Throughout the course of operating, your business will deal with some difficult phone calls. Some will come in the form of bad news, but the focus of this post are difficult customer service calls. When a customer calls with a problem – whether it’s about closing an account or needing an exception to a policy rule – the resulting conversation can

When it comes to answering a business phone, there are basically three options: Have a live person answer the calls Hire a third party to field your calls Or make use of automated phone systems. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology is what powers automated phone systems. IVR systems allow callers to listen to a menu of options and select via

When a customer with an appointment calls to cancel, they can either be met with a friendly response or a passive-aggressive response. It’s not in your business’ best interest to try and “guilt-trip” customers who need to cancel appointments; instead, your appointment policy should reflect the cutoff time for cancellations and note any fees or charges that may apply after

Ending a call politely should always be your goal, whether it’s a routine call, a long winded caller on the other line or an upset customer who is becoming aggressive. Ending a call politely is easy enough when it’s a routine call – once the matter is resolved, a simple “Is there anything else I can assist you with today?”

Being on hold is no picnic. It seems to last an eternity, especially when you’re calling about an issue you’re having with a product or service. We know how we feel individually about being put on hold, but recent studies have sought to find out how customers feel about being put on hold, how long is too long, and what

Do you enjoy calling a company and getting stuck on hold for what seems like an eternity? What about when you call and you have to sift through a dozen menu options just to get to the right department? If you don’t like it, you know your clients don’t, either. That’s why it’s necessary to decrease time on hold for

You pick up the phone and a caller asks to speak to someone who isn’t available right now. You let them know they’re out of the office and ask to take a brief message. They decline, explaining that they can’t leave a message with you and must speak to the person directly. Have you ever been in this situation? If

If you want to provide top-notch customer service, using proper small business phone etiquette is a must. You can’t rely on face-to-face interactions alone because many people that interact with your business do so over the phone before entering your establishment. If your business is run entirely online, the phone becomes an even more important centerpiece in your customer service

When you first start a business or firm, you handle the calls (which, thankfully, are few in the beginning). Once your company starts growing and taking off, the call volume increases and it becomes obvious that you’ll need someone to take over your call answering duties. In this case, you might consider hiring a virtual receptionist or an in-house receptionist.

When someone calls your business, do you know what they really expect or want in a receptionist? Do they expect intense friendliness or a cool, professional tone? It can be difficult to say due to caller preferences, but there are a few points that most callers agree on. What do callers want in a receptionist and does yours make the