Annoying Voicemails? Not with a Zoomette on board!

There's nothing more annoying for a customer or a potential customer being left hanging on the other end of the line whilst the phone rings and rings eventually going to a cold automated voice mail service. When it comes to telephone manners first impressions count on the phone just as much as they do in a face to face situation. By using Zoom's answering call service you never need worry about the possibility of not getting to the phone in time or the danger of losing a customer because they preferred not to leave a voice message.

Our professional team of Zoomettes are your very own virtualreceptionists and will answer your calls efficiently, courteously and with a smile, leaving you to concentrate on other areas of the business. We offer a flexible cost-effective service that is there when you need it, whether you require your calls to be answered day and night or during standard business hours, having a phone answering service shows that you care in a world where time is valuable. Why not give us a try with our free 7 day no obligation trial and discover a whole new way of phone answering – get in touch on 0800 583 5020. 

Happy Staff Equals Happy Customers

Call answering services and call centres, as well as customer service roles in general, are an area in which the mood of the staff can easily affect the mood of your customers. This is why we work so hard to make sure our Zoomettes are happy and content in their jobs (which is why we have such a good staff retention rate!). So what can you do to keep your staff similarly happy?

• Front-line staff need to be empowered to make decisions where possible. It can be very frustrating if they need to refer too many things up the line to their manager. This will also lead to happy customers as no one likes being passed from pillar to post - it's much easier for them when they can sort everything out with one person.
• Breaks are important, particularly after difficult calls. Don't begrudge people needing to walk away from their desks so they can shake off the last call. Otherwise you run the risk of the stress from the last call affecting the next.
• Ensure your staff have access to food and drink - whether that's a vending machine or a kettle and some biscuits. Hunger or dehydration can easily make little issues feel big.
• Be an accessible manager - make sure your staff can come to you with any work issues they have.
• Give your staff the opportunity to share good and bad tips for dealing with customers. No one has a monopoly on the right way of doing things - we're constantly learning. Sharing things that have worked or things that haven't make life easier for the whole team.
• Have fun as a team - whether it's a special day out, a team lunch, or just 5 minutes silliness in the office.
• Make them a cup of tea! The little things all add up to help staff feel appreciated.

Maintaining High Standards

We understand the importance of our Zoomettes' skills, and are continually investing in them, both in terms of call answering training and client specific training. Investing in our team is the best way for us to make sure that our clients get exceptional service - this is the reason our clients stay with us as they aren't locked into a contract.

As well as recruiting our operators from customer service backgrounds, we also put them through Customer service Levels 1, 2 and 3. Then we work hard to keep them part of our team - team spirit and loyalty are key traits of our Zoomettes. Every time a new client comes on board, all our operators are given client-specific training to prepare them to handle the incoming calls. Clients are welcome to assist us in this training process in our Cambridge office - they can get to know the team and put faces to the names and voices.

Any company trades on its reputation, and investing in training for your staff is a crucial part of maintaining high standards. We are proud of our team of Zoomettes, and hope that our clients are too!

Moozings from Zoom - Case Study Orbit Sound

We are delighted to introduce our latest new client Orbit Sound; a British company that supplies high quality audio products with revolutionary spatial technology that includes the T12 V3 sound bar, a super-stylish standalone sound bar, and the T3, an ultra lightweight speaker. GfK NOP Market Research also recently named them as the “Number one best seller for the year, and the second largest growing market for consumer electronics.”

Orbit Sound was initially in need of an answering service as it wanted a system to handle its pre and post sales queries and process orders online. Zoom were able to offer a high quality efficient and ever friendly service with a focus on providing outstanding customer service that met and maintained the standards and requirements they desired.

Orbit Sound provided the ‘Zoomettes’ with one-2-one training enabling Zoom to give callers first line technical support and answering all post sales queries in addition to processing new customer orders directly on line and giving nearest retail advice.

Martyn Double, Technical Support Manager, Orbit Sound commented: “We now have a fully integrated customer support service thanks to Zoom Answer Call”.

Moozings from Zoom... Meet the Zoomettes!

We thought it time for you to meet the Zoomettes who handle your calls every day with a smile. 

Over the coming months we will be focussing on a different member of the Zoom team and this month we would like to introduce you to Lucy. 


Lucy Campbell-Gillingham



"Hi, my name is Lucy, and I am responsible for a number of different areas within Zoom. My primary role being a ‘Zoomette’ working on the front line delivering a friendly and efficient service to our clients but behind the scenes I’m also responsible for the training and development of all new starters. I was also recently given the opportunity to create and continue our new Quarterly Zoom newsletter and your comments and feedback on what you would like to see covered would be greatly appreciated."

