Customer Service Tips For Your Small Business

As a small business owner you know the importance of keeping your customers happy. However, many businesses fail in doing so simply because they don't know how to develop and implement "good customer service" strategies.

Here are some useful tips on how you can apply good customer service strategies that will keep your customers happy and your business booming!

• Identify your target customers- What type of customers will your business attract? Who are they? What are their needs? Start by doing some quality research on your customer demographics. The key to making your customers happy is to understand what they really want.
• Anticipate your customers' future needs- Not only is it important to determine what your customers want now, but also what they will need in the future. This will help generate loyalty and repeat customers. You can find out your customers' wants and needs by:
• Conducting online customer service satisfaction surveys. (Some free online survey sites: http://freeonlinesurveys.com/, http://www.surveymonkey.com/, http://polldaddy.com/) 
• Phone/email survey 
• Product testing- Find out what your customers prefer by allowing them to try free testers or even allowing your employees to do the testing. For example, find out which flavor is in more demand, chocolate or vanilla. Have people taste the flavors and gear your business accordingly. 

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• Don't make promises you can't keep- A lot of the times a business will lose a customer because of unfinished promises. You want your customer to be able to rely on your business and trust that whatever promise you make, you will complete it in a timely manner. For example, imagine if you were promised that your bedroom furniture will be arriving on Monday, but instead arrives on Thursday. You have every right to complain and be one not-so-happy customer. The same applies to your clients and customers. 
• Be a good listener- It's important to hear your customers out. They have a voice too. In addition, listening to your customers will not only help your customer, but will also help your business. Talk about a win-win situation. By listening, you get a better understanding of what it is that your customer really wants. A good practice is to repeat back to them what your comprehension of their needs and wants are; this way you both are on the same page.
• Get your customers to interact with you- Use your social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter to talk to your customers. 
• Deal with the complaints- You're a business, and you're bound to get a couple of complaints here and there. You can't please all people, but you definitely shouldn't ignore the complaint. This can be a deciding factor of whether your customer is satisfied with your business. 
• Apologize when needed- It can be difficult to apologize sometimes. But remember, you're a business, and every business makes mistakes. If you make a mistake, it's okay, it happens. Just make sure that you acknowledge it and make it right by the customer.
• Answer your phone- You don't want to be that company that rarely answers phone calls. Answering the phone is your biggest advantage. A customer then knows that he/she can rely on your business and that they will always be helped. These days, technology makes it easy to be accessible 24/7. A cool feature offered by many phone companies is Find Me/Follow Me. It allows you to have calls forwarded to anyone and to any device - your place of business, your cell or another person.     

Customer service can either make or break a small business. Customers are not only looking for service, but also value. Show them that your service (or product) does just that by implementing customer service straegies that make them feel unique, and not just another number.             

Host Meetings With An Easier Alternative!

It's time you put your business in high-tech mode! Let go of the old-school business habits, and take advantage of today's technology to help your business run more effectively. You might be wondering how.

Every business conducts meetings - they could be with employees, clients and/or vendors. Traditionally, these meetings would happen in a meeting room or someone's office; but what if you can take conferencing to a whole new level?

Audio and web conferencing service allows you to conduct meetings anytime, anywhere and with anyone (no matter where they are located!)

It's a SIMPLE and EASY process (probably two of your favorite words!) You can choose audio conference only, or web and audio conferencing combined to host a live interactive meeting.

With audio conferencing you receive a permanent dial-in number, conference code and pin which you can use at anytime. The features include:

• Record and playback
• Project codes for bill back
• Toll-free dial-in
• Operator assistance
• Direct Event - this includes passcode expedited call entry, separate dial-in numbers, optional call registration and call customization.

Web conferencing combines audio, web and video. The features include:

• Host a live meeting
• Create and show multi-media presentation
• Interactively train employees, partners and customers
• Deliver cost effective events
• Use web conferencing as a support center to view, diagnose or solve customer problems online.

Kick up your feet and relax as you conduct meetings with your staff members, customers and vendors from the convenience of your home, office or even your car! Conference with one person or a group, it's your choice. The opportunities are endless.

