How To: Offer Call Handling Services to Clients
Time and time again the subject of offering call answering to clients has been mentioned on the forum e.g. equipment required, how to charge etc without actually looking further into actually undertaking the service.
Offering a call answering service to clients is not as easy as it sounds. You have to factor in the fact that you will be tied to your desk Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm and the phone might not even ring. Being at your desk will also mean that you cannot go out and get more business, pop to the bank/post office or even nip to the loo as you can guarantee that the phone will ring at that exact moment. What if you want a holiday or are ill, who will answer the calls for you?
You have to be professional at all times with no background noises e.g. washing machines, screaming children, barking dogs as this is not a professional image to portray for your client to their customers.
You also have to consider the necessary equipment to ascertain what company name to answer in. It has been suggested the way round this is to have clients purchase a mobile phone and the VA use this to distinguish who the call relates to answer the call in the company name – can you imagine having various mobile phones ringing and having to remember which phone belongs to each client or popping out to the bank with a bag full of mobiles in case one rings for a client?
You are probably thinking that isn’t as easy as it first seemed, am I right? That’s where a Call Handling service can come in and answer calls for you and you can also have your clients calls answered too.
Did you know that 1 in 10 callers who hear an answering machine hang up?
As Virtual Assistants, we all have business and family commitments that don’t allow us to be at our desks during normal office hours, and are therefore unable to answer our own business calls.
Working from home and have noisy children at home?
Missing out on calls whilst in meetings or on the school run?
Struggling to concentrate on a project because the phone keeps ringing?
www.CallTeam.co.uk enables you to have your calls answered when you are either out of the office, in meetings or generally trying to concentrate on getting work done without interruptions. Utilising the service enables you to have your calls answered by a team of professional and friendly VAs, and you can also have your clients calls included and answered too by becoming a Reseller (more info on this below).
How does it work?
The system we utilise is a VOIP PBX and each client is issued with their own unique telephone number to divert to/advertise. The clients name pops up on our screen when calls are received and callers are greeted by our team of experienced handlers in your company name. All necessary details are taken and your messages are relayed to you instantly via email and/or SMS.
The telephone number can also be advertised by you, and Call Team will answer all calls, and be the first point of call for clients.
Interested in Becoming a Call Handler?
Our team is made up of VAs who all work around our own clients, children, school runs etc. We are always on the look out for additional call handlers. We are a professional business and therefore no background noises as detailed above will be tolerated and you need to have an exceptional telephone manner. Not all calls are message taking e.g. some are more hands on approach with admin required and therefore being able to think on your feet and multitask is a must.
There is a small amount of outlay required in purchasing our recommended VOIP phone. If you are interested please get in touch by emailing Lyndsey.
Reseller Scheme: Offer Call Handling Services to Clients without answering calls yourself
Our Reseller Scheme enables Virtual Assistants who do not wish to undertake call handling to provide the service to clients and have Call Team satisfy your client’s requirements.
Signing up clients is easy. Clients need to complete our sign-up form and make sure that they mention your Reseller Code.
And the best bit… you make a quarterly revenue stream for 12 months without answering any calls. If you wish to join our Scheme, contact Lyndsey for an Application Form.
To get a better understanding of how it all works, why not take our no obligation free trial? We aim to have you up set-up on our system within 30 minutes of receiving your completed sign-up form (www.callteam.co.uk/).
Below are some lovely words our clients have to save about our service…
“Diverting my phone to Call Team is one of the best business decisions I have made. It means that I can concentrate on the work in hand and knowing my calls are being handled in a professional manner”.
“As a Work at Home Mum I find Call Team invaluable in handling calls when I am on the school run or in client meetings. I am passionate about presenting a professional image and Call Team preserves my reputation as an efficient and organised VA”.
“If you don’t want to lose business as a result of lost calls, then you need Call Team. It is that simple!”
“The team are reliable, professional and I would not (and my business would not) be without them”.
“Call Team works seamlessly with my company to ensure that clients and potential clients are dealt with promptly and efficiently”.
“I feel as a customer you go that extra mile and provide a first class, professional, efficient and friendly service”.
I’m a prime example of the benefits of using Call Team. I’m actually away on holiday as I type this (ok, I’m having a quick half an hour on the web whilst hubby takes the boys to get something from the shop – so you haven’t seen me ok?)
One of the main reasons for going on holiday is to de-stress. If you take your mobile on holiday and forward your business calls to it you end up stressing about whether you’re going to miss any calls whilst you’re at the pool or when the boys are in noisy play mode or when you’re ‘oot n aboot’ (yes, we’re holidaying in Scotland!)
To guarantee an element of de-stressing I have all my business calls answered by Call Team because I know that they’ve more than a smidgeon of common sense and healthy amounts of professionalism in order to convey a professional impression when they answer calls on my behalf.
This means I can literally switch off… rest, have fun, be with my kids and hubby and enjoy myself.
Having both my calls and my client’s calls answered by Call Team is one of the best business decisions I ever made. It isn’t a luxury or ‘nice to have if you can afford it’ service. It is an essential service.
Don’t think you can afford it? Consider this – I can’t afford NOT to have my calls answered because I can’t afford to lose business. Can you?
As the owner of a small business and as the mother of two young children I cannot stress enough how important it is to have your business calls answered in a professional manner.
I used to have just an answer phone for my business calls and I can’t tell you how often the phone would ring only for people to hang up without leaving a message. At the time I couldn’t answer the phone as one of the children was playing up. I then moved to a call answering service and I must say this particular company I was not impressed with, not only did they not answer my calls correctly, I even got messages for people with a completely different company name, but they also messed up a few of my clients calls as well.
I then decided to leave them and was so pleased when Lyndsey McKendry set up Call Team. I have known Lyndsey for years and I knew that if she was to set something up, it would be set up correctly.
I am pleased to say that Call Team have been handling my calls for almost a year now and I have never looked back. It was one of the best decisions I made as a business. My children are now at nursery and school so I don’t need to use a call answering service as I did before, but I still do as it means I can concentrate on the work I need to do without interruptions, I then call clients back when I am free.
I can also attend networking events, meetings, go on holiday, school run and sports days without the stress and worry of missing a clients call. These are all emailed to me and I can read them on my Blackberry whilst out and about and decide whether to action then straightaway or if they can wait until my return.
I am also pleased to have clients who use Call Teams services as well. The feedback is fantastic with my clients loving the service and freedom it gives them in their business. It allows them to spend time doing what they do best.
Call handling services are good for busy business schedule as it helps to pick the calls when you are not available. It forward only important calls to you and fulfill the need of receptionist without occupying the space.