How to Make Your Business More Efficient

How to Make Your Business More Efficient

As a small business owner, you are likely always struggling to find more time. From keeping the daily aspects of your business running to finding the right support staff and clients, you could always use more time to simply get everything done. While you can’t add more hours to the day, you can always strategize to make your time more efficient.

Use Google Docs
Integrated with Gmail, Google Docs can help you create, store, and share documents online. The application features a word processing application, spreadsheet, database, and presentation function. This gives you the functionality of Microsoft Word combined with online storage. When your business team is working with large client files, Google Docs can help you keep documents moving between your team members.

Use Producteev
No matter the size of your work team, task management software is crucial for managing team members and workflow. Finding a system like Producteev can help you manage different team members on a project, break down the work, and assign tasks to each member. The software also provides tracking features to help you determine who is on target and who needs follow-up.

Answering Services
Customer contact is a very complex part of any business. Whether you would like to interact with customers by phone, person, or live web chat, you need to offer the highest quality service to stay competitive. Outsourcing your customer service through answering services is a great way to maintain your customer base, while you focus on running your business. However, in order for this to be successful, you need to secure an answering service that provides grace, efficiency, and accuracy when interacting with your clients. It can also be helpful to work with an answering service that features bilingual contact.

Based in Tucson, Contact One Call Center offers answering services and after hours support to businesses throughout the United States. We specialize in bi-lingual services, from our call center to our live chat features. For more information about our answering services, please call 1-800-278-3347.

How Small Businesses Support Local Economies

How Small Businesses Support Local Economies

Blog/ Small Business

Small businesses may not earn the same revenue as large corporations, but they play a crucial role in their local communities. While small businesses provide employment in their local towns and cities, they simultaneously act as the building blocks for the larger corporations across the country. Defined as a business with 500 or fewer employees, small businesses enhance their local economies by providing jobs and services their communities need.

Providing Local Jobs
A small business creates jobs in the community where it is established. Not only does this help stimulate local economic growth, but it also provides employment opportunities to those unable to work for larger corporations. Additionally, small business environments tend to attract talented employees who will create new products or discover solutions for specific problems the business faces. Larger businesses in the community also depend on outsourcing to smaller businesses in the community for specific job functions.

Responding to Economic Climate
Small businesses tend to be very customer oriented, so they are better able to respond to changing economic climates than big corporations. Local customers are very loyal to their favorite small businesses during times of economic crisis. In bad economic times, this loyalty helps small businesses stay afloat. In turn, this loyalty helps strengthen the local community during times of financial hardship.

Encouraging Future Growth
Many large corporations, including Nike and Ben and Jerry’s, began as small businesses in the United States. Over time, they became major players in the national and international marketplace. Even though these small businesses grew internationally, they still maintained their contacts in the communities where they were first established. By becoming a large corporation headquartered in the local community, these businesses could even further provide employment opportunities and help stimulate their original local communities.

Whether you are looking for answering services or after hours support systems for your business, call Contact One Call Center at 1-800-278-3347. We specialize in bilingual services, including live chat and customer service solutions. We are here to help make life more convenient for your customers while helping you become more efficient.

Disaster Recovery Plans

Disaster Recovery Plans

Blog/ Professional Services

Today, businesses depend on information technology to process sensitive information. While employees communicate through electronic mail and VoIP telephone systems, companies transmit large order and payment information through electronic data interchange. As the business world becomes increasingly dependent on this technology, it’s vital for business managers to create a plan if this technology fails.

Develop a data recovery plan.
Ideally, management should develop their information technology disaster recovery plan along with their business continuity plan. This allows management to prioritize and determine recovery time objectives. A technology recovery strategy should focus on restoring hardware, applications and data to suit the needs of the business. Most electronic data is imported and the loss of such data could impact the survival of a business. Faced with the threat of hardware failure, human error, and malware, it’s crucial for every business manager to create a data backup plan.

