Smiling realigns the throat muscles, causing the mouth to be more open and the jaws less tense. Result: A softer voice and more pleasing vocal tone that people can “hear” even on the telephone. Callers unconsciously mirror the voice and smile back.
Answering multiple phone calls from your office at the same time
April 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Did you know…
Our technology enables our Telephone Receptionists to answer multiple phone calls from your office at the same time?
Developing a Perfect Vocal Tone for Telephone Conversations
March 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Articulate. If you mumble or slur words, the important points that you are trying to make can get lost. Worse, people will tune you out.
Vary your tone. Nothing numbs listeners more than a person who speaks monotone. Project your voice as clearly and strongly as possible. Learn to use pitch variation, while accenting your power words. This helps keep callers involved and interested in what you have to say.
Use the right tempo. Don’t speak in a slow, drawn-out manner. The speed of speech affects how your message is interpreted. Talk fast when you want to convey excitement or urgency, then slow down when you want your words to sink in.
Control your volume. Project your voice so that people can hear you easily. Don’t shout or whisper, but do raise and lower your voice when you want to emphasize certain words or concepts.
Get rid of speaking crutches. Avoid punctuating sentences with you know, like, uh, really, kind of and other fillers. The pattern becomes tiresome to listeners and makes the speaker seem unprepared.
If you are need of a Telephone Receptionist with a Professional Voice, please allow Business Connections the opportunity to serve you and your clients. www.bcanswer.com or 1-866-601-6115 and ask for Dirk or Stuart Moeller.
Fear is a 4 Letter Word
February 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
You choose whether it motivates or paralyzes you.
Increase your Cash Flow – 14 steps to a fatter wallet
January 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment
1) Having a highly visible phone number on your website will help improve the profits of your company. Even though you may not receive a lot of calls from your website, having a Highly Visible Phone number will give your company more credibility. The bottom line is you want to make it easy for people to do business with you and having a phone + someone to answer it 24 hours a day will help demonstrate that you are the best at what you do while instilling trust and peace of mind to current and potential clients.
2) Since most of your sales originate from a telephone call you should be committed (a little bit obsessive if need be!) to returning all telephone calls promptly. Returning phone calls within 30 minutes or less will IMPRESS future clients. Worst case scenario is to follow the Sundown Rule. The Sundown Rule simply means that all telephone calls are returned the same day on which they are received. Surveys have shown, time and time again, that most people end up choosing the first professional company they end up talking with. If you’re meeting with a client, traveling in an air-plane, taking a shower, having dinner with your loved ones, etc… Business Connections can be that Personal Link with your Potential Client while you’re unavailable. Business Connections Receptionists are ready to greet your callers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
3) Make sure we (Business Connections) have accurate instructions that allow us to Direct Connect Urgent Callers to your Mobile Phone. For example, a Law Firm wants us to Direct Connect Callers “Looking to Hire an Attorney”, calls from a “Judge’s Office” or calls from a “Court House”. Non-urgent messages are e-mailed to their Office. Clients with Smart Mobile Phones can get their messages anywhere.
4) Update your Website and set-up your business with a Facebook Fan Page and Linkedin Fan Page. Internet Search Engines and Social Networking are replacing the Yellow Page industry. How much longer do you think the phone books will be around? People 35 to 55 years old use Google instead of phone books. People under 35 ask their Friends on Facebook. Here’s a Facebook Example. Let’s pretend you have 200 friends on Facebook and your Mother wants to move to Phoenix. There’s a good chance you have a Facebook friend who either lives, grew-up or knows a good Realtor in Phoenix. You post the question and within a few hours you have a few Realtors that have been recommended. All done from your I-phone or Blackberry.
5) Business will continue to go where invited and remain where appreciated.
6) Reputations will continue to be made by many acts and be lost by one.
7) People will go right on preferring to do business with friends
8) Go-Givers will become the best go-getters
9) The extra mile will have no traffic jams.
10) Performance will continue to outsell promises
11) Enthusiasm will be contagious as ever.
12) Know-how will surpass guess-how.
13) Trust, not tricks, will keep customers loyal.
14) Quality will be prized as a precious possession.
Please call 1-866-601-6115 with any questions, comments or recommendations and as for Dirk Moeller.
Powder Fix Economics = Are you Making Money or Making Memories?
December 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A couple of years ago while having a cup of coffee during a ski break, one of those free ski gear buyers guide you find at ski lodges had the following editorial. I liked it so much; I tore out the page and put in a rarely used ski jacket pocket. A few weeks ago I rediscovered this treasure. If you love the outdoors you’re going to enjoy this…
Glen Plake, the Mohawk-headed Pied Piper of American skiing, once told me, “Skiing is the best way of wasting time that I know.” And honestly, I can’t think of anything more simply pleasurable than going up and down a snow-covered hill.
It’s worth remembering in times like this how good the wind can feel in your face, with the world speeding beneath your skis, spinning like a wheel. Chairlifts make it better. Good friends make it great. And helicopters make it superb. But all you really need is gravity, and snow.
