Streamlining Your Information Technology Needs

With the New Year fast approaching, it’s time to take a look at how to streamline your business’s information technology setup. Many businesses seem to go one of two ways when it comes to their information technology: too much, or not enough. But what exactly is Information Technology (IT)? How do you know whether or not you have it already? And how do you know if you have too little or too much of it?

Information technology is made up of the computers, networks, software, storage devices, and anything else that stores, manipulates, or transmits/receives data. In fact, reading this blog right now on your computer, you are using one of the pieces in your IT arsenal. But how do you know if you need more or less of it?

A good way to determine whether or not you have all of your bases covered is to see how effective your business is during the course of daily business. Do you have processes that could be simplified with new software? For example, are you maintaining digital files and paper files only to find discrepancies later on? This could be a sign that your business should move towards a more complete digital file management system.

On the other hand, if you take a look around your office and see empty desks, unused computers, and a network of data storage that would look more fitting in a massive credit card company’s headquarters, then you have too much IT. Take stock of what your company utilizes during the course of the business day. Anything that you are paying extra for and not using should be reconsidered.

It is important to keep your business’s operational needs consistent with the technology that your business has or needs to operate at full capacity. Too little IT and you won’t see the benefits of what expertly implemented IT can do. Too much IT and you are likely dipping in to your company’s profits to pay for it.

TeleDirect is another way to streamline your business. We offer 24/7/365 call center services to businesses looking to make their efforts as effective as possible in a challenging economy. See how we can help to improve the way that you do business!

5 Technology Based Business Solutions to Improve Your Business

Growing a business to profitable proportions in no over-night task. It takes more than the will to succeed - it also takes the right tools. But what tools does the modern business need to make the most out of every work day? How can technology step up to the plate and help us do business better?

Customer Relationship Management - If you have ever needed to reference an in office database while you were on the road, then you probably ended up calling a co-worker and owing them a favor as a result. With CRM software you have all of the access you would have sitting at your desk, only mobile. Now the sales numbers you were looking for won’t mean buying donuts for the guy in the cubicle next to yours!

The Video Call - Skype and companies like it have revolutionized the way businesses communicate, saved countless hours of travel time, and saved a ton of money for companies in search of a way to reduce their spending. With the video conferencing or video calls you maintain the in-person feel of your meeting, while reducing the headaches and cost of traveling to your client for the aforementioned meeting.

File Sharing - You have not managed documents until you have used a file sharing program like Dropbox. With typical documents you run into the trouble of keeping track of the latest version, or a loss of accountability as it shuffles throughout your office. Not so with a file sharing drop box. It allows you to manage the latest version, see who has modified it, and access it from anywhere with an Internet connection.

WiFi On-the-Go - In the fast- paced world of a small business, you cannot afford to stop into a cafe every time you need WiFi on the go. That’s why a small investment in a WiFi card may be a good choice for your business. These devices mean Internet access whenever and wherever. The benefit is obvious, especially if you travel as a result of your daily business.

Mobile Device - Nowadays you could run a small country from most mobile devices - which is advantageous for anyone trying to run a business from one. That being said, that ridiculous 90’s flip-phone you’ve been carting around just won’t cut the mustard anymore. Investing in up to date technology will greatly reduce frustration when it comes to answering email, accessing client info, and fielding calls.

TeleDirect can be a useful resource for your business! Visit our website to see the long list of services that we have supplied to companies just like yours to improve their daily operations.

Technology Focus - The App

Nowadays, there is a mobile app (application) for everything. Reminder apps, finance apps, travel apps - you name it and chances are someone has made it into an app to somehow make life just a little bit easier for someone somewhere. So, it should come as no surprise that businesses everywhere are capitalizing on the app explosion to make their business easier to access and support.

Apps are used with mobile devices and smart phones - which if you hadn’t noticed by now, everyone has and uses like crazy. Why not make your business app accessible to increase your businesses profits? After all, apps are designed for ease of use, and many were designed to function like a full website from a device that may have limitations like a small screen or keyboard. This lets customers access functions, informations, and resources from anywhere on a mobile device.

Apps make it easy to buy products and services. It doesn’t take a business whiz to know that when a product or service is easier to buy, it is also easier to sell. Many businesses are relying on apps to not only promote services they offer, but they are also making themselves visible in the eyes of their clients as the app is downloaded to their personal mobile devices, therefore being seen on a daily basis.

You may be asking: Do I need an app for my business? Deciding what exactly the app will do is the first step. It could be as simple as a scheduling software that allows clients to book appointments, or as in-depth as an advanced sales assistant where your clients and customers can learn about your company and make purchases on the go. Making the app free to download and use will make the risk non-existent for your customers and drive business to you as a result.

If it is done right, your app can help you to gather leads and customer information. You can use this information to expand your business. The best part of apps is that the sky is the limit. If your company needs a certain function, then the chances are that it can be done through you app!

Mobile Integration from TeleDirect

The mobile integration of your business is no longer a dream that you have to chase, it is the way most business conduct their daily operations. Huge businesses have been doing it for years, and up until recently, it was something that small business could only hope for. Well, that is a thing of the past with TeleDirect. Whether we make daily trips to the office, work from a home office, or work from the road on sales trips, being tied to your information resources no longer means being strapped to a desk.