Focus on IT recovery systems.
Information technology systems include networks, servers, desktops, wireless devices, and laptops. Managers should match their IT recovery strategy with the priorities outlined in their business impact analysis. In addition, managers should determine which IT resources are necessary for time-sensitive business functions. Recovery time needed for each IT resource needs to match the recovery time objective of the business function or process that depends on the particular IT resource.

Look to vendor supported recovery.
Some companies specialize in providing businesses with IT disaster recovery services. As fully configured data centers, these sites understand commonly used hardware and software products. These vendors can manage data streams, security, and applications. If they detect an outage in a client’s site, the vendor can automatically hold data until the system is back. In addition, outside vendors can help enhance cyber security by filtering company data and detecting outside malware threats.

Contact One Call Center specializes in bilingual support services for businesses across the country. We offer answering services, call center services, and after hours support to help you run your business. Call 1-800-278-3347 to learn more about our bilingual services and technology support options.

Serving Your Customers: The Basics

Serving Your Customers: The Basics

Blog/ Customer Service/ Professional Services/ Small Business

A good product is not enough to attract customers and keep them interested. Customer service is also essential for maintaining a strong and successful business. Give your small business the boost it needs by following these customer service basics:

Be Patient
Patience isn’t just a virtue; it is essential when it comes to quality customer service! Customers often feel confused or frustrated when they contact a company to ask a question or voice a complaint. Being patient is important for helping customers feel comfortable and making sure they can express their thoughts thoroughly. If you are patient when dealing with customer service interactions, customers will see you as professional and courteous.

Be Friendly
Friendliness and patience tend to go hand-in-hand, which is great because both are very important for providing good service to your customers. Training employees to stay friendly during every customer interaction will help your company maintain a kind and professional reputation. Being friendly will encourage customers to keep coming back and can even change customers’ minds if they have had a negative experience.

Be Understanding
Customers want to know that the companies they buy from care about them and not just their money. Being understanding during customer interactions is one of the best ways to ensure customers that you care about their opinions and want them to be happy with your product or service. If customers are frustrated or annoyed when they contact you, try to understand their point of view so you can provide the right solution.

Be Informative
It is important to be able to provide answers to your customers’ questions. Even with the other basics, your customers will not be satisfied unless you can help them get the information they need. Make sure your employees are knowledgeable and can find the information that your customers request.

Contact One Call Center can help you provide the best customer service possible! Let us handle secure messaging and after-hours support so your team can focus on the business. Learn more by calling us at 1-800-278-3347.

Small Business Success Story: Hillcrest Media Group

Small Business Success Story: Hillcrest Media Group

Blog/ Customer Service/ Small Business

Some businesses go with the flow. Others create their own flow. If your small business is looking for new ways to obtain success, you can look to today’s successful small businesses for guidance. Read about Hillcrest Media Group to get started.

What is Hillcrest Media Group?
Hillcrest Media Group is a publishing company that offers an assortment of helpful services to authors and collaborators. Unlike other publishers that take more than their fair share of profits, Hillcrest Media Group puts the author first to ensure a smooth and successful publishing process. This company also helps authors find the right marketing strategies to attract buyers and get their books out there to the readers!

Who Started Hillcrest Media Group?
Mark Levine gained interest in the publishing world after publishing his own book about self-publishing! After seeing the success and realizing there was a spot in the market for a publisher that cares more about authors than making money, Levine started Mill City Press back in 2006. Eventually, Mill City Press became the starting point for a larger company known as Hillcrest Media Group.

How Did It Become Successful?
By offering something totally different from the competition, Hillcrest Media Group was able to become a pioneer of a totally new style of service! Authors no longer had to pay a fee just to get their book published only to share profits with their publishers—now they could work with Hillcrest Media Group and get the profits they deserved.

How Can This Story Help Your Business?
Excellent customer service is part of the reason why Hillcrest Media Group is so successful. Keeping your customer in mind and making sure they get what they need and want can help your business become more successful! Contact One Call Center can help you handle your customer service responsibilities so you can focus on other elements of success. We specialize in call center services as well as secure messaging, chats, and more. Take a look at our website or call us at 1-800-278-3347 to learn more.

