Keep Your Company Reputation Positive with a Phone Answering Service

Get the edge on your competitors by improving your company reputation. Using a call answering service can dramatically help your business' efficiency and increase your customer retention.

Good customer service is a major factor in repeat business, and is important in both retaining existing customers and acquiring new ones. Maintaining your customer base can be a difficult job when you are unable to provide the time or staff needed to man your customer service department, but that's where a phone answering service or call centre service can make a big difference.

Professional call handling creates a trustworthy and reliable reputation for your business, and enables your customers to find help, support and problem resolution when they need it. No one wants to wait on hold or get through to an automated phone service - what your customers appreciate is a friendly, knowledgeable, personal answer when they call your customer service line, and providing this can really improve your reputation and give you the edge over your competitors.

In the age of social media, customers are not shy about spreading the word about their customer service experiences, whether positive or negative, but they are much more likely to rant online about a bad one. This type of information is then publicly searchable when a new customer is looking into your business, and may sway their decision over whether to use your company or not.

For many customers, decent customer service is more important than low prices, and if you can guarantee your consumers will receive a better customer experience, they may be prepared to spend more with you than at a cheaper competitor. According to one report, companies with a strong customer service base can charge up to 9% more than their competitors, and grow their business twice as fast as the average.

Another pitfall of the digital age is the faceless interaction of e-commerce sites. You must excel in your customer service in order to make your online customers to feel valued, and to build personal relationships within your niche. That means providing efficient and competent call handlers when customers need to get in touch by phone, and a call answering service can ensure this no matter how busy or short-staffed you are.

At Zoom Answer Call, we believe that any and all businesses can be improved with a dedicated customer service department, and a large part of that is providingreliable phone answering services. Let us help your business to thrive and grow, and your reputation to improve, with professional call answering.

Keep Clients Happy and Boost Your ROI with Call Answering Services

A call handling service can be a integral part of your customer service, helping every aspect of your business run smoothly and boost your ROI. Customer services is a never-ending task that requires commitment and a perpetual smile... But it's worth the effort - efficient and effective customer service can keep your clients content and increase your sales, giving you an edge over local, national and global competitors. After all, no one returns to a company they have had a bad experience with, but excellent customer services creates loyal, lifelong clients.

If you think about it, everything in your business comes down to good customer service. Your front-of-house staff and call handlers are the first point of contact for new customers, provide information and support for existing customers as well as dealing with complaints and problems. Your customer service and sales departments are essential to your ROI and can make or break customer relations. There's no point investing in marketing and promotional plans if you don't have the proper resources to deal with your enquiries in an efficient manner.

Customers are fickle, impatient, and can be very vocal when things go wrong. If someone calls you and cannot get through immediately, or is directed to an automated answer service, or if the wrong person picks up and is not able to deal with the enquiry, nine times out of ten, the customer will take their business elsewhere. Missing calls loses you business. Dealing with a call unprofessionally loses you business. Leaving customers lost in a maze of "press 1 for XYZ" automated systems loses you business. On the other hand, having a dedicated call handling department for your customer services ensures that your company is always available, always polite, always knowledgeable and always giving the best service possible.

An easy and affordable way to keep ahead of your competition is to ensure that your customer services department is the best it can be. That means providing a committed in-house team of call handlers, or outsourcing to a professional call answering service like Zoom UK. The benefits of outsourcing include:

• Freeing up employees for other tasks
• Never needing to worry about staff absences, holidays or emergency cover
• Professional call handling whenever you need it
• Diary management and virtual reception services
• Call centre services
• A service so seamless that customers will never know your call handlers aren't in the office with you!
• Brochure sending, appointment making and message taking
• Quick and efficient call handling
• Call directing and diverting to the appropriate department
• No missed calls! No answer phone! No automated system!

Customers really appreciate a human response to their enquiries, and with our brilliantly efficient call handling team, they will also get the highest quality, polite response to each call they make. 

Try our free 7-day trial to see how Zoom UK call handling service can improve your business.

Improving Your Customer Service - Part 3

At Zoom Answer Call, customer service is one of our greatest strengths - we believe that your customers build your business, and it's important to treat each one as well as possible. If you need professional assistance to help boost your customer service department, our call answering services can help! Or if you're simply in need of a few pointers and tips to raise your customer service game a little, then read on... (You can also read part 1 and part 2 of our customer service series for more advice.)

