Clementine Answers : Our Blog



Clementine has a lot to say, so we created a platform to support that voice. We’ve learned a lot from our years spent in the telephone answering service industry, and our blog is designed to help your business succeed on all fronts.

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The Dos and Don’ts

Some considerations before hiring a HIPAA-compliant business. One way to ensure your practice or business maintains the highest privacy and security standards is to be certain the other companies you contract services with are HIPAA compliant.

Communication: Your Key to Success

Give customers the clarity they crave. It doesn’t take much for customers to be frank and forthright about how you do business. Read any Yelp or Google review and you’ll see some very clear communication. Whether they’re pleased or dissatisfied with your products or service, they’re often painfully honest and crystal clear.

Don’t risk it.

Your patients’ trust is paramount. It takes time, attention and a lot of hard work to earn the trust of the people you care for at your practice. That bond you build should last a long time, and you certainly don’t want to do anything that could cause irreparable damage to the relationship. A breach in privacy or a call that isn’t secure is sometimes all it takes to lose trust and convince a patient to go elsewhere.

When Technology is a Turnoff

Real people keep you really connected. The promise of technology is typically efficiency. But voicemail systems – even the best ones – can be clunky, hard to navigate and irritating. Even if a customer or patient chooses to leave a message, they’re often not satisfied with the response time. In fact, people today rarely engage with the dying messaging systems and choose instead to abandon calls entirely if they reach a business voicemail system.

Abandonment Issues.

Keep your callers from hanging up and disappearing for good. Recent studies show that for every call that goes unanswered by your business or practice, there is an 80% chance the caller will hang up without leaving a voicemail. That’s a staggering statistic, and one that can lead to the downfall of a business if not taken seriously. Since missed calls can result in lost leads and lost revenue, it’s imperative that your calls are answered the right way, right away. That’s where an answering service can help.

Triage Your Calls

A win-win for doctors and patients. In the midst of medical emergencies, people look to their doctors for immediate assistance. Whether one is suffering from a stomachache, fever, ear infection or more severe ailment, human instincts urge us to pick up the phone and contact a professional who can help. Not only are doctors sometimes unavailable when they’re needed, but certain situations may not even require a doctor’s assistance. When a less severe medical situation presents itself, the most effective way to work through it might actually be over the phone with the help of a nurse.

(Your) Time is of the Essence

Bring your business maximum success by making the most of every minute. You’ve heard the age-old mantra ‘Focus on what really matters’ time and time again. It’s a phrase people try to live by in their daily lives, a reminder to do activities that are productive and fulfilling. Phrases like this have staying power because they are widely applicable. And they apply to one’s personal life as well as they do to one’s professional life.

Custom-Created Plans

Look for an answering service to meet your company’s specific needs. When a person goes out shopping, he or she is presented with choices. Whether it’s choosing between brands of peanut butter at the grocery store, styles of jeans at the mall or levels of data plans for a cell phone, people are presented with options to heighten long-term customer satisfaction. By hand-selecting the product that fits best with a person’s lifestyle, he or she is less likely to have buyer’s remorse and more likely to come back for repeat purchases. And since we’ve grown so used to this type of society, why would you settle on anything less for your business or practice?

Superior Service in Any Situation

When severe weather, power outages or emergencies strike, Clementine answers. No matter where you live, weather can be unpredictable, and emergency situations can occur without warning. But because we have come to accept these things, we’ve learned to prepare for the worst. If you live in a state that frequently experiences tornadoes or snowstorms, for example, you likely have a designated spot for your family to gather or an extra shovel on hand for times of heavy snow. If your area is the victim of common power outages, you’re bound to have a generator or abundance of flashlights at the ready in case the lights go out.

TAS Talk.

Telephone terminology can be tricky. We’re here to break it down for you. When you’re looking to hire a telephone answering service to manage your incoming communications, understanding its complex terminology can prove to be one of the most confusing aspects. But in order to make the most of your money and ensure that your callers are receiving top-notch care, take note of these common terms so you know exactly what your answering service is talking about.