Reminders vs. Events on the TeleDirect System

If you’re familiar with our Instant Project Expert, or IPE, software, then you’ve probably heard a lot about “reminders” and “events,” and alerts or other features that correspond with them. But what exactly is the difference between a reminder and an event?

Through IPE, you are able to schedule reminders that are directly related to a task or milestone. Obviously this is a very useful tool when you are constantly having to shift your focus between different projects. Clicking the reminder allows you to go from your calendar straight to the task that you set the reminder for, instead of being forced to wade through a long list of tasks. If you’re involved in a lot of projects, this will save you a great deal of time.

Events, on the other hand, are items you put on the calendar that you want to remind yourself about. These items are not attached directly to any tasks or milestones, and include items like meetings. It’s better to use events to remind yourself of meetings, because using a task or milestone, one person could (in theory) not show up to the meeting and get graded as though they completed a task, or everyone else who did show up would have to take a bad grade.

Another advantage to using events is that when you invite someone to an event in IPE, the event automatically shows up on the invitee’s calendar. No emails are exchanged back and forth, saving you time from having to switch between IPE and your email account. However, should you choose to send out email reminders about your upcoming event, you can do so by checking the available “email” box and clicking “update.” Just remember that everyone already gets emails every morning regarding their reminders and events, so you don’t want to flood their inboxes with unnecessary reminders.

If you have any more questions about events, reminders, or the Instant Project Expert software in general, we’d love to answer them. Call us at TeleDirect Call Centers today or use our website’s live chat feature!

TeleDirect: Helping You Grow Your Business

Here at TeleDirect, our top goal is to help you grow your business in all regards. Our daily operations at our call center are performed with your business in mind, and all of our customer service representatives are trained to work in a manner that facilitates constant growth for your business. All of our software, training tools, and telephone services will put you on the cutting edge of customer service. The people who call in to your lines will notice the professionalism we provide!

Here are a few of the many ways TeleDirect Call Centers is able to help spur growth for all of our clients:

• We send leads for warm-up, appointment setting, and hot transfers back to your closers, allowing for a more streamlined method of doing business.
• We keep an extremely high level of organization through tracking tasks, milestones, due dates and who is or is not performing up to expectations. In this manner, we are also able to hold all of our employees accountable to make sure they are doing everything possible to aid in our business’s continued success!
• We route calls to different locations based on the time of day or how a caller answers certain questions. This helps us weed out wrong numbers as well as give the optimal level of service your customers desire!
• We reach out to your customer base ad prospects immediately through text and/or email. This allows for quick, efficient and personal means of direct communication with the people who are interested in your product or service!
• We perform careful research of your market and your customer satisfaction levels. By gaining a thorough understanding of your company, we are able to provide customer service that is tailored to fit your exact needs.

Our reputation at TeleDirect speaks for itself; we provide quality customer service that simply cannot be matched. You don’t have to take our word for it, either; check out the reviews that previous and current TeleDirect customers have written at teledirectcallcenterreviews.com!

Are you interested in learning more about TeleDirect? Perhaps you’re ready to jump aboard and get started with our services? No matter what the purpose, our representatives eagerly await your call!

 

Google AdWords’ Click-To-Call Technology

Since its inception, Google AdWords has been changing the way online marketing is performed. Now, a new “Click-to-Call” feature promises to once again revolutionize Internet advertising for the foreseeable future. For businesses with call centers, this feature will be key in generating new customers and expanding business possibilities.

The Click-to-Call feature is meant for mobile web browsers. All non-clickable phone numbers in AdWords advertisements will be converted into Click-to-Call numbers. Now, mobile users will be able to tap on these phone numbers and immediately place a call to them through their phones. This new technology adds a great level of convenience to mobile web browsing, and serves as an effective new way to generate business for advertisers.

The click-to-call enhancement must be enabled through your AdWords account. Once it is enabled, you will begin to receive clicks and calls to the number in the advertisement (it should be noted that it is against AdWords’ policy to place phone numbers in the ad headline). Just like phone calls placed via a call extension, you will be charged for any clicks on your phone number that result in a call.

Through the “Campaigns” tab in your AdWords account, you will then be able to review exactly how many calls have been placed through the clickable phone number in your advertisements. Simply select the “click-type” option under the “Segment” drop down menu, and you will be able to view your full report and analytics.

You don’t necessarily have to change your phone number in your advertisements if you don’t want to. Google, however, recommends that you remove the current phone number in your ad and replace it with a call extension, along with your phone number. This strategy will allow you to get the most value from your click-to-call advertising campaign.

At TeleDirect Call Centers, we are excited to begin using this brand new technology, and will work carefully with all of our clients to make sure that the implementation process goes smoothly. If you have more questions about Google AdWords’ Click-to-Call, feel free to contact us at www.TeleDirect.com today!

The Grading Process at TeleDirect

One of the ways in which we hold our employees at TeleDirect Call Centers accountable for their work is with our comprehensive grading process. Each task that is completed undergoes this process, and in this way we can assure that our customer service representatives are maintaining the high standards that we have set for them. Here’s a little bit of information about how the process works:

Grading only begins after a project is published. Before that, it stays in brainstorm mode, which allows for team members to edit the project at will. After publication, the project is graded by the average of all tasks and milestones, unless the project date is moved or the project becomes overdue. In the event a project due date is moved, it is instantly downgraded by 10 points. Should the project become overdue, it is downgraded by 30 points, and the best grade it can receive is a D.

Tasks, however, are graded differently than projects, as they are not affected by the average grade of milestones. If task dates are moved, it will turn yellow and lose 10 points. Canceling tasks altogether results in a 20-point deduction, and if the task goes overdue, it gets downgraded by 30 points. So if an employee moves the due date after the task has been published, his or her best grade possible is a B, but if they give up altogether it becomes an F. Tasks may not be closed until all milestones are canceled or finished.

