Short staffed... Never again !

Finding yourself short staffed can be stressful and reduces the efficiency of your business as you try to pick up the slack. Whether your staff are on sick leave, maternity leave, or annual leave, there's no need to suffer from being short staffed or attempt to take on more work than you can handle to compensate. A call answering service can save you from stress and provide a dedicated and reliable back up for busy periods or the holiday season. When you're short on staff, the first thing to suffer is your call management - incoming calls get ignored, missed, or badly handled by untrained staff, and your customer satisfaction suffers as a result. Having the reassurance of a call management company like Zoom means that you can focus on your work without worrying about the front desk.

Temporary call management cover is available on a one-off short term basis, or you can choose to schedule your business phone cover for certain times of the year when you know you'll need the extra hands. Times when you might need cover include:

• Christmas, summer holidays, and public holidays
• Unexpected sick days or extended sick leave
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Staff training 
• Technical emergencies and line faults

Whatever the size of your company or the nature of your business, Zoom UK's professional call handling team can be flexible and adaptable according to your changing requirements. You can try out our services for free with a 7-day trial - just give us a call and we'll have you set up within ten minutes! Don't risk losing custom because you're short staffed; give your customers the best possible service 24/7 with a professional call handling management company. 

Call Diversion and Virtual Reception Services for Your Business

When you're hard at work, there are times when you just can't get to the phone, or don't want to be disturbed - wouldn't it be great to be able to just press a button and divert your call to a ready and waiting professional call handler? Oh right, you can do exactly that with Zoom Answer Call's diversion service! When you divert your calls to a call answering service from Zoom Answer Call, you can relax, knowing that you'll never miss a call again - whether your incoming calls are going straight to our professional team, or whether you decide to send an extra call through to us using your personal call diversion service. 

You have complete control over your call diverting - deciding how often or how little you divert calls to our Zoomettes. Incoming calls can be diverted to Zoom by activating the call diversion system from your phone keypad and are totally undetectable for the customer. We can set up your call diversion to be controlled in a number of ways, including:

• Automatic diversion after four rings to make sure your call is answered swiftly if you can't reach the phone in time
• Automatic diversion when the line is engaged so that your customer never hears an engaged tone
• Divert all calls for when you're out of the office, in a meeting, or simply are too busy to answer the phone!
• Manual diversion via your telephone keypad when you are unable to take a call

You'll receive a unique divert number that allows you to control your incoming calls when you're in the office, at home, or out and about. Missing calls costs your business money - never miss another enquiry with a team of dedicated Zoom call handlers waiting to answer your calls! Zoom's divert system works much like a virtual reception service - providing your business with a committed presence to handle every single call that you receive and ensuring they go to the right person as quickly as possible. For sales, enquiries, customer service, appointments, advertising, marketing, recruitment or technical support - Zoom are there for you to make sure you never miss another call.

Business Call Management and Call Centre Services for Large Companies

Managing your phones is an essential part of running any business, but is especially important for larger companies with numerous departments. Missed calls mean lost sales, irritated customers and a bad reputation, so call centre services might just be the perfect option for your business if you're struggling to keep on top of enquiries and orders.

Zoom UK offers a range of call management services for businesses of all sizes, and our call centre services are ideal for larger businesses to enable you to stay on top of marketing campaigns, incoming orders, technical support, and seeking new leads. With Zoom, you can tailor your call services according to your needs, including:

• Telephone answering
• Virtual reception service
• Call centre services
• Sales and enquiry answering
• Order processing
• Recruitment campaigns
• First-level technical support lines
• Non-geographical numbers (0800, 0845 or 0870)
• Brochure/information sending
• Holiday cover
• Tele-marketing and advertising
• Diary management 

Our Zoom operators work with your staff and your company processes to make your business run more smoothly, wherever and however you need us! Your customers will have no idea that you have outsourced your phone answering but they will certainly notice the ease of doing business with you and the polite and efficient manner of your call handlers!

Providing a high quality phone answering service for your company does a huge amount of benefit to your overall company reputation as well as your day to day performance. For sales, we can process orders and take payment details over the phone using your website facilities; for technical support, our operators are your first point of contact for customers, and will gather the information needed to pass them onto the correct advisor; for marketing and advertising, we can collect information and respond to customers making enquiries, passing this data onto you for your reports; for general support and assistance, virtual receptionists and diary planners can help your operations to run seamlessly - even at your busiest times. 

Try our seven day free trial to see how Zoom Answer Call can improve your business performance and make your work life easier! Call 0800 583 5020 and we'll have you up and running in a few minutes.

