”

Jennifer: “Thank you Judy, I appreciate your awareness!”

5. Ask your coworkers about their personal life. Ask how their family is or what kind of hobbies they enjoy. Show interest, it helps people feel respected and cared about.

Amanda: “Hey Jen, how are your two little ones doing?”

Jen: “They’re doing great, thanks for asking!”

6. Consider offering flex time to your employees. If you are in need of definite coverage. Post a sheet up and let people choose and work it out amongst coworkers to fill in time.

Manager: “We are going to post a sheet up and everyone can pick one day they would like to have off, as long as you work your hours in the four remaining days, this should give everyone a nice break.”

Team member: ‘Wow, this is great, I can take my son to see that movie he has wanted to see!” Thank you so much!”

7. Get to know your coworkers. If you can afford to, give a small appreciated gift occasionally. You will make their day by doing this.

Jeff: “Jessica, I know you just bought a new house, so I got you nice candle!’ It will go great with the color scheme you’ve chosen!”

8. Make the holiday’s fun. Do a Secret Santa gift exchange, gift grab or any event to add joy to their life. They will love this!!!

Before blogging even existed, internet users communicated through e-mail and instant messenger. At one point in time, marketing consisted of strictly relationship building. Although this is still part of social media, more direct structures have been developed.

It all began with the popularity of Myspace. Myspace started this whole social media era. As time advanced, the idea of Myspace started to vanish and evolved into Facebook and Twitter.  According to Facebook, the site has over 400 million users. According to www.computerworld.com, Twitter has 75 million users. The rate for new users has climbed to 7.8 per month.

How has social media influenced our lives? The answer to this question seems simple. Think about how many friends, family, colleagues, movie stars are checking their Twitter, Facebook etc. on their fancy smart phones. Social media has intensively altered the way we communicate in our professional and personal lives. On a personal level, it’s an easier way to connect with our family and friends. On a professional level, it makes it easy for our customers to find us and allows us to service them better.

Social Media can help make your company more profitable. Where is the first place you look when seeking information about a company? If you’re like the majority of us, you immediately look on the internet. The internet allows companies to expose themselves at a very low cost. Using Facebook and Twitter allows companies to promote their products and services to the millions of users that belong on these sites. Social Media can be complex for some users; therefore several companies choose to outsource the work to a social media guru/qualified people with lots of experience.

With social media we can easily connect with customers, friends and family. Social media is certainly a wonderful development for professional and personal use.

• Maintain a neat appearance.  Appearance plays a key role on first impressions.
• Practice good posture. Good posture will benefit your overall appearance.
• Practice a good hand shake. Your hand shake should be firm, but not too firm. Maintain eye contact while shaking hands.
• Smile. A smile really says a lot. It shows you’re friendly, approachable and interested.
• Maintain eye contact. This proves that you’re listening.
• Think positive thoughts. Negative thoughts will show in your facial expression.
• Ask questions. It shows you’re interested.
• Stay away from bragging and name-dropping. People don’t care who you know.
• Always use proper grammar. Avoid slang, speak clearly.
• Don’t over eat or drink. Don’t look like a glutton. If you become intoxicated, you may say something rude that you will regret. That would not be a good start to a new relationship.
• Relax and be yourself. People can usually tell when you’re trying to be someone you’re not.

It’s easier to build a relationship on a positive start rather than trying to recover it from a previous mistake.

Judy Wood, owner of Contact One Call Center, wrote an op-ed regarding renewable-energy legislation. She goes into detail on how the legislation will get Arizona’s economy back on track. Follow the link to read more about this.

http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/article_41bfc92d-963d-5c76-a2bb-e4a80c2fe684.html

The perception of customer service is commonly correlated as an activity, performance measurement, or a philosophy. There are several definitions of customer service out there, as for just one definition does not exist. In order to define customer service, it’s important to be aware of behaviors and actions that customers seek when interacting with service providers.  If a potential client were to ask you “What does customer service mean to you?” You are put on the spot and your answer could possibly cost you the sale. On the positive side, it could gain you the sale with the correct response. It’s important to have a vivid definition of customer service implanted in your brain. It’s not only important to have complete knowledge concerning customer service in terms of preparation, it’s important to have a clear definition so that you are practicing what you preach.