Customer Service Don’ts for E-Commerce

Customer Service Don’ts for E-Commerce

Blog/ Customer Service/ Small Business

E-commerce makes it easy for customers to get what they want, when they want it! This technology also helps businesses reach out to more customers in more places. Make the most of your e-commerce by learning about these customer service don’ts:

Not Keeping Your Promises
It is easy to attract customers with promises of free shipping, easy returns, and other important elements. Unfortunately, a lot of companies take advantage of the level of ease by making false promises to customers. If you offer certain perks and do not follow through, customers will not return and will likely make others aware of their negative experiences. Do not make any e-commerce promises that you cannot keep!

Only Offering Phone Service
Phone calls are a great away to get in contact with a business, but they are not the only way! Today’s customers are constantly busy and constantly on-the-go. That is why they want a variety of ways contact your business when they have questions or concerns. It is important to offer answering services as well as online chat services to make it as easy as possible for customers to get in contact with you.

Taking Too Much Time to Respond
How long does it typically take you to respond to customer questions or concerns? If you are not responding as quickly as possible, you might be losing customers! With mobile sites and online services, timeliness is more important than ever. Customers make decisions and purchases quickly, so responding quickly will make you more appealing and give you a better chance of success.

Using Generic Responses
Your customers want to feel heard and respected. They do not want to feel like they are talking to a robot. But that is exactly how they will feel if you keep offering generic responses for each question or concern. Take the time to carefully read comments from customers so you can respond appropriately and show that their voices are being heard.

Contact One Call Center can help you avoid these don’ts with our excellent customer service help! Call us at 1-800-278-3347 for more information about our after-hours support and call center services.

Knowing When It’s Time to Hire

Knowing When It’s Time to Hire

Blog/ Professional Services/ Small Business

How many employees does your business need? The answer depends on a number of factors, including what kind of work you do and what plans you have for the future! Providing the best products and customer service will help you find success, and this guide can help you see if new employees will let you achieve those goals.

Make a List of Responsibilities
Start your research by making a list of all of the responsibilities held at your business. This includes all of your responsibilities as well as any held by any other employees you currently have. Try to include every individual item so you can have an outline of everything that gets done at work. This outline can help you determine if you have the right number of employees or it is time to consider hiring more.

Consider Your Growth
Every business wants to grow! Analyzing your growth is essential for deciding if it is time to hire. Look at any reports you have detailing how much and what type of business you do each month. Compare your status now to your status from a few months ago, or even a year ago if possible. The more growth you are experiencing, the more likely it is that you should hire new employees.

Think About the Benefits
New employees can bring a number of benefits to your business! Hiring new team members means handing out fewer responsibilities to each one. That means employees have more time and energy to focus on their job instead of spreading themselves too thin with too many projects.

Talk to Current Employees
If you already have employees, it is a good idea to get their input when deciding whether or not to hire new ones. Ask current employees if they feel challenged or overwhelmed and if they think new team members could help you experience more success.

Even with new employees, you might need help with customer service. Contact One Call Center offers answering services, after hours support, secure messaging, and other services to help you help customers! Contact us at 1-800-278-3347 to learn more.

Keeping Customers Happy During the Holidays

Keeping Customers Happy During the Holidays

Blog/ Marketing and Sales/ Small Business

The holiday season is coming up! Your customers are shopping for gifts, making this season one of the busiest of the entire year. If your business is not prepared for this season, you can miss out on sales and possibly drive customers away. Follow these tips to keep customers happy during the upcoming holiday season.

Plan for the Season
The holiday season is extremely busy for all businesses. This can put a strain on customer service responsibilities, making it difficult for your customers to find what they need in time. Schedule a meeting as soon as possible to discuss the upcoming season with your employees and come up with strategies for handling the extra work. Hiring a call center is a great way to handle customer service responsibilities without taking away time and energy from other responsibilities.