How to Improve Customer Retention

Customer retention is just as important (if not more important) than customer acquisition, and it comes down to how efficient your business process is - especially in sales. If doing business with you isn't straightforward, fast, effective and worthwhile, your customers will go elsewhere. Similarly, if your customers encounter a problem and you are not able to adequately handle the situation, they'll leave with a negative view of your company. 

Improving customer retention needn't mean massive changes to your business - most of the tips you'll find below are basic common sense but will ensure your customers are encouraged to stay a loyal member of your business community and keep coming back to you.

• Use enticing and positive vocabulary that promise good value, exclusivity and novelty. Free gifts, special deals, new ranges, instant service - all these suggest a great deal and encourage customers to make that purchase.
• When dealing with reluctant customers or conservative spenders, reassuring words may help with your sales approach. Re-frame your speech to appeal to thrifty customers and show them how they will be saving money by choosing certain options.
• Always answer the phone with a smile and maintain a polite and professional demeanour throughout your call. Our Zoom call handlers are experts in the art of the business phone call and offer great customer service whenever they pick up the phone.
• Reciprocate and go above and beyond for your customers to show that you are committed to them. If loyal customers are rewarded, they'll continue to give you repeat business. Giving back to customers doesn't need to be costly - small gestures and little personal touches can be more effective than a large deal if you make your customer feel as if this deal is purely for them.
• Personalised service really goes a long way. Collect information on your customers whenever you do business with them and show them that you are keeping track of your business relationship and aren't simply just another name on a list.
• Make sure your service runs smoothly, your processes are quick and trouble free, and your calls are always directed to the right person as quickly as possible. Fast and efficient business does wonders for your customer retention!
• Make it easy for customers to find support when they need it. A dedicated support team is just as essential as your sales team. When customers feel frustrated and ignored, their experience will taint their entire business transaction.

For help providing your customers with top quality service, let the Zoom team help you with your phone management services and watch your customer service retention increase!

Business Phone Answering Dos and Don'ts

The way your business handles its calls can make or break your company. At Zoom Answer Call we offer professional call handling and phone management services that can really make a difference to your sales, your customer retention and your business growth.

Have a look at our dos and don'ts for handling your business calls and see how many you achieve and avoid - and if you're scoring more heavily in the 'don't' department, maybe it's time to give us a call!

Business Call Handling Dos:

• Do answer all your calls as quickly as possible, preferably within the first three rings;
• Do smile when you pick up the phone - it's nice to feel like someone is pleased to receive your call;
• Do introduce yourself and identify your company when you answer;
• Do speak clearly and politely; 
• Do repeat and reiterate details where necessary;
• Do keep accurate records of existing customers and refer to their previous interactions so they know you are on the same page;
• Do take accurate messages and act on them swiftly;
• Do transfer calls to the right person or department as quickly as possible;
• Do go the extra mile - customers really appreciate a call that answers all their queries;
• Do focus on the conversation - if you allow distractions or boredom to cause your mind to wander you'll find yourself in an awkward situation or you'll miss a vital piece of information;
• Do follow up any messages or call backs within one business day;
• Do ask before you put someone on hold - it's the phone equivalent of turning your back on someone;
• Do make sure any answerphones provide basic information that callers might need;
• Do offer a consistent approach to phone answering - each operator should handle calls in the same way and in the same manner. 

Business Call Handling Don'ts:

• Don't allow noise and disruption when answering calls;
• Don't be impatient or brusque - even if you're stressed and busy. If you're finding it hard to politely deal with calls then it's definitely time to call in some professionals to do it for you!
• Don't use slang, overly informal language or 'fillers' such as 'like', 'you know', and 'uh huh';
• Don't use negative language or speak rudely to customers on the phone;
• Don't pretend you know the answer or guess - ALWAYS find out before you give a customer the answer to a question you don't know, even if it means offering to call them back or putting them on hold;
• Don't lose your temper! 
• Don't forget to call customers back if you need to follow up on something;
• Don't keep customers on hold for more than a minute or two, or send them round a neverending cycle of automated button-pressing;
• Don't guess when writing down names and addresses you're not sure how to spell - ask the customer to spell it out for you and make sure it's accurate;
• Don't use a speaker phone - they're hard to hear and sound unprofessional;

Phone answering skills are so important for businesses, whether you're a tiny start up or a multi-national company! Your incoming and outgoing calls are a fundamental part of your customer acquisition and retention, so it's worth making the effort to make your call handling as high quality as possible. If you're finding it difficult to keep on top of your business calls then let us do it for you! Our Zoom operators are experts in customer service and can help your company to run smoothly and efficiently while you get on with managing everything else!