Business VoIP: Stay Organized, Be Successful

Staying organized in a business can get a bit tricky, especially if your day-to-day activities consist of running around, doing errands and making important phone calls. From the numerous calls you receive and need to make, to all the people you need to meet with, it can all get very hectic.

So what can you do to ease up this hectic life and get a bit more organized? Try considering TouchTone’s business VoIP phone system, a perfect solution for small businesses (2-10 employees) who want to gain a competitive edge. Business VoIP provides powerful calling features to help you stay organized.

Unlike traditional phone service, Business VoIP provides your business with enterprise-class business features, as well as professional and advanced service (including unlimited calling). And the best part is, it’s a lot cheaper than traditional phone system and service.

TouchTone’s Business VoIP system would work perfectly for you if:

1. You prefer to pay less and get more out of a phone system (i.e., enterprise-class calling features, unlimited talk).
2. You prefer to use newer technology versus old and outdated traditional technology.
3. You don’t want to invest in an IT person to handle the maintenance and the setting up of your phone. TouchTone covers all that for you; from maintenance to setting up, we got you covered!

Some features to help you and your business get organized and keep up with your fast-pace environment are:

• Call Forwarding- Allows you to redirect incoming calls to another number, voice mail, or block the call all together. You choose what type of calls, as well as when calls are forwarded. Call Forwarding categories include: All Calls, When Busy, Do Not Disturb, No Answer and Selective Forwarding.
• Selective Call Management- Also known as call screening, with selective call management you can selectively reject or accept calls made from specific numbers so that you can manage your time more efficiently.
• Web Management/Web Portal- You can make adds, changes or moves 24 hours, 7 days a week through the self-managed Web Portal. Access all your contacts, voicemail messages, call logs and much more. Organized business here you come!
• Hunt Groups- One of your worst nightmares is probably losing your valuable customers and clients. This could be an outcome of poor customer service. When a customer or client calls your company, you want to make sure they are being taken care. The Hunt Group feature is extremely helpful when multiple lines are in use. For example, when a line goes unanswered or is in use, the call is automatically routed and transferred to another user, and so on and so forth. This powerful feature will ensure that your phone is answered by someone in your company at all times.

The type of phone service you use for your business plays an important role on the functionality and future success of your company. Take your business to the next level with Business VoIP.

Any questions? Feel free to leave comment!

Small Business, Big Dreams: Business VoIP To The Rescue!

Whether you're a local gas station, salon, car mechanic or any other small business entity, there are many clever ways to aid your business to success. Start here by trying TouchTone's Business VoIP phone system. This phone system provides many useful features that puts businesses like yours on the road to bigger success.

 

Why is TouchTone's Business VoIP phone service the right choice for you?

 

• Worry free hassle!- TouchTone's Business VoIP provides you with a complete phone system, including enterprise-class IP phones, unlimited calling and 24/7 Web Portal Access. You don't have to worry about wasting your precious time in setting up phones, we've got you covered! TouchTone manages and hosts everything for you.

• Auto Attendant- Let's say a customer calls your number. It can be answered either by you, a receptionist or...an automated greeting. The automated greeting feature gives your customers freedom to specify their call concern. The Auto Attendant can direct the caller to sales, customer service or any other specific department simply by pressing a number. This feature would give your customers confidence in that your business is "legit" and that you have many departments; when in reality, there could only be one person answering all the phone calls for each department...and voilà, your so-called "small business" isn't so small anymore. This feature gives your customers and callers the idea that your much bigger than a small company.

• Call Transfer- This feature allows users to transfer calls to someone else; like another extension, an outside line or a cell phone number.

• Mobile Office- Don't lose some customers simply because you're away from your office location! Every customer counts for a small business on the path to a bigger dream! That's why with the Mobile Office feature, your calls follow you wherever you go. You can choose to have incoming calls forwarded to your cell phone, your assistant or even another landline. Your customers want to know that they will be taken care of whenever they call.

Apart from the features listed above for TouchTone's Business VoIP phone system, there are over 20 useful and powerful calling features included for free with the phone system!

 

It's all about the idea and impression you give your customers. You know you're a good business that provides well; but it's the brutal reality that many customers are attracted to a "big-time" business. In order for you to get a head-start in your business, customer service is crucial! Your customers are what will decide the direction your business will take; and let's hope it's a positive direction with TouchTone's Business VoIP phone system.  

