Too small For an Answering Service? Think Again

calender - Jan 30th 2009

One of the biggest mistakes small businesses make is thinking small and acting small. This is true whether you are a small business soliciting retail customers, but its even more important if you are a small business selling to a large corporate. The universal truth is “big likes big”.
Big Companies like to buy from big companies and that is just a fact of life. Small businesses are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to selling their services or products because of this fact.
The big reason for this is the insecurity of the person that is actually making the buying decision. They like to feel comfortable with the decision they have made. Big companies have the resources like a receptionist and administrator and so on.

The main objective for a small business is to look as large as possible and of course much bigger than the business is actually. The right telephone answering, messaging and admin service can accomplish this for you. The idea is to find a telephone answering and messaging service that is personal to your business and that you know who is answering your telephone calls for your business. This makes the caller think that they have called the business it self. Call centres usually have the background noise of chatter and the tapping of keyboards and so your customers will not get that personal service.

At Kendlebell Luton we make sure that all your telephone calls are answered by the same PAs and that you know who they are. In fact they are almost like your employees. You call them if you need anything special done like promotions or just the fact that you will be on holiday or conference or even a meeting just the same as if they were in your office.

One of our clients secured a very large order by using our telephone answering and messaging service and just that one order has secured enough business for the next 12 months.

This is just one way that a small business can look larger than they are. Other ways to do this are to have a virtual admin to take care of the daily tasks.

Kendlebell Luton Offers telephone answering and messaging services as well as admin services. For more information please call 0800-0776131 or email me on

jet.shah@kendlebell.co.uk

 
 

 

 

Can Somebody Please Call Me Back !

calender - Jan 29th 2009

How often have you listened to your answer phone messages and all you hear is the person putting the phone down without leaving a message, or if they do leave a message then the message is muffled or unclear or misses out key information such as their name and/or telephone number, so you can’t call them back anyway, you have to wait in the hopes they may try you again because they have been as unsuccessful at contacting your competitor – how often does this happen though.

It’s difficult enough running a business but the partnership with the answer phone message as your receptionist sends out the wrong messages in this age of instant access and communication.

Voice mail announcements also need to be crystal clear and should outline the information you want your callers to leave, so when you call them back you have an inkling of what they want so you can have information to hand when you call them.

Existing clients may get fed up if they can’t get through and if you are unable to call them back within a reasonable time they will not be happy and you could lose them. In all business speed of communication is essential to clinch the deal or get the order, especially in the current economic climate.

Now if you used a telephone answering and messaging service like Kendlebell Luton then all your calls would get answered by a human and the caller will be happy and feel confident that they have left the message with someone reliable and that they will get a call back. The funny thing about humans compared to answer phones is that they can react to certain conditions and alert you if an important situation develops for you, we are reactive not passive.

Kendlebell Luton’s telephone answering and messaging services do just that for all the businesses they work with. Just imagine receiving an email on your mobile phone or even a text message that read like this. Please call Mr Joe Blogs he would like to place an order. Would that be good?

For more information please contact us on 0800-0776313 or email me on

jet.shah@kendlebell.co.uk

Evolving Your Business Through Tough Times.

calender - Jan 28th 2009

Tesco reported today that it was expecting the next few weeks and months to be tough as its performance over Christmas failed to live up to that of its rivals in what is proving to be one of the poorest festive seasons for retailers in a generation.
Andrew Higginson, the outgoing finance director, said January and February – the last two months of the retailer’s financial year – were going to be hard going. Tesco delivered underlying sales up just 2.5 per cent in the seven weeks to January 10.

This is the case for all sizes of businesses across the world, the bonus that most large businesses have compared to SME businesses is that they have an element of financial cushioning because their businesses are so diverse and wide spread. The problem with large companies is the fact that they cannot react quickly to changing conditions. SMEs usually have this luxury and whilst watching every penny they have and so can change very quickly to changing conditions.