With our Instant Sales Expert your leads, tasks, and opportunities are all presented right before your eyes on your mobile device allowing you to hit the road and keep your business moving full steam ahead. No more missing calls or opportunities because you were away from your computer or phone. Instant Sales Expert is more than just a central hub for your business’s outreach efforts. It is also a way to measure your progress while using TeleDirect services. Accessing your reports, changing vital profile information, tracking recent activity within your business, and managing team member access to the ISE has never been easier.

ISE allows your sales team to pursue hot leads and book appointments with perspective clients, while leaving the initial outreach to us. This Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is sure to become a driving force for your business to increase sales, maintain and exceed client expectations, and monitor progress as you go to make sure your valuable resources are being allocated properly. It’s almost like hiring more employees to only focus on tracking down leads.

As you may have figured out by now, TeleDirect is so much more than a call center. We are part of your team, and are driven by your successes. Improving your sales strategy can be as easy as contacting us today. Our low cost, high reward design has made a valuable asset to many businesses.

Learn more about ISE services through our ISE website www.instantsalesexpert.com, or by contacting one of our representatives today!

Big Data’s Growing Impact

The truth is that our technology driven society is, and has been, growing at an alarming rate and it is not slowing down. We live in a world where information can be accessed from nearly anywhere on earth and our market choices, contacts, transactions, and most of our digital lives is being stored somewhere in one way or another. This is Big Data.

Large companies and government agencies are not the only ones facing the Big Data dilemma. Small and mid range companies are also finding the need to store and analyze more and more data as our technology advances in a globalized marketplace. The days of purging old files to make room for the new ones are numbered; today’s businesses are in need of serious solutions.

Big Data is here to stay as we become ever reliant on our electronics and companies working in the realms of information technology are constantly devising way to keep up with the exponential growth of data. This task is not an easy one as the uses for such an array of information are nearly as limitless as the types of data that are present.

Because the data that companies compile is not shrinking, the need to harness and translate this data is also growing at an exponential rate. Analysis opens the door to huge business opportunities as well as the ability to stop fraud and theft and create up to the minute risk analysis. The trouble lies in finding the right information to analyze amidst the ones and zeros.

To be able to analyze such massive quantities of data is a valuable and vital tool to any business regardless of size. Without analysis, this information is not only hard to quantify in any usable manner, but can range from documents files to the latest social media postings depending on the company.

This is the analyst-in-a-box approach that so many small businesses need to gain control of their data storage needs. Failure to grow with this technology could have dramatic results for companies seeking growth in this competitive marketplace. Contact TeleDirect today to see how your business can tackle the Big Data challenge head on to keep your business moving full steam ahead.

Cloud-Based Solutions from TeleDirect

At TeleDirect, we are always on the lookout for the next big technological trend in customer service so that we can keep your business on the cutting edge. Now, we’re putting our efforts into establishing cloud-based customer service technology that should further enhance the convenience and business-friendly nature of our customer service.

One of the main issues that arises with traditional call center operations is that customer service representatives require access to all kinds of spreadsheets and databases that contain the information needed to answer the questions of customers. Any information about your business that you need us to know is likely contained within these types of documents. This type of service isn’t always extraordinarily efficient. For example, some representatives might be slower to get the information they need, meaning they would need to transfer customers to people who have answers or call other representatives for assistance when on the phone with customers.

With cloud computing, we can instantly update the capabilities of our customer service operations. Instead of having an inconvenient mass of spreadsheets, databases, and documents, our customer service representatives can use tools that allow them to instantly retrieve important customer information, customer history, contact information and more all from one central location – the cloud. All customer service representatives and call center employees have access to the cloud, as well as our clients, meaning that you can update this information and have it instantly seen for our entire customer service team.

Cloud computing services in customer service can also directly benefit the customer. The cloud enables the creation of self-service stations, which allow customers to instantly seek the answers to their questions themselves or to create a log of any troubles they have with products. Customers also could have the ability to post ideas about products that could have a great benefit for your business. It’s a way to make customer service more engaging than ever before!

For more information about our work with cloud-based technology, contact us at TeleDirect today. We constantly strive to bring your business the best in new customer service technology!

Direct IVR Solutions from TeleDirect

Many businesses and call centers today are constantly on the lookout for tools that can reduce costs of making sales, customer service, collections, support calls, and more. One such tool is IVR, which stands for Interactive Voice Response. At TeleDirect, we use Direct IVR services to cut costs and increase efficiency in all of our operations.

Many companies choose to use IVR services to help establish 24/7 business operations. This is partially how we are able to constantly serve your customers. The use of IVR, voice automation, and other technologies allows any questions from your callers to be answered without the presence of a live customer service representative. While we believe in the importance of having live representatives available as much as possible, it is also important to have a system that works when there is no representative availability.

We can also use our IVR system to identify and classify your business’s callers. Since we can identify your callers before we even pick up the phone, we are able to better personalize our services for that customer’s specific needs. Imagine how impressed your customers will be when you answer the phone and already know who’s calling and how they can help you!