1. Say "yes" whenever you can. This means finding a way to help your customers no matter what. If you can't do exactly as they ask, then offer a suitable alternative or compensation - the fact that you've tried to accommodate their request will serve as a big positive for your customer service reputation.
2. Know when and how to apologise. Sometimes things go wrong - everyone can understand that, and even the grouchiest customer can be appeased if you handle it the right way. Apologise, admit your error and - most importantly - deal with the consequences professionally and quickly.
3. Make things easy for your customers. This includes finding information, organisational systems, transactions, enquiries, returns and complaints. If your customers can't get hold of you, or become confused and frustrated trying to negotiate your system, website or customer service line, they will either become angry or simply give up. Keep a reliable human element in your business and make sure there's always help at hand for your customers. This may mean implementing a phone answering service to ensure that there is always someone professional and knowledgeable at the end of the phone.
4. Go above and beyond. How can you improve on your competition and give customers more? How can you offer a better and more reliable service? How can you surprise and delight your customers? A big part of this can come down to customer service - customers like feeling like they are valued and respected on an individual basis. Take the time to show your appreciation. Ask if there's anything else you can do. 
5. Train your employees well and include them in the daily workings and development of your customer services. Having happy and knowledgeable employees means that they will pass these benefits onto your customers. Show them the importance of your customer service department and work together to find ways of improving it.

We hope these tips have been of help to you and your business in improving your customer services. If you need practical help with customer service management, call answering services, a virtual reception,  seasonal cover and more, get in touch with us at Zoom Answer Call.

Improving Your Customer Service - Part 1

As a professional call answering company, we know the importance of good customer service - it's built into everything we do, every call we take, every customer we speak to. Whatever your industry, customer service is a necessary and integral part of your day to day business. Whether you work B2B or B2C, your customer services sets you apart from competitors, strengthens your reputation, and assists with new customer acquisition as news of your good deeds spreads via word of mouth. So long as your reputation is positive, of course...

If you need to improve your company's customer services, the following tips might help. In the first of a 3 part series, we're looking at some simple ways to revamp your approach to customer services:

1. Dedicate time and effort to your customer service department, no matter how small. Relegating customer services as a secondary responsibility means you will never stay on top of your enquiries or complaints. If you genuinely don't have the time or manpower to prioritise customer services, think about employing a call answering service to do it for you! Having a service like Zoom Answer Call means you never have to worry about a missed call or a forgotten enquiry. We have services to suit every style and size of business, and we offer a great range of additional benefits to help the day to day running of your company.
2. Know what your customers want. Invest in market research and tailor your products and services to really suit your customers' needs. The better you adapt your company to the specifics of your target audience, the better service you will provide. In turn, it will be easier for your customer services to respond to customers' requirements.
3. The customer is always right, and customer services are always polite. Remember that mantra, especially when dealing with a difficult customer! Even the most negative complaint or problem can be rectified with swift and reasonable customer services. The most important thing is to stay polite, stay calm and stay objective - if a customer is angry or irritated, don't take it personally. Try to see it from their point of view and imagine what you'd like to hear as a response. At Zoom Answer Call, our Zoomettes are professionally trained to handle all sorts of difficult calls and enquiries, and can help you to smooth problems and resolve issues in your customer service department.
4. Make yourself available 24/7. High on the list of customer service bugbears is not being able to get through to a representative, or getting stuck in a never ending labyrinth of automated responses. If you can't provide comprehensive customer services for your company, a call answering service can allow you to offer round-the-clock customer service to your clients and give you assurance that your business will always accessible.
5. Listen to your customers! Whenever you receive a customer call or enquiry, make sure you clearly understand what they are telling you. Identify their tone of voice and respond appropriately. Make a note of any information you are given so that you can easily refer to it later if necessary. Try not to make assumptions about what they want - instead, repeat back the core of what they've said to you to ensure you've got the message right. Good listening is the first step to genuine and effective customer service. After all, if customers don't feel like you've listened and understood them, they're going to end up frustrated and irritated.

For more tips on improving your customer services, stay tuned to our blog and we'll post part 2 and part 3 in this handy series soon.

