Hello.....

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GG

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Ft.Worth, T.X.
How many of you answer your own phone? I do and sometimes customers are taken back a litte, but I cant afford / dont want a receptionist. I was just wondering if answering my own phone seems amateurish to the customer on the other end of the phone. What do you guys think?
 
Re: Hello.....

GG I'm on a customer end and I hate having to go through a receptionist. When I call I want to talk to the guy that is going to be taking care of things. I get sick and tired of trying to explain what I'm after to a receptionist and then either never get a call back or get the wrong thing back because something was not understood when I talked to the receptionist. I pretty much feel that the job of the receptionist most employers put on them is to weed out the rif raf and nonsense calls. The contractors I work with have given me their personal cell phone #'s because we have established good working relationships, and I told them, when I need something I want to talk to them.
 
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If you're a one-man show, how else would you do business?

Not unprofessional at all. Anyone that snubs an EC for answering his own phone probably would be troublesome anyway.

Now quit slouching and finish your meatloaf. :D

-Mama

Edit Error-Suffix. :p

[ August 12, 2005, 07:21 AM: Message edited by: georgestolz ]
 
Re: Hello.....

Answering your own phone can be a disadvantage if you let it be. Some people like doing business with a large corporation because it makes them feel more secure ( name recognition) and others like the smaller mom and pop operation ( personalized service). If you try to promote your company as a large corporation then answering your own phone sounds phony. If you promote the idea of a small local business then the customer expects to talk to someone involved with the company. You have to use whatever you have as a positive. When you go on a service call yourself, let the customer know that they are getting an experienced master electrician. When you answer the phone you can use your experience to your advantage. Would you want a receptionist giving out quotes or trying to answer technical questions.
 
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I personally prefer either you would answer the phone or it went to voice mail. unless you are a fairly large company.

i do not like being call screened.
 
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My receptionist answers the phone and does a great job of screening the calls! IF YOU ARE A LEGIT call she will pass you on to me if need be. If you are calling to sell me a stock that's a great opportunity, I will ask if your brother, sister, mother, cousin already bought it from you. I really don't give a sh** how the weather is when you call and try to sell me electrical tape and wire ties or saw blades. My time is more valueable than that!!
If you are comfortable answering your own phone, there's your answer. Just answer it with courtesy and respect for the caller!
 
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If you were calling an EC you saw an ad for, would you bother leaving a message if it flipped over to voicemail? I'd hang up and keep calling the next one until someone live answered the phone. I'm too small to afford a receptionist, so I have my business line forwarded to my cell phone whenever I'm not stuck in the office doing paperwork, like today. :(

Plenty of people have told me they like how responsive I am. They know that when they call me, they will get the guy in charge and the guy who does the work on their house all in one shot.

[ August 11, 2005, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: jeff43222 ]
 
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I like the idea of having your calls forwarded to your cell phone, but my point was if you don't answer it, send it to your voice mail. Answering amchines sound very amaturish, and having your wife or kids take messages is a major turn off.

I don't mind waiting for a return call, especially from a small time operator. I know he has things going on and is not just sitting there at his desk 24/7 waiting for my call.

Email is even better as far as I am concerned in this repsect, but does have other disadvantages.
 
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Again taking the customer's viewpoint, the one thing that I despise the most, and it is (regrettably) getting much more common, is the menus within menus within menus (press 1 if you want . . . ). I want to talk with a human. A human who understands the question would be better still, but you can train a receptionist to understand enough of the language to take a useful message.
 
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Originally posted by charlie b:
Again taking the customer's viewpoint, the one thing that I despise the most, and it is (regrettably) getting much more common, is the menus within menus within menus (press 1 if you want . . . ).

Hear, hear!

I want to talk with a human. A human who understands the question would be better still, but you can train a receptionist to understand enough of the language to take a useful message.

This is precisely why I carry a cell phone when I'm not in the office. Anyone who calls gets to speak to a master electrician and scheduler as soon as the phone is answered.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Hello.....

Originally posted by GG:
How many of you answer your own phone? I do and sometimes customers are taken back a litte, but I cant afford / dont want a receptionist. I was just wondering if answering my own phone seems amateurish to the customer on the other end of the phone. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
I think I let the Mrs. answer the phone...alternately you could have the calls forwarded to your cell phone.
 
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We have 2 receptions in our office that answer the phones and transfer calls to my office or to my project manager.
People absolutely love to talk to someone live and more likely they will hire you instead of an answering machine.
 
Re: Hello.....

Originally posted by jeff43222:
They know that when they call me, they will get the guy in charge and the guy who does the work on their house all in one shot.
Click to expand...
How much does this inferfere with your work? I'm a relatively insignificant fellow, but my phone goes off a lot (sometimes once or twice an hour, sometimes more), halting progress while I deal with the caller. Usually it's the GC, or his assistant, or the guy trimming the house I roughed four months ago, or whatever.

I never need to write down appointments in my position, or detail the particulars of a bid--my calls usually take a minute, and I'm back to work.

How much does taking calls in the field as the master and EC affect your work?
 
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It's not too much of a disruption. In a perfect world, I'd only have to take phone calls when I'm in the office, but I don't have much choice. I generally don't get more than a few calls per day, so it's manageable.
 
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How do you feel answering a call if you are at the customers house or business. I answer my own phone and will admit if Im standing right there in front of the customer I will send the call to voice mail which I hate doing, but I dont see much of an option.
 
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I answer the phone in front of a customer or not. I try to be courteous and brief. Some of the time I explain that I'm with a customer and will call back in a few minutes. I often have customers that need to answer their phone in the middle of a conversation. The average homeowner doesn't mind but you have to watch out for the high powered business executive, they don't like to be interrupted. The only problem that I have is trying to talk while driving in heavy traffic and take notes. I try to find a place to pull off to the side of the road and be as safe as possible.
 
Re: Hello.....

We are a two man shop but we are primarily a telecom company so it's no big deal to have a full blown voice messaging system.

If I'm in the office I answer the phone myself. If I'm not callers get a menu where they are first asked if this is an emergency call and if so dial 5 then given the choice of sales, service and accounting.

When callers dial 5 they are taken to a special emergency mailbox. There they are prompted to leave a detailed message as well as their name and contact number and then told that a technician will be contacted immediately. As soon as they hang up the messaging system calls my cell phone and then I can listen to the message and decide whether it's legitimate and if so call them back.

I can of course check the messages in the regular mailboxes when it's convienient for me.

The important thing is that my cell number is never given out so I'm not constantly interrupted while working, talking with customers or driving with calls that are not urgent. If I want I can forward all calls sent to my extension directly to my cell but I only do that if I'm expecting an important call.

Of the people who have figured our system out every one has complimented us on how it makes us look much bigger than we really are. We have used this as a big selling point for companies who want to do the same.

Do we lose business because we don't have a live person answering the phone? Yeah, usually tire kickers and others who are just going through the book. I think most people today realize that, especially in our business you are not going to get an answer right away because few small companies can afford to have someone sitting in the office who is able to give you the information you want.

Now, at the other end of the spectrum, my buddy and fellow EC never carries his cell with him (leaves it in the truck) and has his one noisy residential line (so not even a business listing in the phone book) answered with a $20 answering machine.

-Hal
 
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