In addition, IVR services give more options to callers when lines are busy. In the event that you have a huge rush of callers to our phone lines, the IVR service gives the caller the option to wait for the next available representative, work with the automated service or request a call back from a live representative as soon as possible. The idea is to give the customer the option to avoid a long wait on hold while still ensuring that they will get the service they need.

Finally, IVR allows your business to prioritize your customers. If you have customers that you classify as being major clients, loyal customers, or anything else you consider to be a priority, you can move them to the front of the line when they call in. It’s a great way to reward people who consistently do business with your company.

To achieve all of the great benefits from IVR technology, work with TeleDirect today! Visit our website to learn how you can get started with our services.

How Mobile Technology has Changed Business

It is truly fascinating how quickly mobile technology has evolved. Think back just ten years ago – cell phones were just becoming popular and few people would have thought that Internet access would soon be available on these devices everywhere they went. Now, mobile technology dominates the business and entertainment worlds, and many companies are still trying to catch up.

Here are some of the ways that mobile technology has changed the business world:

People expect instant results. Mobile technology has made people expect instant answers. After all, phones and tablets now give people access to the Internet with the touch of a button, just about anywhere in the country. Since people can find immediate answers for questions they have that aren’t related to your business, they’ll also expect the same from your customer service team. Therefore, it’s important to have customer service representatives who can efficiently and instantly solve customer problems.

Everything is quick and simple. Not only do people expect instant results, but they expect answers to their problems or questions be quick as well. Mobile devices generally don’t cater to reading long blocks of text. People want the kind of brevity they find through text messages and Tweets. This is one of the reasons so many answering services now provide text messaging services – they’re quick, simple, and efficient.

Advertising now caters to people with mobile devices. Methods like QR Codes, mobile apps and deals that can only be activated by “Checking In” on Facebook or FourSquare have become extremely common in the business world. If you were to rewind to just five or six years ago, most of these tactics did not even exist in marketing. That shows the power that mobile devices have in advertising.

People are constantly connected. Since people bring their mobile devices with them wherever they go, they can now call or be called, text or be texted or surf the Internet at any time. This means that customer service representatives need to be constantly available for answers, since customers are constantly available to ask questions.

TeleDirect has done an excellent job of staying up-to-date with mobile technology and the changes it’s brought to customer service. Work with us today to help keep your company on the cutting edge. You’re just minutes away from 24/7 customer service!

Call Centers Give Your Business a Consistent Image

When you own a small business, chances are that one of the first things you’ll concern yourself with is attracting customers. This is natural and expected – you need to find customers right away to get your company up and running. But once you have customers, how do you maintain their loyalty?

One of the best ways to secure long-term brand loyalty from your customers is by presenting a solid, consistent brand image. You can do this through a variety of methods – contributing a consistently high-quality product, performing marketing techniques with a consistent message, and presenting a professional image through your customer service.

With a call center, presenting that consistent, professional image is easier than it’s ever been. After all, there’s nothing more consistent than a call center like TeleDirect. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, meaning your customers can call in at any time and receive your own personalized message from our customer service representatives.

That message is another way that our call center keeps your business’s image consistent. When you work with TeleDirect, you have the ability to personalize the scripts for your calls in any way you want. Those scripts go live as soon as you edit them, giving you the ability to instantly change the message your customers hear. That script gets sent out to every single customer service representative who answers phones for your company, meaning that no matter who takes your calls, your customers get exactly the same message.

In addition to these aspects of TeleDirect, we also make sure that our representatives stay up-to-date with all of the latest information about your company. We provide them with the resources necessary to answer any questions about your business, so that customers who call in will all receive the same answer to any given question or problem.

TeleDirect gives your company a consistent brand image which, in turn, creates a much stronger sense of brand loyalty in each of your customers. Our years of experience and understanding of what makes great customer service give us a true insight into how we can transform your business. Contact us today to learn more about our services, or to get started!

Customer Service Increases Customer Satisfaction

Customer service isn’t just about answering questions or solving problems your customers have – it’s about building a positive experience and extending the influence of your brand as well. Building this positive experience is extremely important if you want to satisfy your customers.

There are a variety of ways that your customer service methods can increase the satisfaction of your customers. Here are a few of them:

Customization – If you tailor your customer service to the needs of your customers, you’ll see much greater customer satisfaction. This gives the customers a sense that you care enough about them to personalize your service just for them. And if you can succeed in creating a personal touch in your customer service, it makes your representatives seem less like they’re representing a business and more like they’re just another person that your customers can talk to.

Gratitude – Show your appreciation for your customers as often as you can. Thank them over the phone, or send them thank you notes. Offer them special deals for having been a valued customer for so long. Little steps like these do a lot to improve customer satisfaction, and encourage them to keep coming back.

Kindness – You might not be giving customers anything as tangible as a discount or a freebie when you give them a smile or a cheery expression, but it does certainly help to brighten their day. Customers enjoy doing business with companies that make them feel welcome, and a little kindness goes a long way in doing exactly that.

Availability – Customers want to know they can come to your business at any time when they have an issue to be solved or a question to be answered. Answering services like TeleDirect offer 24/7/365 customer service, meaning that you’ll never have to send a customer to voicemail. Don’t underestimate the power of having a live representative answering your calls at all times – people simply prefer talking to other people!