Work Smarter, Not Harder with Business VoIP

Thanks to VoIP technology, customers have more options now than ever before when it comes to choosing a powerful and cost efficient phone service. Business VoIP offers a wide range of powerful calling features that can even make the smallest business look bigger and sound more professional overnight.

Your needs, budget, and company size will dictate which business VoIP service is best suited for your unique needs. In the end, it comes down to either hosted PBX or an on-premises SIP compliant IP phone system with SIP service.

An effective phone system will meet both your current and future needs, and grow as you grow. Before deciding on a business VoIP service, be sure to ask yourself a few important questions.

1. Which best describes your phone system project?

A. Installing a new phone system
B. Replacing an existing phone system
C. Upgrading an existing phone system
D. I like my phone system, but not my phone and/or Internet/data bills

2. What features do you want in your phone system?

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Traditional Telecom Clouds SIP’s Simplicity

With traditional offices, you have to navigate the costly and time-consuming  process of setting up 30-60 days before you can configure and use your phone system.  With SIP trunking, setting up phone service is easy and only takes 1-3 days. 

Why SIP makes sense.

With SIP, you can provision customer trunks in minutes rather than weeks.  You don’t have to deal with a local exchange telephone company, extraordinary lead times, poor customer service and lack of flexibility and responsiveness.

However, for those folks who have been in the telecom and IT sector for a long time and who are used to a traditional way of setting up phone service/system, SIP can be a scary little word. It actually seems to repulse the most established telecom aficionados. But, I assure you, SIP is MUCH easier than you think, and I will prove it.

It’s simple, it works! It saves time, money and it’s easy.  
 

People just starting in telecom have the home court advantage when it comes toSIP.That is because their brains haven’t been hard- wired to think in terms of traditional telecom (POTS lines/PRIs), which can be rather complex and time consuming.   So having 10 years+ experience in the telecom industry actually puts you at a disadvantage. You have to re-train the way your brain thinks when it comes to SIP. But once you do, you and your customers will be grateful. Trust me! 

Think about the steps needed to set-up a traditional land line with long distance (POTS).  

• First, you are limited to what local providers you can use
• And then once you determine the local provider to work with, you need to schedule installation of the local POTS line(where someone has to physically connect on-site / activate phone lines)
• Then you must coordinate with the LEC to change the PICC to a 4 digit carrier code for thelong distance carrier, while at the same time making sure that all PICC freezes have been removed. 
• To determine pricing, you have to incorporate line charges, usage rates, PICC, and EUCL fees.

If you can understand all of that, than you are a seasoned telecom professional and you are probably frustrated with SIP. 

Okay, let’s start with the basics. 

An IP address is the backbone of SIP. And don’t worry what the IP address technically does, just understand that it’s an address that represents you, or in this case, your phone system within the Internet.  If it’s a public IP address, it’s where you can be reached over the public Internet.  If it’s private, then it can only be reached over a private network, like MPLS or private LAN.  To setup a SIP connection between two parties, each party loads the other’s phones system’s IP address in to each other’s phone system and plugs it into their Internet connection (if public) and then, well, that’s it. To setup service with a carrier, a customer will exchange IP addresses with the carrier, plug in their Internet and test.   The SIP trunk is now born…

A SIP trunk is a virtual circuit.  What the heck is that??  Since there is no physical connection that represents the SIP trunk other than the Ethernet cord plugged into the phone system, it’s hard for us to get past the “what the heck is it” stage.   The best way to explain it is to tell you how it’s bound. Well, to compare to traditional services, standard PRIs are physical trunks made up of 23 call paths or DS0s or B channels (ugh).  Consider SIP trunks as that same type of connection made up of a preset number of call paths that you can make calls out and receive calls via DIDs.  The difference is that SIP trunks can allow thousands or tens of thousands of calls simultaneously.   What binds a SIP trunk is not the physical nature like that which limits PRIs, but instead is bound by Internet availability, phone system capacity, and carrier set predetermined limits.   Since each active call sucks up Internet (40-80 KBPS per active call), you can only have as many calls active as you have bandwidth available.  Your phone system also may have limits for various reasons that would only allow a certain amount of active calls. But the most important defining characteristic of a SIP trunk is the preset number of call paths the carrier assigns to the trunk group.  If a carrier only allows for 10 concurrent calls, the 11^th simultaneous call is going to fail.

