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.
Fewer Interruptions. More of Life.
How a telephone answering service can improve your quality of life. As soon as the end of the workday rolls around, the exhaustion starts to set in. You’ve been up since dawn and crave nothing more than a nice, relaxing evening at home. But when these long days of meetings, patient visits or client calls come to a close, are you truly able to leave for the night stress-free? Or, do you find yourself bringing that work and stress home with you?
Keep Up with the Times
The importance of staying on top of changing technology. Our current society doesn’t thrive on constants. Today, people crave change, new development and continuous improvement. And in large part, technology is the one to thank for that. To keep your business or practice relevant in these fast-paced times, it’s imperative to stay well-versed in the trends and communicate to your audience at the same speed and in the same mediums they’re used to.
Language Barrier Blues
Accommodating answering to accommodate all. Unlike many countries around the world, the United States has no official language. Ours is a culture of mixed backgrounds, customs and languages, a place where people’s differences are celebrated, not overshadowed. And because our country teaches us to embrace the traits that set us apart, shouldn’t your business or practice be equally accommodating?
What to Look For
Is your answering service meeting your needs? In a perfect world, you’d be there for your patients and customers 24/7 – there to answer every call, email and incoming message they’re sending your way. But try as you might, you simply can’t. Voicemails can be a good safety net, but callers don’t always have the patience to leave messages. Receptionists can help cover the phones, but can quickly become too expensive when you’re on a budget. When you’re in a bind and need an affordable service to manage your incoming communications, a telephone answering service could be just the answer.
Waste Not.
Wasted time means wasted business. From the time they are young, children are engrained with a list of life lessons that they’ll carry with them forever: say please and thank you, look both ways before crossing the street, sharing is caring, respect your elders, the list goes on. And among these important values, children are also taught to value time – both their own, and other’s. Time is one of the most valuable commodities in life because it’s completely out of our control. And that’s why it’s so important to make the most of every minute.
Appear Larger than You Are
Running your business or practice isn’t a one-man show. Picture yourself sitting in the audience of a magic show. The magician appears onstage with an elephant by his side, announcing that he will make the giant animal disappear right in front of your eyes. You’re on the edge of your seat. Waiting. And sure enough, in a matter of seconds, the elephant is nowhere to be found. It’s just as the magician said. But how did he do it? How did he make an animal that weighs upwards of three tons disappear into thin air?
Tried and Tired Technology
Voicemail is a dying technology. Don’t let yourself fall behind the times. People rarely leave voicemails these days. They’re slow, inefficient and oftentimes unreliable. After waiting through five rings, callers must sit through voicemail instructions, leave the message, and then wait. And wait. Responses aren’t ever guaranteed, and especially on time sensitive issues, can’t be trusted.
Take Tone Seriously
The tone of the person answering your calls can greatly affect customers’ perception of your business. For years, researchers have been conducting studies on the effects of smiling. Almost conclusively, results show that smiling positively affects one’s mood and overall health, while also spreading happiness to the people around them. Positive energy is magnetic. It’s one of the most highly regarded traits in humans. And no matter the industry in which a person works, replacing negativity with a positive outlook is sure to reap more benefits than one.
Keeping Secrets Safe
Privacy and Security: The two tenets of HIPAA that a good telephone answering service must uphold. When humans possess items of worth, our natural instinct is to protect them from others. Since these objects hold some sort of value, we make an effort to keep them safe. But what if these valuables aren’t physical objects at all? What if they’re secrets, ideas, personal information? Intangibles that can’t be protected by lock and key?