Your customers are what keep your business going – shouldn’t you be doing all that you can to keep them satisfied? Work with TeleDirect to revamp your customer service and give your customers the satisfaction they deserve. Contact us today to learn more about the services that we provide!

The Most Common Call Center Mistakes

Call centers can be a great asset to your company by providing a direct line of communication to customers, clients, and other audiences you’re trying to reach. However, there are a variety of mistakes that other companies make that can actually have a negative impact on your business. Check out some of the most common mistakes that a call center can be subject to, mistakes that you will not have to worry about by working with TeleDirect:

Automated Lines

Automated call lines and answering services may be a great solution to cutting down on the number of staff members that you need to employ, but in the end, the quality of service suffers with these lines. For example, if a caller’s question isn’t addressed as part of the automated menu, they’re going to be transferred to a representative eventually, but by the time they get there, they might not be as patient as when they first called, or they might simply choose to hang up rather than wait. Plus, people simply prefer the personal touch of speaking to an actual live person. You can’t get this from an automated line.

Misinformation and Misdirection

Larger companies can have a lot of information going out to a multitude of different outlets. Often times, the touch point for a lot of this information is split between two mediums: the company website and a call center. Providing your call center employees with the right information about a campaign, company announcement, or other pertinent media item is necessary to ensure that the message gets properly transmitted.

The more information your call center has to work with, the easier it’s going to be for them to solve problems. Also, keeping up with the company’s marketing efforts can lead to a more complete experience for those being targeted when they’re seeking answers and information from your company call center.

Improper Staffing

A common misconception that many companies have about their call centers has to do with the frequency and volume of staff. Simply put, it’s hard to predict when calls will come in and how often, so why take the chance of being unprepared? Have a dedicated call center on hand all day, every day like TeleDirect to field all of your calls. You’ll never have to worry about being understaffed, unprepared, or closed for your calls ever again!

Contact TeleDirect today to learn about how we can change the way you perform customer service forever! We have years of reputable service at our backs, so you know that we will avoid all of these costly mistakes.

Get the Assistance You Need to Cater to the Masses

As your business grows, you might find that it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain excellent communication with all of your customers. A call center can help you to cater to the masses better than your business could hope to do by itself, giving you the time you need to focus on other important aspects of your company.

Here are some of the ways TeleDirect can help you to serve a wider audience:

More representatives. An answering service can dedicate more people to your phone calls at a lower price than if you were to hire customer service representatives yourself. This means that you can be sure your customers won’t get a busy signal when they dial in to your phone lines.

More service hours. Our call center offers 24/7/365 service, meaning that people can call in at literally any time of any day and have someone ready and willing to help them. Chances are, your business does not have the capacity to offer this kind of service by itself. This allows you to serve more people, because a large percentage of people choose to call in outside of regular working hours.

More means of service. Not only do we offer full telephone answering services, but we also provide live chat service and text messaging. We can instantly fire off text alerts to your customers, allowing you to reach hundreds or thousands of people in a matter of seconds. We can serve a high amount of your customers online through chat while still taking your phone calls. Multiple channels of service means more people served.

More customer retention. The professional nature of our customer service representatives and the efficiency of our service ensures that more of your customers will come back to do business with you. This means you will start to create customers for life while still having the ability to field calls or questions from brand new customers.

TeleDirect is an affordable and efficient call center with a long history of quality service. Visit our website or contact us today to get started with our services, and open your business up to serve a greater quantity of people than ever before.

Call Centers Gain the Trust of Your Customers

The ability to connect with your customers and gain their trust is absolutely crucial in any successful customer service strategy. When you work with TeleDirect, you work with a team of professional customer service representatives who have received a great amount of training to be able to put your customers at ease and gain their trust for the long term.

Here are some of the ways that we can help you to gain the trust of your customers:

Personal service. This is the most important step to gaining consumer trust. Customers are much more likely to trust a business that demonstrates that they care about individual customers than they are a business that comes off as unapproachable and huge. Give personal service by showing you care about a customer’s problem, helping them to find a solution and offering special discounts or rewards to customers that call in, among other methods. This will go a long way toward improving your business’s relationship with its customers.

Effective communication. When customers feel that their voices aren’t being heard, this likely has to do with a breakdown in communication. Your business should strive for effective communication with customers through multiple channels to keep them informed and to prevent any crisis situations. Think of the business-customer relationship as a regular interpersonal relationship; it’s absolutely necessary to maintain solid communication.

Always stay professional. Even if you get customers yelling and screaming at you over the phone, it’s important to stay professional at all times. This reflects well on your business – it shows that, no matter what, you are able to keep a cool head in any circumstance. Customers will place their trust in a business that shows itself to be steady and reliable.

Be available. When your customers want service, they want it immediately. Therefore, you’re not doing yourself any favors if you don’t have a dedicated customer service team available all the time to take calls and answer questions. At TeleDirect, we operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, meaning that your customers will always have someone to speak to.

Contact us at TeleDirect today for more information about how our services can transform your business. Now’s the time to gain the trust of your customers and solidify your customer service strategy.

How Call Centers Protect Your Company’s Values

At TeleDirect, we understand that your company has a set of core values that are imperative to all of your business’s operations. When we work with your customers, we place a high level of importance on following those values, so that your company is always perceived in a positive light.