When I graduated from college I moved to Jackson Hole and skied more than 600 days over four years. I delivered pizzas and planted trees, and was out of work each mud season in the spring and fall. But I always had enough money for a new pair of skis and a season pass, and there was never any shortage of beer.
Billy D, my roommate from that time, sent me an e-mail when the 2008 economic crisis was snowballing across the planet like the wreckage of a small moon that said, “I bet we could get back our old jobs.” He’s an investment banker now. But other than his wife, his kids and their impending college tuition, he says he thinks about those seasons we spent skiing more than anything else he did. “Yeah,” I told him, “Me too.”
Which is the difference between making memories and making money. No matter how hard you work to earn either, only memories consistently pay you back over the long haul. That’s why, no matter what happens with the economy, I’m skiing as much as I can this year. Because the dividends are guaranteed, and the (re)turns are unbelievable. I’ll see you out there. – Pete
Did you know that Business Connections 24 hour Answering & Voice Mail Service can help take care of your callers & clients while you escape for an afternoon, a day, or even several weeks to make a memory while still making money? Check us out a www.bcanswer.com You can also see what some of our clients are saying about us. Feel free to call and ask for me personally at 1-866-601-6115 – Dirk Moeller, Business Connections.
Disaster Recovery Certification – Ready for the Next Storm, Natural Disaster or Operations Issue
November 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Business Connections Call Center was certified by ATSI in October 2012 for meeting or exceeding high standards in business practices, life safety, operations, including normal and emergency procedures, personnel hiring, training and ongoing evaluations. Business Connections Manager Dirk Moeller said, “In addition to Call Center Certification, we subscribe to Agility Recovery Solutions. In the event of a fire or natural disaster, Agility Recovery Solutions within 48 hours of an interruption, will deliver any or all of our four key elements of recovery; Power, Technology, Space and Telephone Connectivity”.
For more information about Business Connections visit www.bcanswer.com
For more information about ATSI visit www.atsi.org
For more information about Agility Recovery visit www.agilityrecovery.com
Cloning Great Employees since 2001
October 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Do you wish you could Clone a few of your best employees and get rid of the worst employees? A business’ hiring process is just like when you’re rebuilding a sports team. You need to trade, waive, fire or retire the wrong players and bring in those that are more like your superstars.
Great Businesses have discovered that investing extra effort in the hiring process is more fun and more profitable. If you believe the purpose of business is to make money and the purpose of money is to do good keep reading.
Twelve years ago while attending a business conference there was a session on Personality Tests. The presenter held up the results of a 1 hour personality test taken by 2 air plane pilots. Both pilots were very good at their jobs. Test results from the 2 pilots were vastly different. One pilot was a fighter pilot. The other was an Airline pilot. Pilot A scored high in manageability, accommodating and sociability. Pilot B scored low in these areas. Pilot B had a higher energy level, higher assertiveness, higher decisiveness and was more independent. Pilot A was the successful Airline pilot. Pilot B was the successful Fighter Pilot. They both fly planes. One is a people person. The other enjoys being by himself and the adventure of blowing things up and confronting dangerous situations.
At this meeting I invested $2,000 for this program and we tested 3 people at Business Connections that I’d like to clone. All new applicants take the 60 minute test and we compare the applicants’ results with our 3 model employees. At our Call Center we want people who score high in Accommodating, Manageability, and Attitude. Since our Call Center handles inbound customer service calls, our best employees are not highly assertive, decisive or independent.
The program has increased our profits, customer satisfaction and made it more fun to run the business. The people we’ve hired over the past 12 years have had that “Customer Service Gene”. To find out more about personality tests, call 214-484-2010 and ask for Bernie or Brenda of Profiles on the Web. To find out more about having your clients greeted by a Friendly, Professional Person 24 hours a day call 1-866-601-6115 and ask for Dirk or Stu.
2 Pizza Rule
August 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
At Amazon.com, CEO Jeff Bezos has a “two pizza rule,” reasoning that to keep teams nimble, they shouldn’t get so big that they can’t be fed with just two pizzas.
Warm Transfer
August 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The act of transferring a call to someone in a polite and “warm” fashion AFTER the caller asks for a specific person. Business Connections Receptionists will inform your caller “One Moment Please” and then announce to you, the callers name and company BEFORE connecting the caller to you. If you wish to talk with the caller, the receptionist will connect the caller to you. If you prefer that the receptionist takes a message, we will return to the caller and say “Mr. ____ is unavailable at the moment. What number can he reach you at later today?”
Benefits – Image is very important. The “5-star or 1st Class” image that Warm Transfer will present will help your business profits grow. Warm Transfer also helps you gather your composure when you know who is calling before actually talking with them…
Business Connections Receptionist – “Mr. ____. Ihave Susan with XYZ corporation asking for you.”
Mr. _____ - “Susan, I was thinking about you earlier today and I’m so glad you called”.
To discuss warm transfer in further detail, please call 1-866-601-6115 and ask for Dirk Moeller