"I also recently completed a certificate in business, and thoroughly enjoyed Marketing so am hoping to go on and complete a Chartered Institute of Marketing course."
 

Now Meet the rest of the Team





Ramma Dahl

Call Centre Zoomette



Mariette Boal
Call Centre Zoomette



Melanie Timms

Call Centre Zoomette

and Zoom Facebook Blogger



Helena Did-Dell
Call Centre Zoomette
And
Assistant Supervisor





Victoria Jenkins
Call Centre Zoomette



Jessica Dobbyne
Call Centre Zoomette



Jane Bavester
Call Centre Zoomette



Zoe Reynolds
Call Centre Zoomette



Chantelle Coxall
Call Centre Supervisor



Sarah Bellamy
Operations Director and
Second in Command!



Jane Cunnington
Sales Development Manager











Who Are The Zoomettes?

Our Zoomettes are the core of our call answering service. As a company, we invest heavily in their personal development and training - each operator undergoes Customer Service NVQ Levels 1,2 and 3. So naturally, once their training is complete, we do everything we can to keep hold of them! For you this means that not only do you get exceptional customer service from our staff, but you don't find yourself with someone new answering your calls every month.

Along similar lines, all the people who will be answering your calls will have received client specific training to prepare them to deal with your incoming calls. You can even visit us in our Cambridge offices to talk to them in person about your business.

Outside of work us Zoomettes like to enjoy ourselves, and socialise together. We go on outings as a company, celebrate each other's milestones (weddings, babies...), and we liven up our days in the office with the odd fancy dress day, and the occasional practical joke!

Dealing With Difficult Callers

While we do answer every call with a smile on our face, we cannot guarantee that every call will be a happy one. Call answering services like ours quickly build up experience with dealing with many different types of callers. We like to think that we keep the majority of our callers happy, but sometimes a caller will already be irate about an issue they are experiencing before they make the call. It is our job to handle that caller in such a way that they are satisfied with the way things are moving forward, even if all we can do is pass the message on to the right person.

It is obviously crucial that we can identify callers who are annoyed as only then can we be aware that we need to handle their call more carefully than usual. While some callers are obviously angry and speak loudly and abruptly, many people become icily polite when they are really upset, so it is important that our Zoomettes don't mistake this for 'normal' politeness!

The best way we have found of dealing with upset callers is to really listen to what they're saying and give them a chance to get their issue off their chests. At the same time, honesty really is the best policy, so if we don't know the answer to their question, we will say so! Instead we will tell them what we will do, whether that is put them through to the right person, or get a message to the person they need to speak to.

Calls We Can't Help With

Here at Zoom, we are experts in call answering. Our Zoomettes have the skills to take hundreds of phone calls a day, and still be happy and smiley for each one. Our message taking abilities are second to none. However, there are things we can't do for you, as much as we'd like to help.

Certain holidays, such as today, Mothering Sunday, throw into the light that which we can't do. We can take a message from your mother and send it on to you via text or email, or however you want. We can smile when we talk to her and remain friendly. But we can't make sure you call her back, or wish her Happy Mother's Day! This is why it's a team effort; we take the calls, divert them to you when we can, or take messages, and then you call them back. On most days of the year, your mother is probably more patient than your clients, but on Mother's Day, a missed call could put you in her bad books!

Our customer service skills are an area we are rightly proud of, so we will always remain professional, but if we are having to take messages from people for you, whether it's your mother or an important client, it is important that you do your part and call them back. We like to think we are good at dealing with angry customers, but there is no need for them to be angry just because they haven't been called back! Check out the telephone tips section on our website if you need any tips in making or taking phone calls. And make sure you call your mum...because what's worse than an angry customer? An angry mum!

Call Answering Tips

There are a variety of skills involved in telephone answering, and delivering good customer services. Our Zoomettes have years of training and experience in this, so are well placed to offer you some tips. It doesn't all come as naturally as you might think!

Active listening - imagine you are listening to someone explain something to you in person. What do you do? Do you stand there giving them no response whatsoever? Probably not! Even if you don't vocalise anything, chances are your head is nodding, or tilting, your eye brows raising, and you may even be mouthing words without sound. Much of that will not transmit over the phone, so you need to translate it into audio. A simple 'mmhmm', 'oh', 'yes' or 'right' lets the customer on the end of the phone know you are still there and you are still paying attention. Total silence over the phone worries people as they can't be sure you haven't put them on hold, or even just ignoring them!