The principle of customer service involves meeting needs. You can explain it in numerous different ways. It all boils down to building a relationship by meeting the needs and wants of your customer. The service begins once the customer walks in the door, the moment you hear their voice on the phone or the very second you are communicating through e-mail, etc. When does it end? It never ends; once you’ve obtained that customer you are constantly working to go above and beyond his/her expectations.

It’s very imperative to know what a customer expects. When people choose to do business with a company or individual, it’s because they have specific product or service need.  A person who needs a website designed will go to a web designer or even perhaps a marketing firm. A person who needs office supplies is going to go to an office supply store or order from an office supply catalog. A person who has a pipe leak is going to call around for a plumber.

Aside from specific needs, customers have a basic expectation of how they should and want to be treated.  Some simple basic needs include; personal recognition, professionalism, patience, empathy, respect, treating them only in a courteous manner, and being understanding. A customer wants to be viewed as a valuable human being. They want to feel important and bold. A key to customer service that should be implanted into your brain is always demonstrating professionalism. Professionalism plays a major role on how your customer views you and your business as a whole. No matter what the circumstances are, your personal issues are not of any concern to the customer. Stay professional and remain positive in all customer interactions.  Not to state the obvious, you should always be courteous to your customers, this is a person considering doing business with you. It always tends to provide a better outcome when you look at the situation from their perspective. They will greatly appreciate this. Just take a step back, and look at your business process through the customers’ eyes. Make sure you activate your best listening skills, for the customer needs to be understood. The best way to demonstrate you understand is to listen carefully. Interrupting, not allowed. Forget the word interrupting exist upon dealing with a customer.  By doing this, you are also demonstrating respect. To further enforce your respect to the customer, be patient. Give them your full attention and stay on task.

Customer service is usually defined as negative or positive. This is all decided by the communication that takes place between the service provider and the consumer. As long as you follow all of the basics of the customers’ needs, your customer service language will remain positive, polite and demonstrate respect for customers.

One of the best ways to figure out what customer service means to you, is to reflect over past experiences as a customer. Most likely you’ve experienced all aspects, negative and positive service. Now think about how these experiences have had an impact on you. In the end, providing the best customer service is about thoroughly understanding what the customers need and want, and going above and beyond their expectations.

The Management Team

Contact One Call Center is proud to announce that we’ve received national recognition from the Association of TeleServices International (ATSI) for the communications industry. ATSI is the industry’s trade association for providers of telecommunications and call center services including telephone answering service, customer service and inbound order processing. Contact One has been in business in Tucson since 1981 under the ownership of Judy Wood, Jeff Wood and Jennifer Hoffman. We’ve received our fifth consecutive Award of Excellence at the ATSI annual convention. In addition to receiving the Award of Excellence, Contact One was also the recipient of the Award of Distinction, another honor granted through ATSI.

We couldn’t have done this without our customer service representatives. We decided to have an employee party to show them how much we appreciate them. This wasn’t your average pizza party, they deserved something better. We supplied them with subs, chips, cookies and lots of goodies. To top it off we rented a dunk tank. The employees had the chance to dunk all of their managers. They absolutely loved the idea, and had a wonderful day. Contact One would like to again thank all of our staff for their excellent performance. Check out our Facebook page for more pictures:  http://bit.ly/bHuee6

6 Quick Reminders That Will Help You with Your Next Call

Jessica Rutkowski, Sales Manager

I know we’ve all heard how crucial it is that we answer that phone when it rings. To take it above and beyond, we must practice proper phone etiquette.

1)      Answering the phone on the 3^rd ring shows the person on the other end that you respect their time.

2)      Always answer the phone using the company name, your name and with how may I help you? It only takes three seconds longer but allows the caller to learn: who you are, where you work, and that you are there to help them.

3)      Pay close attention. It’s very helpful to keep a note pad by the phone to jot notes. The person on the other end can tell if you’re distracted doing other tasks.

4)      Speak slowly and clearly. Speak directly into the receiver.  By doing this it gives the person on the other end a chance to ask questions. Let the other person talk. Make sure your caller is completely finished speaking before responding.

5)      Cut down on background noise. Don’t type or shuffle papers while you’re on the phone. Don’t have people socializing near you while you’re on the phone. Televisions, radios and computer beeps can also be very distracting.

6)      Be friendly. Smile. Phrase your words positively.  It’s very true that the other person can hear your smile over the phone.

The biggest secret is to be friendly, stay comfortable and to treat the person as it were a face to face conversation.