How to Answer a Business Call Professionally

Are you answering your business calls professionally? The way we deal with customer calls makes a big difference to company reputation, customer retention and generally efficiency within your business. Have a look at the following checklist of how to answer a business call professionally to see if you make the grade. If not, you  might want to consider employing a professional call answering service to deal with your calls on your behalf! Our Zoomettes are friendly, responsive and highly trained, and will always answer your calls in a way that ensures your customer service experience is positive.

10 ways to keep your business calls professional:

1. Be polite! Even when faced with difficult customers or an awkward situation, remain unfailingly polite at all times and sometimes the most hostile of callers will come around in the end.
2. Think before you speak. Make sure your responses are accurate and work towards a positive customer experience. If you're unsure about an answer, find out before you give information to a customer.
3. Communicate clearly. Be honest and straightforward and ensure that both you and your customer understand what's going on, whether you're dealing with an enquiry, a transaction, or a complaint.
4. If you've made a mistake, apologise. Even if it isn't your fault, as a call handler, you are representative of your company and you need to make sure that wrongs are righted and your customers feel valued and responded to.
5. Use a good vocabulary. Using appropriate vocabulary not only appears more professional, but it helps you to communicate more effectively.
6. Say "please" and "thank you"! Good manners go a long way... Ask questions politely and thank your customers for their call, their enquiry or their purchase.
7. Repetition aids understanding. Sometimes repeating information back to a customer can help keep things clear, such as phone numbers, quantities, details of products or requests for information.
8. Be friendly and make each call personal. If you have details of an existing customer, let them know your company values their business and make them feel as if you have a personal business relationship.
9. Know what you're talking about! If you don't, it's better to be honest and admit you need to find out more to be able to answer a query properly. Don't be tempted to wing it and make something up or assume...
10. And finally: Make follow up checks at the end of the call. Is there anything else your customer would like to know? Is everything clear and understood? Is there anything else you can do for the customer? Are they satisfied with everything? The little details count and going that extra mile rather than a quick, "thanks, goodbye" can make all the difference.

Oh, and one final thing - our Zoomettes answer each and every call with a SMILE. For more information on professional call handling, call centre services and virtual reception services, get in touch with us at Zoom Answer Call UK.

Keep Your Company Reputation Positive with a Phone Answering Service

Get the edge on your competitors by improving your company reputation. Using a call answering service can dramatically help your business' efficiency and increase your customer retention.

Good customer service is a major factor in repeat business, and is important in both retaining existing customers and acquiring new ones. Maintaining your customer base can be a difficult job when you are unable to provide the time or staff needed to man your customer service department, but that's where a phone answering service or call centre service can make a big difference.

Professional call handling creates a trustworthy and reliable reputation for your business, and enables your customers to find help, support and problem resolution when they need it. No one wants to wait on hold or get through to an automated phone service - what your customers appreciate is a friendly, knowledgeable, personal answer when they call your customer service line, and providing this can really improve your reputation and give you the edge over your competitors.

In the age of social media, customers are not shy about spreading the word about their customer service experiences, whether positive or negative, but they are much more likely to rant online about a bad one. This type of information is then publicly searchable when a new customer is looking into your business, and may sway their decision over whether to use your company or not.

For many customers, decent customer service is more important than low prices, and if you can guarantee your consumers will receive a better customer experience, they may be prepared to spend more with you than at a cheaper competitor. According to one report, companies with a strong customer service base can charge up to 9% more than their competitors, and grow their business twice as fast as the average.

Another pitfall of the digital age is the faceless interaction of e-commerce sites. You must excel in your customer service in order to make your online customers to feel valued, and to build personal relationships within your niche. That means providing efficient and competent call handlers when customers need to get in touch by phone, and a call answering service can ensure this no matter how busy or short-staffed you are.

At Zoom Answer Call, we believe that any and all businesses can be improved with a dedicated customer service department, and a large part of that is providing reliable phone answering services. Let us help your business to thrive and grow, and your reputation to improve, with professional call answering.

Improve Your Customer Services With Call Answering Services

Using a call answering service can improve your customer service, customer retention, customer loyalty and give you the edge on your competitors. Customer service is the greatest asset to your business in terms of creating a solid customer base that will assist your company's growth and success. But many businesses simply don't have the the time or staff to devote the effort required to present their customers with reliable and efficient customer service. So what's the answer?