10 Reasons to Rely on Zoom Call Answering Services

We take your business seriously at Zoom Answer Call - every client and every company has their own specific needs and we tailor each of our call management services to suit your requirements. So why choose Zoom for your call handling? Well, here are our top ten reasons why we think our telephone operators are the best in the business:

1. We invest in the training and personal development of every single Zoom operator, ensuring that they achieve levels 1 to 3 in customer service NVQs. 

2. Our operators have specific skill sets that can be applied to different phone answering services such as virtual reception, brochure sending, appointment making, sales, and technical support.

3. We provide our Zoom call handlers with client-specific training so that they can provide seamless services for your company - your customers won't be able to tell the difference! We actively encourage our clients to come and take part in this process so you know your operators are trained in the skills they'll need to represent your  business.

4. We recruit our operators from customer service backgrounds so they have plenty of experience and expertise even before we turn them into high-quality Zoomers and Zoomettes!

5. We have one of the highest staff retention rates in the industry! Our operators enjoy what they do and it shows when they answer your calls with a smile.

6. Our Zoom operators have a great team spirit and are local to our clients, meaning that your company will have a real asset of committed and dedicated additional staff when you need extra help on your phone lines.

7. Zoom Answer Call has grown through our excellent reputation and high-quality service. We started with just two zoomettes (who are still with us, over 10 years later!) and now have served thousands of happy customers, answering over a quarter of a million calls! We won the Action International Business of the Year in 2006 for most improved customer results over one year.

8. We offer a FREE seven-day trial of our call handling services so you can see what an effect our phone management service can have on your business.

9. We have a 24 hour live service, offering your customers the ability to speak to a real person seven days a week, including bank holidays!

10. We don't lock our clients into contracts - they stay with us because they love us and they find such value in our service! 

Ready to start your journey with Zoom Answer Call yet? Give us a ring on 0800 583 5020 or read more about our professional business call handling services and all we've achieved over the last ten years at our website. 

Tips for Professional Call Handling

When you're answering the phone to clients and customers, it's important to retain a professional attitude at all times - but that doesn't mean being cold or overly formal. Think about how you'd like to be treated when calling an enquiry line, customer services or technical support.

Providing a friendly but professional response to your business calls helps to make each enquiry count - it's what turns a call into a sale, or a complaining customer into a happy one. Here are a few tips from our professional call answering team on how to give your clients a great experience when calling your business:

• Remember to say "hello". Taking a few moments to greet your caller and ask how they are can dramatically affect the rest of the call. Every caller is an individual and deserves to be treated as such - it doesn't take much to be polite with a simple hello!
• Quality wins over quantity when it comes to call handling. It's far better to leave your customers feeling good about your company (even without making a sale) than feeling as if they were rushed off the phone or dismissed. Especially when generating leads, quality call answering can make a massive difference to your conversion rate.
• Have the right information at the right time. When a customer calls to ask a question, they don't want to be passed round to several different departments or end up on hold. Ensure that your call network takes your caller to the right person as quickly as possible. Our phone answering services can provide an information gathering service to determine the best department to direct each call to and simplify your operation, keeping your customers as happy as possible!
• SMILE! You really can hear the difference when a call handler answers with a smile! Our Zoom call agents answer each and every call with a smile and a friendly, polite attitude. Starting each phone call with a positive spin helps us to provide the very best call handling service we can, passing on our great customer service to your clients.

Call centre services

Call centres require a high level of professionalism and productivity to perform well. We offer call centre services by diverting your calls to our sales agents in order to help you to increase your leads, stay on top of your enquiries and keep your customers happy! Zoom Answer Call can also assist you with recruitment campaigns, marketing drives, processing orders and providing technical support to your clients. Whatever type of call centre services your business requires, get in touch with Zoom to see how we can help.

For businesses needing additional call handlers for their sales and enquiries, we can ensure that you never miss a call. Working with your existing ordering facility, we can create a process to enable our agents to answer sales enquiries and take orders smoothly and efficiently. All the information we gather will be sent to you via email, text, or fax instantly so that every part of your operation works together in sync.

If it's technical support your customers need, we are able to provide staff to gather information about each client's problem in order to forward the call to the right person. This process helps to save time and ensure that your customers find the help they need without becoming frustrated by long wait times, automated menus or unanswered calls. 

If you need an 0800, 0845 or 0870 number, we can help you to set up an advertising campaign and collect information from each call to provide you with a detailed and customised report for your service.

Get in touch with us for more information on our call centre services or try our 7-day free trial today to find out how Zoom Answer Call can make a difference to your business' efficiency!