What is needed to make SIP trunking work?  You need a SIP compatible phone system, or a gateway that converts SIP into traditional services, bandwidth and a proven carrier?

If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please contact me, Max, at mcaponegro@touchtone.net.

Getting the Best Deal in Telecom

Cutting costs has become a major priority, especially in today’s economy. If you haven’t done so already, one way to easily cut costs is to revisit your telecommunication expenses.  Telecommunication expenses can be anything from telephone expenses to Internet connectivity to equipment.  If your contract with your current telecom provider is about to expire, you should take this opportunity to re-evaluate your expenses. 

60-90 days prior to the expiration of your contract(s), reach out to your current vendor(s) to see if you can negotiate reduced pricing. If you cannot, you should consider looking for a new one altogether. You want to make sure you have enough time to evaluate each new vendor and their rates for services without feeling pressured. Remember, if you do decide to switch carriers, you will most likely have to provide notice of termination to your current vendor. 

Before you begin, make sure you have the following information available and are also familiar with it.

1.  When does your contract expire? As mentioned above, you want to start your process about 2-3 months before your contract expires. This will help you get the most price reductions. It may be a bit difficult to get a provider to reduce charges during a contract term, but as you get closer to the end of your contract term they may be more willing to negotiate rates to keep you as a customer.

2. Does the contract auto-renew, and for what term? Is important to know if your contract has an auto-renewal clause and what it entails. The auto-renewal could be short term, such as month-to-month, but it can also renew at whatever the initial term was.  If you do choose to change providers, be sure you fully understand the auto-renew policy in your contract to avoid early termination fees.

3. What services are you currently purchasing, and from how many providers? When speaking with your current vendor(s) you want to have some understanding of what you services you are subscribed to and whom you are purchasing from. Many times you can get all your telecom services from one vendor and at a discounted rate.

4. What are you currently paying today for your services (this includes fees and surcharges)? When seeking a reduction in costs, you have to know where you are starting from. In addition to the actual price for a particular service, it is important to consider what additional fees and surcharges you are paying as well. What you are saving in price with one vendor you could be paying in surcharges and fees, and as a result, making the overall cost more.  If you are unsure of a fee or surcharge, ask your vendor.

5. Do you need to keep all the services? Have a look and make sure that you need everything you have.  There may be services that you no longer need and can cancel. Any good provider will offer you a free analysis of your business needs. 

6. Do you need additional services, or need to change the type of service you have? One service to look at is Internet bandwidth and making the move from switched to dedicated services.  With the growth of IP, have a look to see if you need to upgrade your bandwidth.  Contract renewal time is always a good time for an upgrade; vendors like to see this type of growth.  If your business has grown and you currently have switched services, you may want to consider switching from switched services to dedicated services.  Dedicated services, even though they have an access MRC, tend to have lower rates.
 
Once you have gathered all of your information, your first step would be to contact your sales representative from you current vendor.  If you are unsure of who your sales representative is, or how to contact them, you can contact customer service.   

Once you have reached the appropriate person, explain to that them that you would like to discuss renewing your contract and you are also looking to reduce your currently monthly spend.  They may ask how much you are looking to reduce your cost by, so be prepared with an answer.  If you are not sure, asking for 10% - 20% reduction would be a good place to start.

The sales rep may ask what term you are looking to sign for.  Normally, the longer contract you are willing to agree to, the better pricing you will be able to get.  If you believe that in the short term, you are going to need to order additional services, even if they are with another provider, you should discuss that with them as well.  

After your current vendor has given you some information, take time to evaluate it.  If you are not happy with what they have given, see if they can do anything more.  You can also start to price out competitors to see if they can beat your current vendor’s price. Don’t forget to consider fees and surcharges.

When contacting a new potential vendor, make sure you have all your information, including copies of your previous bills.  The more information you can give a potential vendor the better they can understand what you need, and therefore can put together their best offer.
 
The key to getting the best deal is to simply ask.  It never hurts to ask about a rate, charge, surcharge or fee.  The worse thing they can say is no, but you may be surprised on how often they say yes.