One option is to employ a phone answering service to ensure you never miss another call. Professional call answering from Zoom Answer Call allows you to relax, knowing that your calls are answered by friendly, knowledgeable call handlers, who can act as your customer service department around the clock.

Positive customer service reviews are a huge part of customer retention and acquisition, and have a heavy influence on your company's reputation, especially online. Developing a solid customer service base helps your customers to feel secure in their dealings with you, creating long-term relationships that go beyond a single sale or interaction. Well-trained, polite and knowledgeable customer service agents like our Zoomettes help to retain those customers and resolve issues or answer questions. Better customer satisfaction means positive word of mouth - the most effective form of marketing there is.

Building customer loyalty goes beyond simply creating repeat customers - loyalty from your consumers means positive growth in your company reputation, and a steady stream of revenue from a reliable customer base. Quality customer service must be consistent and needs to fulfil customer expectations and requirements to build trustworthy relationships between your business and your customers. A truly loyal customer is far more likely to sing your praises than a customer who has had a single good experience working with you.

Around 70% of customers say they would look to a company's competitor if they had a bad experience, and consumers are far more likely to speak out about a negative customer service experience than a positive one. According to one study, an unhappy customer will tell 8-25 people about their negative experiences, and this means face to face as well as via social media. Conversely, a good experience is only usually passed on to one or two other people. That might not seem like much, but considering the majority of our online purchasing is based on personal recommendation, it could be more powerful than you think. And remember, just one negative review can seriously affect your business' reputation and customer retention.

Ensure your company maintains its good reputation, or builds an even better one, by using Zoom Answer Call's professional phone answering service to keep your customers happy!

Are You Damaging Your Company by Using an Automated Telephone Service?

Does your business need a professional call answering service? Your company's phone line is the first port of call for the majority of your customers when looking for information, support or customer service. But is the way your business responds to these calls damaging your reputation and sales volume? As consumers become more accustomed to the instant gratification of the digital age, your efficiency in telephone answering and responding to queries is put under increased pressure.

One of the biggest customer service bugbears for consumers is calling a customer service line, only to be answered by an automated response. The maze of automated menus and diversion systems drives people mad, and usually generate one of three responses:

1) A frustrated customer who is angry and short-tempered by the time they get through to a real person.

2) A frustrated customer who tries to bypass the menu by pressing the zero or star key in order to get through to a real person, meaning they may not be through to the right person, meaning they are sent back into the maze...

3) A frustrated customer who gives up completely and hangs up the phone before they even get through to a real person.

Are you seeing the common theme? The customer is irritated, their query does not get answered and your company's reputation is damaged by word of mouth as the customer complains to their friends, family and co-workers about you. Even worse, the customer goes onto social media and publicly moans about your customer service, making this information available to anyone looking into your company's details.

Another potential reputation-killer is being on hold for too long. Customers don't want to wait - so don't make them. Being on hold for more than a minute or two creates - guess what? - a frustrated customer, and we know what kind of reactions to expect from them. Once again, consumers will often turn to social media to express their displeasure about their customer service - something that can be very damaging to your company reputation.

So what can you do to avoid these common phone answering pitfalls? Can you guarantee your customers will get through to a real person when they call your phone line? And can you guarantee your customers won't have to wait on hold to speak to someone? If the answer to either of these questions is 'no', then you seriously need to consider employing a call answering service to provide your business with a professional phone response team. 

At Zoom Answer Call, our Zoomettes answer every call quickly and expertly - with a smile. Our highly trained staff are able to manage, direct or route your calls, providing reliable customer services whenever you need it. Get in touch to find out more, or to try our 7 day trial, and never miss a call - or lose a treasured customer - again...

Virtual Reception Services

A reception is the first point of contact that your customers will reach when they call your company, but many companies find they don't really need a full time receptionist to transfer their calls. Diverting your calls to a virtual reception service can give you a more professional image by stopping calls being answered by anyone in the office and then bouncing around until it reaches the right person. Calls can be answered within the first few rings the same as if you had your own team of receptionists rather than waiting until any member of staff is free. We all know customers don't like waiting!

It isn't just a helpful service for smaller companies - if you often find that calls are still coming in during busy periods when all your receptionists are on calls, you can use the Zoom virtual reception service as an overflow to ensure that all calls are answered promptly. Whether you have lots of employees, or just a few, we can manage the contact information for all of them and make sure that we transfer calls seamlessly to the right person, even if they are out of the office! If they are unavailable, we can send a message to them via email, SMS or fax, whichever they prefer.