We truly believe that call centers allow companies to maintain their values better than any other method of customer service. Here are some ways that we manage this:

Availability. Every company values its customers’ happiness, and part of ensuring that happiness is being constantly available for them. Only a call center like TeleDirect can provide round the clock service – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. No matter when your customers call, you can count on us to be there for them. This availability keeps your customers satisfied and willing to come back.

Flexibility. In addition to our constant availability, we also make our services extremely flexible. That is, we are always ready to adapt to any changes you need to make to your customer service process. We offer you the ability to change call scripts on the fly, meaning that if you are at all dissatisfied with how calls are going or you simply want to try something different, we can make those changes instantly. This gives your company an extraordinary level of control over how you present yourself to your customers and ensures that your value of your customers is protected.

Professionalism. What better way is there to show your customers how much you value them than by providing them with professional and friendly customer service representatives? All of our CSRs go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the best call experience possible. Our constant training process with our CSRs ensures that your business receives only the finest service we can provide.

Communication. Our services don’t just end with phone calls. Show your customers how much you value them by taking advantage of our text messaging or live chat services. Your business values convenience and efficiency, and these services provide exactly that.

Work with a call center that wants to uphold your business’s values. Contact us at TeleDirect today for more information about our services. We look forward to hearing from you!

Keep Service Simple for Your Customers

As technology continues to advance, businesses continue to implement these new technologies in all facets of their operations. Customer service makes use of a lot of new technology, and the general idea is that technology makes business more convenient. However, in many cases, customers actually prefer more simple forms of contact than the high-tech forms of contact you might provide.

Take the social media scene, for example. Sure, social media is an important part of people’s daily lives, and a lot of people follow different companies on Facebook or Twitter. However, there is evidence to show that just because consumers follow a brand online, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be loyal to that business over another one.

While many business owners and advertisers believe that people follow their brand on social media sites to be a part of a community, the truth is that many customers simply follow brands to have easy access to deals and discounts. Since social media technology has made it so easy to access these deals, you can’t ensure customer loyalty through just this channel. After all, if they follow your company just to get good deals, they probably do the same with your competitors.

The real way to create loyalty is to use the most simple form of communication possible – talking to an actual person. This isn’t to say that you should abandon social media – far from it! Social media is extremely important in expanding your brand’s reach. But it’s easy for companies to form a reliance on communicating with customers solely through social media, and that’s when trouble arises. The fact is, while customers certainly appreciate the fast nature and impersonal nature of social media for what basically amounts to coupon collecting, people generally enjoy contact with actual people more than they enjoy talking to a website or social media page.

You can take advantage of this desire with the help of TeleDirect. Our professional customer service representatives are trained to give your customers the personal care and attention necessary to retain their services and increase customer loyalty. Visit our website today or give us a call to learn more about what our services can do for your business.

How to Turn a Crisis into a Positive with Customer Service

Most businesses quite understandably focus on preventing crises as much as they can. Of course, you can never completely eliminate the risk of a crisis, and when arises, it’s important that your company is prepared for how to handle it. With the help of a call center like TeleDirect, not only will your business be able to smoothly resolve the crisis, but it will actually be able to turn the crisis situation into a positive for your business moving forward.

Here are some aspects of our customer service team that make us a big help during potential crisis situations:

A winning attitude. Each one of our customer service representatives is trained to maintain a polite, winning attitude on the phone with customers, even in potential crisis situations. If your business is dealing with a public relations crisis or a rash of unhappy customers, our CSRs help to put your customers at ease over the situation by calmly talking them through it.

Professionalism. When people come calling to your business during times of crisis, the last thing you want is for them to have to deal with unpleasant customer service people. Our customer service representatives make sure to represent your business in a professional manner that will alleviate the concerns and anger that clients or media members may have with you during your crisis.

Going above and beyond. Even when your business doesn’t have a crisis situation to deal with, our customer service representatives always go above and beyond normal customer service expectations. We care deeply about satisfying your customers and presenting your brand in the best way possible, and do extra things like giving special deals to callers, sending caring follow-up messages, and more. Treat your customers the way you want to be treated with our help!

A personal touch. Simply put, people want to speak to other people – not computers. By having actual live representatives available during times of crisis for your business, you can more easily calm down your customers and ensure that you retain their patronage.

As always, it’s best to avoid crises altogether, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared – contact us at TeleDirect to learn more about how our call center can help your business come out of a crisis situation looking even better than before.

Retain Your Customers with Great Communication

One could argue that the most important part of business isn’t finding new customers – it’s retaining them. Customer service is a major part of keeping customers happy and coming back for more, which means that you need to be able to provide the highest level of customer service possible for your business. And you can’t have a high level of customer service without great communication.

Think of it in terms of any kind of relationship; if you have a friend or a significant other, the strength of your relationship depends on the level of communication that you keep up. As the communication decreases in amount or quality, the quality of the relationship decreases as well. Think of your relationship with your business’s customers in the same way. You need to stay in regular contact with them to keep the relationship thriving.