Fill the silence - similarly, if you need to do anything that leads to prolonged silence, you should have a few uncontentious questions to ask ("did you have a good weekend") so that there isn't a silence lasting longer than about 10 seconds. You do need to be careful that you don't end up babbling or sounding nervous - you want to portray the image of a friendly, confident company!

Try Our Call Answering Services For Free

We are so confident in the call answering skills of our Zoomettes that we will give you a free seven day trial so you can make your own mind up. We offer a range of call answering services, all delivered with exceptional customer service by our team of fully trained telephone operators. If you would like to see us in action, we offer a 7-day free trial, with no strings attached!

The process is simple. Just call us and we will discuss the way you would like your telephone calls answered, how you would like the calls dealt with, and how you want us to deliver your messages. Whatever your call answering needs, we can cater for them. Calls can be put through to you wherever you are, or messages can be taken and emailed or texted to your mobile. Then all you need to do is transfer your calls to us and your 7-day free trial can start.

At the end of the trial we will send you a report breaking down the costs, together with a monthly estimate based on your week’s calls. We're sure you will see the benefit of the service, so if you are ready to continue you can sign up on our website.

Body language matters, even when answering the telephone

Telephone call answering services take great note in making sure their staff are aware of their body language at all times.

When talking face to face, statistics indicate that only 7% of the message is conveyed and understood by the words used, 38% is conveyed by the way the words are spoken and 55% by body language. Of course when the conversation is over the telephone the body cannot be seen, making it easier for misunderstandings to occur.

Whether we are angry or happy, it is shown by our facial expression, and the movement of those muscles will affect the sound of the voice. When we smile our voice is lighter & when we feel anger the voice will be deeper, also the pace may be faster than normal.

When speaking on the telephone your body language still reflects your mood and feelings. The position of your body has a fundamental effect on how words sound, and breathing patterns play a major role in how words are spoken. Restriction happens as soon as you sit down due to our normal reaction of lowering our head and shoulders. Unfortunately, when your shoulders and chin are dropped the words are more muffled. Tone, pitch and pace of the voice are all affected by body language, which as a result can cause the words spoken to be interpreted wrongly.

Be aware of your body language, the way you sit or stand when on the telephone, and your breathing patterns. They all affect how you speak. Body language does matter on the telephone if we want to send messages that are correctly understood. This is why our Zoomettes always smile when we answer.

Give Your Customers the Service You Would Like

When thinking about how you can deliver the best service to your customers, you should consider what you feel good customer service really is. Where does it start? If you trace a client’s experiences of your business from first point of contact through closing the deal to delivering your service and the final contact, you need to aim to make every point as pleasant an experience as possible.

A telephone answering service can help with the first three points by making sure that every time a client or a potential client calls they hear a happy, friendly voice. The Zoomettes always smile when we answer a call, and we are always eager to help the caller. We never take a caller for granted just because they are already a client – every caller is treated as we would treat our own customers. You can test us on this just by calling!

Even your last contact with a client should leave them thinking positively of you. It is always a good idea to ask them what they thought of their whole experience with you, whether it was positive or negative. Feedback is useful in improving your service – if you don’t know what’s wrong, you can’t fix it.

Behind the Scenes of a Telephone Answering Service

At Zoom we take a great deal of pride in delivering an outstanding telephone answering service, and it's all thanks to our staff (the Zoomettes) that we have achieved that. We feel very strongly that a crucial component of delivering great customer service is having happy staff, and we work hard to keep them that way!

Our Zoomettes have all been recruited from customer service backgrounds, and are used to delivering the highest quality service before they even start working for us. Once they start, we invest heavily in their personal development and training, putting them through customer service NVQs levels 1, 2 and 3. After all that training we don't want them to go anywhere else - and we must be doing something right as we have one of the highest rates of staff retention in the industry.

One of our selling points is that we always answer the phone with a smile, but a smile that can be heard in your voice is about more than just exercising the right muscles. We work hard to foster a happy, friendly atmosphere within the team and firmly believe that it makes a difference to how we sound on the telephone. And it benefits us too! When work is a fun environment everyone is keen to start work every day, and is always motivated deliver the best customer service.

It's not all about work though...building team spirit is also about having fun together! The Zoomettes have played practical jokes on each other, celebrated births and weddings together, dressed up in fancy dress at work, and even sky-dived together for charity. It all helps ensure we sound happy and friendly on the telephone - because that's how we are!