This grading system makes using the brainstorming mode extremely important. This allows TeleDirect employees to communicate with owners of tasks and get the highest grade possible. The grading system keeps owners of tasks, as well as those who carry them out, accountable for their work. We invite you to read our recent blog post “Training in a 24/7 Environment” to learn more about employee training at TeleDirect.

If you have any other questions about TeleDirect’s grading process for our call center, please contact us today. We have representatives available to answer any questions you may have about our services, and we look forward to hearing from you! www.TeleDirect.com

Training in a 24/7 Environment

Hopefully, if you’ve worked with us in the past, you know that the customer service representatives (CSRs) at TeleDirect Call Centers provide great customer service. And that’s no accident. In fact, while we hire people who clearly have a desire to help people and who can pleasantly answer calls, the real secret to the success of our call center is the ongoing training we provide.

Because TeleDirect does not believe in giving our employees only a week to learn their jobs, our CSRs are constantly learning and improving in order to provide you with the most outstanding service they can.

All of the customer service representatives at TeleDirect are set up with their own personal dashboard. This area presents them with any training “quizzes” that need to be completed, or training issues that must be taken care of. The dashboard also features a training center, which is put into place to make sure that every CSR is held to the same level of accountability.

Any supervisor or manager can change or update training issues or tasks. If any problems or updates arise, they can be addressed with self-trainable methods. The representatives read through these on their own, although there are no self-trainable issues that must be addressed in a classroom environment. Regardless of the type of issue, we make sure to emphasize the importance of completing the training. Not a single CSR will be answering calls without having completed all of their training items that have been allotted to them.

Our representatives are entrusted with keeping up their own training databases, but we do make sure they stay up to date. A significant portion of the bonuses our CSRs earn are based on how well they keep up their databases.

When representatives finish their training issues, their progress is logged and they are able to return to work. Our quizzes are specifically tailored to ensure high retention rates, and trainees must score at least 80% to pass the quiz. Should they fail three times, they must meet with a supervisor or manager to discuss why they failed and what they can do to improve.

These training methods allow TeleDirect Call Centers’ CSRs to offer you the highest level of customer service possible. You can be sure that our employees at our call center are constantly learning and improving, with the goal of doing great things for our clients’ businesses!

A Day in the Life of a CSR

The daily life of a customer service representative may not be glamorous, but it can certainly be fulfilling. Spending your days working with customers is only one part of the job. The great interactions at the call center, the feeling of contentment after wrapping up a successful call, and the satisfaction of a day of helping people are all experiences and emotions that a TeleDirect customer service representative is extremely familiar with.

Upon arrival in the morning, our CSRs (many of them sipping their favorite coffee) immediately check for any messages left via email, phone, fax, or instant message, and make any callbacks that are necessary. As all of these checks and any other duties are performed, our CSRs are constantly alert and prepared to answer phone calls or any live chat messages that come through our website.

As emails, snail mail, packages, faxes, or any other communications arrive, our CSRs check to make sure all leads are covered. Of course, our CSRs get breaks throughout the day to relax and to eat lunch, but otherwise they are busy fielding calls and managing the communication for our clients.

After a while of working in a call center, customer service representatives pick up on some of the quirks of the trade. For example, they may get certain callers that become regulars. Or they may notice that certain times of the day are busier than others, or commonly feature a certain type of customer personality. They come to learn exactly how to deal with a frustrated customer and how to ensure the repeat business of a satisfied one. This on-the-job education is a major aspect of work in any call center, and TeleDirect is no exception.

Outside of their regular duties, the CSRs of TeleDirect Call Centers go through regular training and performance reviews to ensure that their work is always top-notch. They know exactly what is expected of them, and devote parts of their days to logging their activities so their reviews go smoothly.

Most importantly, our CSRs are polite, enthusiastic and helpful. Every day, their main goal is to ensure customer satisfaction. To learn more about how the outstanding CSRs at TeleDirect Call Centers can help you, contact us today!

The Benefits of Having a Live Chat at Your Call Center’s Website

Just because we're a call center doesn’t necessarily mean that all of our customer service interaction needs to happen over the phone! These days, there are plenty of options available for personal, online interactions, not the least of which is using a live chat feature on your call center’s website.

Here are some of the most prominent benefits that come along with using a live chat feature:

• The ability to multitask. Many live chat features allow customer service representatives to chat with more than one customer at a time. This exponentially increases the amount of work your call center can get done within the same amount of time! In a world where time is money, the importance of multitasking can not be underestimated. 
• Great first impressions. Live chat enables customers to get instant and brief answers to their questions. Many people don’t want to spend the time on a phone call, so these instant answers give a great impression to customers. 
• More feedback options. Live chats can be coupled with a post-chat survey that asks customers to rate their experience with the customer service representative and the company itself. These surveys take less time than a survey over the phone would, so response rates will likely be greater. 
• Build instant leads. Live chats allow your customer service representatives to give links to the company’s website or to quickly gain contact information from the customer. This is a great way to build up business. 
• Instant statistics. Some of the best chat providers offer the ability to see statistics about the customer’s referring URL, IP address, geographic location, and more. This allows you to see who is contacting you, where they’re coming from, and how they found you! 
• It’s easy! Live chat is easy to set up and easy to use. For the amount of benefits you can reap from such a simple feature, there is no reason to not take advantage of it.

Are you interested in learning more about live chat? Check out the live chat feature at www.teledirect.com to get some first-hand experience! Then, contact us to let us know what you think!