There are several ways that you can ensure solid communication with your customers:

Be transparent. Always let the customer know what you can do for them and how you can do it. Answer every question and address every concern honestly and openly. In return, feel free to ask your customer questions about what they would like to see from your company and how you can improve with what you provide them. Their answers could be the key to strengthening your company.

Be available. Always have someone ready to take your phone calls or speak with customers online, and make sure that your customers know that your company is available and wants to hear from them. This constant availability presents your company as being dependable and caring.

Be willing to make changes. If customers see that you are not only willing to listen to their opinions about your company, but also willing to make changes based on those opinions, they will truly feel like their opinion matters to you. This will increase their brand loyalty to you.

Be understanding. Empathize with the problems of your customers, and be understanding in your approach to answering their questions. Customers want to speak to someone they know has a pulse, not someone who could very easily be an unfeeling robot.

Having a call center to handle your customer service ensures that you follow these tips and maintain great communication practices. At TeleDirect, our customer service representatives are highly trained in interacting with customers and are eager to handle your calls. Contact us today to learn more about what TeleDirect can do for your business!

What Makes Human Interaction Important in Customer Service?

Have you ever called in to a customer service line, only to be greeted by a robotic answering system? These automated services can be frustrating to work with because it’s hard (or occasionally impossible) to get the response you’re looking for.

At TeleDirect, we believe strongly in the importance of human interaction with customer service. All of our customer service representatives are highly trained in a number of crucial areas to ensure that your customers get the best over-the-phone customer service experience possible.

Here are some of the reasons that human interaction is so important when it comes to customer service:

Customers feel appreciated. It’s surprisingly rare these days for companies to have actual live representatives handle customer service. When a customer calls a support line and actually gets to talk to a real person instead of a robot, it makes them feel as though the company actually cares about them.

It’s easier to make a connection. The business/consumer connection that human interaction creates in customer service is extremely important. For the customer, they get to talk to someone who can empathize with their plight, give them extra benefits, and simply listen to what they’re saying. For the business, it’s a chance to create better customer engagement and increase brand loyalty.

Your business can more effectively respond to problems. An automate response system will only aggravate customers who are calling in and are already frustrated. Only a live customer service representative can help diffuse potentially volatile situations by helping the customer solve the problem and offering them special deals to help make up for it.

It’s easier to ask questions. When customers call in and have to talk to a machine, they don’t get the chance to stop and ask questions. As a result, a lot of important information can be “lost in translation” because customers are either confused about the directions they receive or are focused on asking questions of their own. Human representatives give a more personalized touch and can patiently listen to and answer any questions that a customer has.

For more information about our services, contact us at TeleDirect today. We want to give your business the personal customer service it needs to thrive!

Taking the Initiative to Make a Sale

Customer service representatives aren’t just on the phone to help customers – they’re also there to make sales. It’s easy to get this when you are a customer service representative who spends most of the day answering customer questions, but it’s true – your job is to represent the country and continue to drive sales.

Many other call centers don’t consider this fact, and as a result, their representatives’ sale skills suffer. But at TeleDirect, we understand how important it is that customer service representatives have an understanding of sales skills and a knowledge of how and when to take the initiative to make a sale on a call.

A good customer service representative always has the attitude that he or she is an actual salesperson. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are always pushing customers to buy products – it could just mean that they are “selling” the company’s brand image, or other things of that nature. But in the cases where customers are calling in and asking for opinions about different products, it is important that the representative has the knowledge and sales skill to make a recommendation and complete a sale.

Representatives should be able to give detailed information about a variety of different products on the spot, describe what makes them different and how each product would benefit the customer in his or her situation. If a customer has a certain problem that they’re calling in for, the representative should also be able to describe how that problem can be solved, perhaps with a particular company product. If the representative has these skills and works toward closing the sale, there should be no need to bring in a salesperson to finish off the sales job.

Best of all, call centers that work on taking this sales-like attitude to customer service are able to give the businesses they work for significantly more business. In TeleDirect’s case, we answer the phones 24/7/365, meaning you could be making sales in the middle of the night while you are comfortably curled up in bed!

Contact TeleDirect today to see how your business can benefit from all our services. We’d love to help revolutionize your approach to customer service.

Call Centers can Improve the Customer Experience

One of the best ways to succeed as a company is to implement a solid, identifiable brand. This brand is comprised by everything that makes up your company, and is an abstract idea of what your company represents and how it is depicted. There are many ways that you can strengthen this brand, and one of the best ways to do this is through customer service.

Of course, customer service isn’t just about your business—by definition, it’s more about the customer. And if a customer has a positive experience with your company’s product, then your brand benefits. If a customer has a negative experience, however, your brand can suffer. Providing an outstanding product can go a long way toward ensuring that most customers have positive experiences, but what happens when customers still come away with negative ones?

This is where call centers come in. Since they control your customer service, it is their job (in many cases) to transform a customer’s negative experience into a positive one. This could happen in a number of different ways. A customer could call in with a complaint about a product, and the customer service representative could help to solve the issue. A customer could have had problems placing their order, and the representative could offer concessions. No matter what the scenario, call center employees are there for your business all day, every day to handle all of your calls and messages and ensure that the percentage of negative experiences your customers have is kept to an absolute minimum.

