Forbes.com: How To Stay Free And Creative As Your Company Grows

One way to free up creative time, as many of our clients can attest, is to use our answering service! – The Eds.

Ken Davenport, 09.21.09, 04:00 PM EDT

One of the greatest challenges entrepreneurs and business founders face is finding a way to keep up the creativity that started their company as the day-to-day grind of running it gets more and more cumbersome. How can you dream up and develop new products when you’re supervising 10, 20 or 100 employees? You have to pick health insurance plans, organize company retreats, hire information technology providers, fire IT providers and so on. I mean, think how many entrepreneurs started their businesses because they couldn’t wait to spend time looking for the right office-supply vendor.

My own start-up began like many: For the first year of my Broadway and off-Broadway production company, it was all just me, at my desk, in my apartment, with my yellow Labrador retriever. As the business expanded and moved out of my apartment, I quickly realized that to achieve my personal goals and career objectives, I’d have to make some changes. I’d have to alter the way my business operated to make sure I had the time to work up new projects, which was how I had gotten started in the first place. Creative energy was what fueled the business, and if I wasn’t gassing up the fire, I knew we’d stall before we got to where I wanted us to go. Thankfully, we survived. We’re about to celebrate our fifth anniversary.

Here are five things I did to get myself back to the part of the business I love:

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How to Decide if Entrepreneurship is Right for You

This Wall Street Journal article struck a chord with us. So many of our answering service clients come to us in different phases of their start up businesses. They’ve already established their entrepreneurial business model, and they need help answering their phones because they’ve grown quickly. We think that’s great! But here’s another idea:  if you’re a dreaming about entrepreneurship and budget your ideas correctly, including an answering service from the beginning of your plans can help you market your new project effectively and keep you focused on your work.

By COLLEEN DEBAISE

Adapted from the upcoming book THE WALL STREET JOURNAL COMPLETE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDEBOOK (Three Rivers Press, Dec. 29, 2009).

Starting a business is a lot like becoming a parent. Not only do you have to prepare for your start-up emotionally and financially, but you have to be committed to its constant needs until it’s mature enough to hum along on its own. And even then (much like a child) it will always need you in some capacity, no matter how old it gets.

Here are five questions to ask before you start your own business:

1. Am I passionate about my product or service? Let’s face it: the start-up phase is stressful. You will find yourself questioning whether you’ve made the right decision, especially when the hours are long and the initial profits (if any) are lean. As the business owner, you’re also chief salesperson for your company. Your enthusiasm for your product or service— whether it’s hand-knit sweaters or top-notch tax preparation— is often the difference that hooks customers, lands deals and attracts investors. It’s unwise to start down the path of entrepreneurship unless you’ve got a zeal that will get you through rough patches and keep you interested long after the initial enthusiasm has faded.

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From Shipping Containers to Concert Halls: The 10 Oddest Places to Work or Live

One of your editors finally got around to finishing Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash” one of those early Cyberpunk genre novels that  made an impact on technology not just for play, but for work.   Stephenson’s dystopian hero protagonist, “Hiro Protagonist” lives in an unusual studio apartment  (a warehouse rental storage locker) and works out of virtual reality. This slide show got me thinking about how your local tried-and-true answering service can help you turn any space into your ideal office. I particularly like the office pod slide and the building created from primary-colored shipping containers. Check out the rest here.

Ask yourself: … Could you see yourself working in an office building comprised of recycled shipping containers? Architects and designers are finding strange, but ingenious ways, of rethinking where we spend our days working and living.

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Getting more from your support tickets – are you tuned in to what they’re really telling you?

This little blog post got us thinking. Plenty of you are using our answering service as your first stop to provide customer service and support for your callers. We’re not simply taking messages about problems -  in many instances you’ve empowered us to be proactive and help you take customer care to a higher level. We’ve done it: our live answering service agents can manuever through your customer service application and issue trouble tickets and help resolve issues. But when was the last time you reviewed your trouble-ticket generation system? Does it still fit the needs of your products and your company? Does it help you really understand your customers? We’re here to help you reach higher levels of CRM by designing a custom trouble ticket creation system to complement our order-taking services. You can read the rest of this article here. – The Eds.