Having met a great variety of businesses at various events the common theme is business people want to maintain their public profile but cut costs and at the same time and the best way to do it is by using virtual telephone answering and messaging services like Kendlebell Luton. In the current climate we have adapted our business to work even more efficiently for our clients. We are offering virtual administrative services to clients as and when they need them.

The work is done from our office and fed back to the client promptly, clients pay for these virtual services as and when they use them, so no longer do they need hoards of staff, they keep the key staff and outsource the work that can be done by a general administrator.

If you would like us to look at your business process and see how virtual telephone answering, messaging and admin services from Kendlebell Luton can help then please give us a call on 0800 077 6131 or email me on

jet.shah@kendlebell.co.uk

 

 

 

 

The latest Challenge.

calender - Jan 27th 2009

One of our now new clients decided to use our telephone answering and messaging service after he challenged us to show his company that we could increase productivity and profitability.
His staff were always getting bogged down with phone calls and the distractions that were caused because of all the non productive calls that they were getting. The challenge for us in Kendlebell Luton was to show how we could answer and filter the company calls and just relay the important calls to them. In fact we agreed to do this for two weeks free of charge because we were so confident of the difference we could make to their business.
The company directors called us after a few days into the challenge and asked how we knew so much about their business and that even his team did not know it was Kendlebell Luton answering the calls as it was so seamless. The named Kendlebell Luton PAs that take the calls for this company take pride in learning about the companies they look after and the company’s website is usually good point to start.

The Directors had never thought about using a virtual telephone answering and admin service as a cost effective resource for their business Since we have been handling their calls they have managed to get more productivity and even secured extra business while they have been using our telephone answering service.

Before we had even completed the two weeks they were asking us about costs for the service. We gave them a monthly price which best suited their requirements. I think they were very surprised at how little we charge. Now they have asked if we could do the telephone surveys for them. We were already taking some of that information already when we answer the calls so it just made sense for us to complete that part of the sales process.

If you would like to take a trial period with us then please call us on 0800-0776131 or email me on

jet.shah@kendlebell.co.uk

 
 

 

 

Virtual Business helping Companies Grow During These Tough Times.

calender - Jan 26th 2009

The current economic climate has many companies both large and small thinking about how they are going to increase sales and still make profits in the current tough economic climate.
The quick fix has been to reduce staff and downsize to smaller premises. This has an almost immediate effect in the short term a positive impact on your cash flow. However, in the long term you may actually start to see a reduction in the profits because you may not be able to attract new business and service your existing customers in the way they may have come to expect. Therefore, while consideration is given to downsizing businesses must also reconsider their business process, if they want to survive beyond the economic downturn.
Serious consideration must be given to the fulfilment of the functions carried out by staff before the downsizing. Those tasks still need to be done, so many companies are outsourcing many of these. Outsourcing can fill those gaps at a very low cost and can be bought in on an “as you need them basis”. Most virtual companies like Kendlebell Luton will perform these tasks for you on a very small retainer, after which you pay by the hour depending on the amount of work you need doing.
Downsizing does not have to mean down scaling your business. Outsourcing your telephone and admin to Kendlebell Luton can keep your business running and let you still increase your capacity without the added costs. This would make you more competitive and help you gain not only extra business but also an advantage over your competitors.
Kendlebell Luton’s telephone answering and admin services can take care of all your business calls and administration needs so you can do what you do best and take care of growing your business. We can also take care of those time consuming tasks like web based research or customer surveys for estimating purposes when you need it and only pay for the time used.
Most telephone answering and messaging services can provide this service but you have to make sure that they can provide a personal, tailored service and that the your team of PAs can be contacted directly by you. Here at Kendlebell Luton we do exactly that, so your team of Pas will always answer your calls and they will know and understand your business. Your business is very important to you and to us at Kendlebell Luton, as we are an integral part of your business’s team.
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information on telephone answering, messaging and admin services please call Kendlebell Luton on 0800 077 6131.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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