As the overall customer experience that your business provides continues to improve, your brand will be strengthened. The benefits to this include more positive online reviews, more recommendations and more return business. All of this comes from simply placing your trust in a call center to handle your customer service, so that you can focus on other important areas of your company.

Are you interested in learning more specifics of how a call center like TeleDirect can benefit your company? Visit our website or contact us today; we’d love to get you started with our services as soon as possible!

How an Answering Service can Give Smaller Businesses an Edge

Just because larger businesses have more resources doesn’t mean they have the edge over small businesses in every area of operations. In fact, there are quite a few areas that small and mid-size businesses have an advantage over their larger counterpart, and chief among these is customer service.

First, there’s the simple matter of size. The larger the company, the more they’re going to be bogged down with customer service issues, and the more people who are calling in to customer service lines, the less likely they are to get truly personal and helpful service, for a variety of factors. For one, it’s easier to get put on hold when calling into a larger company’s customer service line. For another, representatives who deal with customers having the same issues all day long are more likely to get burnt out, and therefore give less effective service. Smaller companies who use an answering service avoid both of those problems.

Small businesses are also nimbler than their larger competitors, in the sense that they are able to make business decisions much faster. Larger businesses need to pass potential decisions along a long chain of command and likely need various different ranking executives to approve them, but smaller businesses or startups can make the same decisions quicker since they don’t have as many people to pass through.

This idea of “nimbleness” is important when it comes to customer service, because it makes it much easier for smaller businesses to make changes they find necessary after reviewing their service records. For example, if groups of customers continually come to the business’s answering service with the same concern, they can address that concern in a quicker and more efficient manner than larger businesses can.

Finally, with larger companies, customer service representatives don’t have as much room to be creative or personal with clients. Every single representative is trained to follow standardized protocols and told to never deviate from them. With a smaller business, representatives can take more time to get to know their customers and treat them in the way that best benefits both the customer and the business, while still following the customer service guidelines that the business set in place.

So if you own or work for a small business, don’t worry! Using an answering service like TeleDirect can give you a leg up over even some of your largest competitors. Contact TeleDirect today to find out more about the kind of services that we provide to our clients.

How to Properly Handle Customer Complaints

It’s an unfortunate reality of customer service that every once in a while you’re going to have to deal with an unsatisfied customer. The key is to handle any complaints that arise from your customers in a swift, appropriate manner.

By using the following tips, you’ll be able to transform what could be a potentially uncomfortable situation into a great opportunity to improve the business you represent:

Respond. It’s extremely important to make sure you respond to the complaints of every customer you have, especially in today’s business world. After all, one unhappy customer can go online and tear down your public image. Be sure to address all complaints as quickly as possible—the worst possible thing you can do is ignore the customer.

Admit your mistake. Even if the mistake wasn’t made by you personally, you will gain a lot of respect from the customer if you take responsibility on behalf of the company. If you act professionally and show the customer that you care about making the situation right, it will go a long way toward solving the problem and retaining the customer’s patronage.

Don’t give in to emotions. It can occasionally be quite tempting to give in to your emotions and try to get into an argument with the customer about what the actual problem is. Don’t give in! Stay as positive as possible and it will be much easier to solve the problem.

Keep a casual tone. While your attitude should be professional, it helps for customers to know they’re talking to an actual person and not a corporate robot. It gives them the feeling that the person on the other end of the phone can relate to their problem, and wants to help them solve it. This is especially important in online interactions, when customers can’t hear the inflections of your voice.

Solve. If you can’t solve the actual problem there may be alternative solutions available, such as free products or discounts. Anything you can do to appease the customer and keep them coming back should be done.

Dealing with customer complaints can be an intimidating situation (especially for newer representatives), but following these guidelines should make it quite painless. TeleDirect’s customer service representatives are all highly trained to handle these types of situations. Visit our website today to learn more about our services!

Sales Advice for Customer Service Representatives

As a customer service representative, you’ve likely undergone quite a bit of training. This training could include how to transfer calls, the best practices for dealing with any problems that arise, and more. But there are some traits of a representative that you can’t be taught—you have to focus on developing them yourself.

Here are some traits that will help you succeed in your work as a representative:

Patience. Don’t rush your customers. Instead, listen to them carefully and let them go at their own pace. This will allow you to avoid getting frustrated with customers and allow them to avoid getting frustrated with you trying to rush them. In the end, this will lead to better sales.

Enthusiasm. Frankly, this trait is quite contagious. If you give off a happy and positive tone over the phone, your customers will definitely pick up on this, and it will rub off on them. This demeanor will reassure them that not only will you be able to help them, but you’ll enjoy doing it.

Commitment. Don’t take any shortcuts—do whatever it takes (within limits, of course) to send the customer away happy. If you need to offer special discounts or free items, so be it. If you need to transfer them to someone who knows the answer better than you would, that’s fine. The ultimate goal is to get the customer what they want, and this takes commitment.

Concentration. It’s hard to help customers have a great service experience if you aren’t giving them your full attention. Concentrate on what they’re saying rather than thinking about what you’ll say next. This will help the problem solving process go much quicker and smoother!

Integrity. If you’re honest with your customers, they’ll be able to tell, just like they’ll be able to tell if your motivations lie somewhere other than helping them get what they need. Remember, your job is customer service. The customer always comes first!