Ask James Watson, Director of Customer Relations for Webs.com about support tickets and he’ll tell you they’re the absolute best form of two-way communication between you and your customers.

Webs.com is a social publishing platform and is one of the top 80 most trafficked sites on the Web today. His nine-member support team gets on average 13,000 service requests a month.

James and his team went about changing their customer support mindset from a “numbers” game focused solely on deflecting inquiries to reduce costs … to using the tickets to really listen to users. So rather than judging success just on how many tickets were resolved and how fast, James challenges his team to do more than simply resolve the issue and move on to the next ticket.

Here’s a little insight into his approach.

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Call Center Outsourcing: How to Pick a Live Answering Service

Of course, we believe that our Answering Service can be a perfect tool for your business, allowing you to accomplish everything set out in this article. You can read it all here. – The Eds.

by Susan J. Campbell

In a tough economy, call center outsourcing is gaining popularity. While a variety of options are available, outsourcing calls to a live answering service is one way to enhance your service deliverables.

According to industry research, consumers still prefer a live answering service when calling a company. No matter the size of the organization, people still want to talk to people. If you are seeking ways to implement such a service in your business, it is important to understand what you need and how to proceed in making the right selection.

A recent Vendorseek.com article: “Dial Up Customer Satisfaction: Use a Live Answering Service to Gain a Competitive Advantage”, demonstrates that selecting the right live answering service does not have to be a complicated task and can deliver significant benefits.

What You Should Expect
Sure, you should expect that a live answering service offers a live operator. But, there is really more to this function than just greeting and transferring callers or taking messages. Many services also allow client companies to forward existing numbers; offer national toll-free and local numbers; provide vanity numbers; play custom on-hold messages or music; answer phones 24×7 or at specified times; enter caller information into systems; or place orders for callers.

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Entrepreneurs Take Second Jobs to Stay Afloat

“Second jobs” for some small business owners are keeping their businesses from going under. An answering service can be your support during this transition stage.

By Raymund Flandez

Small-business owners who are struggling to keep their companies afloat are doing anything they can to ride the recession, even taking on second jobs.

For Darren Hammond, co-owner of Chile Blossoms, a Concord, Calif., importer of peonies from Chile, the winter was particularly harsh as clients stopped paying or fell behind in payments. Sales are down 60% from last season, Mr. Hammond says.

Last year, he had to stop taking a salary so that he could continue paying business expenses.

To manage personal expenses, such as cellphone bills and car payments, Mr. Hammond found a part-time job working two to three days a week as a customer-service representative and weekend guide for All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting in Walnut Creek. “Everybody has bills to pay,” he says. “It’d be nice if I could sit back and collect money from Chile Blossoms and live a very comfortable life. At this stage, that’s not the case.”

Read more here.

Why Small Businesses Value Answering Services

Small businesses often couple their intense drive to succeed with lightening fast creative ideas. Vision and ambition are great assets, but many businesses lack the time and the resources to efficiently provide customer service. This presents a problem, since businesses need great customer service to really move forward. Answering services fill in the customer service gap for visionary small companies.

If businesses choose an answering service that knows their stuff, they build a bridge of communication between themselves and their customers. An answering service that brings complete customer service also brings a host of other benefits:

An affordable price-tag. Answering services don’t need to cost an arm and a leg to ensure results. Most answering service rates are well below the cost of hiring a full-time staff. Answering services cut client expenses further by eliminating the need to pay benefits, unemployment, and vacation time.

Top-rated customer support. Great answering services increase professional image and shoot customer service ratings straight to the top. Exceptional answering services use live operators to take calls in the exact way the client prefers; this could be as simple as message taking or as complex as answering frequently asked questions.

Niche Services. Many companies have specific telephone tasks that they need to get done; answering services come to the rescue with customizable order-taking, faxing services. Some answering services also provide mailing services.