Check Your Website
A lot of today’s customers research companies online before visiting stores in-person. Many of these customers also purchase online instead of going to stores. A slow or poorly designed website can mean bad news, especially during the holidays. Check your website to make sure it is working properly and is easy to navigate. You should also test the mobile version of your website as many customers will be visiting from smart phones and tablets. Take measures to ensure that your website can handle extra traffic that is likely to come through during the season.

Look at Customer Information
Loyal customers will have purchasing history you can look back at to get an edge this holiday season. This information can help you decide what types of products and services to focus on this season as well as what types of sales to offer. You can also use this data to offer customers rewards or thank you cards as a special touch for the holidays.

Get the help you need to keep customers happy this season with Contact One Call Center! We specialize in customer service, after hours support, secure messaging, and much more. Find out how our services can help you by calling us at 1-800-278-3347.

The Importance of Leaving No Call Unanswered

The Importance of Leaving No Call Unanswered

Blog/ Customer Service/ Small Business

In the business world, customer service is essential to your company’s success. It is important to give your customers easy access to help when they need it. Keep reading to find out why you should improve your call centers to ensure that every call is answered.

Dealing with Customer Complaints
If a customer is upset about your products or services and they cannot get ahold of anyone in your company, it will only upset them more. Increasing your call center and answering service efforts ensures that these customers can find someone to talk to when they have an issue so you and your staff can work toward finding a solution.

Offering New Services
Improving your call center efforts helps you spread the word about new services that your company is offering. If a customer calls in to your business and always manages to find a real person with whom to talk, it gives you the opportunity to talk about new features and services that might interest them. Take advantage of customer calls by using them to inform your client base about important updates for your company and the services you offer.

Improving Your Company Image
If your customers can always get through to someone at your company, it gives them a better impression of your business. Whether they are calling with a complaint or a question, the ability to talk to a real person helps them gain confidence in your business and your customer service efforts. This might inspire them to help tell other people about your impressive customer relations, which could earn you some new business.

Take advantage of Contact One Call Center’s unique answering and secure messaging services to help your company keep your customers happy. If you want to avoid unanswered calls, our call center can help. We offer live receptionists, bilingual support, and after-hours support. Check out our website or call 1-800-278-3347 to learn more about our call center services.

Small Business Success Story: GasBuddy.com

Small Business Success Story: GasBuddy.com

Blog/ Small Business

Owning a small business requires a lot of time, dedication, and foresight. If you want to learn how to grow your small business, it is helpful to look toward other companies that have found success. Keep reading to find out how GasBuddy.com started out as an idea and managed to explode into a hugely successful company.

A Great Idea
GasBuddy.com was the brainchild of Jason Toews and Dustin Coupal. Toews, a computer programmer, and Coupal, an eye doctor, were as frustrated as the rest of the country about rising gas prices. They decided to develop a website that helped drivers find the cheapest gas in their areas. In June of 2000, they officially launched GasBuddy.com. For the next 10 years, they worked hard to entice drivers to log onto their website and share information about local gas prices.

A Brilliant Idea
Although they found some success with their website, they knew that they could do better. In 2009, they saw how much business mobile apps were generating for tech-savvy companies and decided to join the fold. They launched apps for Android and iPhone and catapulted their business to new success. They now have 6 million loyal users who visit GasBuddy.com via their mobile apps.

Perseverance
Toews and Coupal both had successful careers before they started GasBuddy.com. Although their website did not gain instant success, they did not give up on their dream. By researching the industry and finding new ways to reach their customers and to entice new ones, they managed to make a name for themselves in the small business world.

If you are looking for new ways to interact with your customers, Contact One Call Center can help. We offer customer service assistance that makes it easier than ever for your clients to interact with your business. From answering services to order taking, our customer service experts are here to ensure that you improve your client relations. To learn more, check out our website or call 1-800-278-3347.