If you manage to master these five traits, you will likely be an outstanding customer service representative. Your customers will be able to tell that they’re speaking to someone who truly cares about their problems and wants to help them find a solution!

CRM Solutions from TeleDirect

A great Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is crucial to growing your business. At TeleDirect, we understand that your business success is dependent on first impressions, and our customer service representatives focus on making the most out of your call center leads.

Once your leads are captured, having an efficient and effective CRM system in place is necessary to organize and move your sales process forward. TeleDirect has a solution for all your CRM needs, whether you already have a system in place or need to build new infrastructure.

Already have a CRM system?

If you’re happy with the CRM system you are currently using, there’s no need to learn or purchase a new one. TeleDirect uses an application programming interface that allows your company to load your leads from our customer service team directly into your existing CRM system.

TeleDirect is also part of the Salesforce AppExchange, so if you’re a Salesforce user, our data will integrate seamlessly with your existing account.

New to CRM?

If your company currently doesn’t have a CRM system, TeleDirect offers our own proprietary CRM solution. Like many other popular CRM options, the user-friendly TeleDirect CRM tool is web based and allows you to set reminders, see the status of leaves, and perform a variety of administrative tasks.

TeleDirect’s CRM tool and our easy integration with other CRM tools gives your team an on-demand view of all your leads. With our full floor of customer service representatives waiting to capture your inbound calls and new leads, you can be confident that every prospective lead receives prompt and accurate answers.

Your employees are busy making sales and serving your customers, so a CRM system should be a solution to your business needs, not another burden. Whether you continue using your current CRM system, or transition to TeleDirect’s easy-to-use proprietary software, our team is ready to help you manage your valuable customer relationships.

If you have any questions about how you can get started with our services, feel free to contact TeleDirect today. We’d love to assist you in any way possible!

Get Better Customer Retention with TeleDirect

It’s extremely important to constantly be seeking out new customers. However, just as important is how you treat your existing customers. If you can’t earn repeat business or create some sort of loyal following, it’s going to be difficult for your business to achieve the success it desires.

A major part of earning repeat business comes from the quality of customer service that you provide. The two factors that are most likely to turn customers off of your business are a poor product and poor service. Poor service in particular grates on customers, who will easily get frustrated if they feel that your customer service process is inefficient or unhelpful. Even worse, a bad experience can lead a customer online, where they will create reviews to share their negative experience with the entire world, including potential future customers.

With TeleDirect’s services, you can avoid these problems. We take care of all of your customer service needs with professionalism and efficiency, meaning that you have plenty of time to devote toward improving your product and your other marketing endeavors. Since we operate all day, every day, you will receive far more service for your money than you would by simply hiring a nine-to-five secretary to handle your calls!

Every single one of our customer service representatives is highly trained to deal with all different types of customer service situations. They are able to politely assist clients with questions of all ranges of complexity, and even are able to diffuse potentially angry customers, meaning you won’t have to worry about those customers going online and spreading negativity about your brand! We also know that some customers prefer online communications over phone calls. With this in mind, we offer live chat features that are manned by actual trained representatives who can assist your customers quickly and easily over the Internet.

Finally, our representatives know to take the extra mile. Customers will keep coming back to your business if they are made to feel special. Our representatives go out of their way to ensure that your customers are getting the best experience possible.

Do you need assistance in the area of customer retention? Let TeleDirect help you! Visit our website today to get started with our services!

TeleDirect’s Benefits for Advertisers

There are all sorts of benefits you can get from your work with TeleDirect. However, these benefits aren’t only limited to the more traditional types of businesses looking to revamp their customer service. Our services are also extremely handy for media buyers, advertising agencies, and even direct mail houses!

Consider this: there are a number of actions that you have to take every day that probably require a good deal of “waiting.” You have to wait for lead reports, you have to wait to properly work your leads, you have to wait for small pieces of data about your advertising campaigns to come in. Aren’t you tired of all this waiting? We certainly would be!

With TeleDirect, say goodbye to the wait and hello to efficiency that you may have never thought possible! We will give you immediate access over the internet to working toll free numbers for all of your mail, TV, and print campaigns. We give you the ability to instantly change your scripts for all of your customer service calls. We provide software that allows you to immediately capture and work your leads. All of this and much more will transform your advertising into an extraordinary venture.

Not only will you get your leads quicker, but you’ll also get more of them. Think of it this way: how many leads do you miss out on simply because you only operate during standard business hours? With TeleDirect’s 24/7/365 service, you will never miss out on a single lead ever again. For example, with our seminar reservation services, approximately one-third of all reservations we handle come in to us after standard business hours! What would happen if we weren’t there to assist them? This all-day, every-day operation gives you a leg up over the rest of your competition and ensures that your message is getting sent out to your leads at all hours.

The instant nature of TeleDirect’s services also solves the problem of any last-minute work you need to get done. Sometimes clients dump things on you at the very last possible minute—it happens. With TeleDirect, you can avoid scrambling. Instead, calmly build a new script, create new FAQs, and solve your problems in mere minutes, with no headaches involved!

If you work for an advertising firm and have more questions about how TeleDirect can specifically help your business, feel free to contact us today! We’d love to answer your questions and get you started with our services.