Although small businesses often don’t have the time or resources that conglomerates do, they can quickly catch up to competitors by using answering services. Answering services are a power tool for small businesses, allowing them to focus on customer service without breaking the bank.

Answering Services Go to Bat for Small Businesses

It’s a fact that small businesses face more obstacles than conglomerates; small businesses often are less equipped with staff, more pressed for time, and have employees doing double duty in many areas. Although it might seem like odds are against small businesses, they can easily level the playing field with answering services.

Answering services help small businesses jockey for position by providing a full-time staff to answer calls, without all the associated costs. This frees up company time, letting employees tackle other business matters. When small companies get the assistance of an answering service, they can quickly get a big league reputation with services like:

24 hr order-taking services. Small businesses can sell their products and services any way, day, or time with 24 hour order-taking services. Customers can easily call in and get a friendly live operator who will assist them with their order.

Answering of basic questions. Many customers and clients call in with basic questions about the company or their account, which takes up valuable employee time. Answering services help by answering frequently asked questions about the business, office hours, or account balances.

Virtual receptionist services. Since many small businesses are on a budget, they can’t afford to hire a receptionist full-time. With virtual receptionist services, small companies get complete receptionist services, with live operators screening calls, updating appointments, and directly transferring priority calls.

Although small businesses encounter many obstacles, all hope is not lost. Answering services help small businesses get back in the game by providing the support of a full-time staff, without breaking the bank.

Hit Pay Dirt with an Answering Service

Many businesses think contracting with answering services will set them back for cash. In reality, answering services can help companies strike it big with customers and clients. Instead of shelling out money for a full-time staff, businesses can hit pay dirt with a network of live operators to answer and screen their calls. Answering services help businesses cash in on success by providing the following advantages over in-house staff:

No new hire paperwork. Companies don’t have to worry about reporting new hires with answering services. There are no lengthy federal or state forms, saving what could be days of hassle during tax time.

No holiday or sick leave. With in-house staff, there will inevitably be a period of vacation time, when work piles up and calls aren’t answered. Since answering services employ a large network of live operators, staff will always be available.

No benefit costs. Hiring in-house staff means dolling out dough for fringe benefits like health insurance or profit-sharing programs. Companies don’t have to worry with answering services, one low monthly fee is the sum of the cost.

While a full-time staff can certainly be an asset to a business, more businesses are making the choice to switch over to an answering service. Businesses get more bang for their buck with answering services, saving time and money with a highly specialized network of live operators. When companies choose live operators over in-house staff, they get a reliable answering services that pay off from the present to the future.

Bring Customer Service to the Peak with an Answering Service

When an influx of calls comes in, it’s no simple matter to keep track of. Even if a company has an adequate workforce, it’s still hard to sustain consumer support. Companies can find a real jewel with the customer service experts of an answering service.

Companies that employ answering services to handle calls and screen messages are paving the way for great customer service. These answering services bring customer service to its peak with:

Call management. Exceptional answering services monitor incoming calls, making sure that essential calls are directly transferred while non-priority calls are sent to voice-mail. Since the distinction between priority and non-priority call is vital, answering services often provide a specific training program tailored to each company’s requirements. Answering services also train live operators to answer common questions and concerns, so company employees will have more time and energy to focus on the business matter on hand.

Order-keying. For businesses that are thinking about offering their products via phone, or who already do, order-keying is a savvy way to quickly get customer orders inputted. Most answering services offer order-keying at essential late night and early morning hours when many consumers have an urge to purchase. Answering services also provide a toll-free number to businesses, increasing the rate of consumer orders.

24 hour availability. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s comforting to have answering service assistance 24 hours. Many answering services offer 24 hour availability for all of their services, which comes in handy with those businesses in retail or who have a large amount of priority or emergency calls.

Staying on top of calls can be challenging in today’s fast paced world, but with the help of an answering service companies can rise to the top. Outsourcing to an answering service could be the best decision a company could make, since answering services not only provide great customer service, they provide a way for companies to free up time and save money.