It doesn't matter that you are miles away from Zoom, your calls can be transferred seamlessly just as if we were in the office next to you. Just like your own receptionist would, we answer calls in your company name and always make sure we represent your company to the highest possible standard.

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!

The Importance of Training

Whatever career you are in, you almost definitely needed training to start with. If your job is simple, that training may have been a supervisor walking you through things for an hour, while for more complex job requirements you may need to spend years at university (doctors certainly need more than an hour or so of training!). Surprisingly, many employers don't feel that call answering skills require any training. Naturally, we at Zoom would disagree strenuously with that!

As an employer perhaps you feel that offering training is too expensive, or unnecessary as it is 'just answering the phone'. Unfortunately, lack of training is often the reason why employees fail to deliver the expected level of customer service. Both customer service and call answering are skills that need to be taught and practised; all our Zoomettes have extensive training, covering Customer Service NVQ Levels 1, 2 & 3.

As well as training our own staff, we also offer coaching for either individuals or groups on Competency, Attitude and Impression with regards to telephony skills. These are important skills to learn if you want your staff to handle calls in the best way possible, leaving your customers satisfied and seeing your company in the best possible light.

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”.

Your Brochures Need Never Be Late Again

You probably know by now that we offer call answering services for businesses, small and large, but some of our other services may have slipped under the radar. For example, did you know that we can send out your brochure for you?

Many incoming phone calls are simple requests for information, and other call answering companies will simply pass on that information along with the caller's number. This means you then have to call the customer to get their address, and then send out the brochure. That seemed like rather too many steps to us at Zoom, so we decided to shorten the process!

At Zoom, if we receive a call requesting information that is covered by your brochure, we can send it out for you! We will include your preferred letter and stationery which should be ready stamped with either 1st or 2nd class postage. That way, by the time you return the customers call, they are already familiar with your products, and your company comes across as much more seamless and professional.

That isn't all, not by a long shot. Here at Zoom, we truly believe that service is key, and that means the service we provide to both you and your clients. And we're flexible! If there is something else we can do to make your life a little easier, and your business run a little smoother, just call and ask!

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!

How to keep customer service on the agenda

Customer service is very important to your business, this may sound obvious, but it is often forgotten.

A company may recruit a telephone answering service or hire a call centre, then expect customer service to run itself. And the fact is, it doesn’t. Without consistent review, interest and attention, the customer service experience will degrade until management action is required.

The key to good customer service is to carry out the following activities consistently, by making them ongoing priorities and habit forming.

Keep talking about customer service so that it becomes central to your company culture. The simplest way is to keep it on your meeting agendas, and then the mindset will spread through the ranks and lead to decisions that will make a difference.

As a company, you need to stay hands-on and monitor customer service activities personally; you may like to hire a manager to oversee customer satisfaction and service. Yet you, as a company leader, should stay hands-on too. A good idea would be to visit call centres to talk with reps, answer the phones yourself for an hour a week, or visit clients personally to discuss their satisfaction.

Distribute customer service surveys and develop measurable benchmarks that you can follow. If 90% of your customers said that they were "extremely satisfied" with your customer service two months ago and that number fell to 75% this month, that tells you that you need to act. If you weren’t measuring, you would never know.

Have processes in place to assure that customer service remains an outgoing process, not just an incoming one. Your company representatives should talk to customers who recently bought from you, not wait to hear from them when something goes wrong. That makes the process proactive, not reactive, and dramatically increases overall customer satisfaction.

All your employees should be aware that they are in the customer service business and they play a critical role in pleasing customers. Talk to them about it often, enthusiastically, and personally.

Common Telephone Answering Myths

We all know good customer service when we experience it, but do we really know how to achieve it? Telephone answering can be a particular challenge when it comes to delivering excellent customer service as so many of the signs we use to read people's reactions are gone. We are left with only the tone of voice and the words used to figure out what the customer is feeling.

One common myth about delivering good customer service over the phone is that it has been achieved if everyone understands what has been decided and what will happen next. In actual fact, this is not effective communication. Good communication involves discussion rather than simply informing. Discussion helps build understanding on both sides, as well as comfort and commitment from the customer.

Another frequent mistake is to think that being frank is always the best policy. The difficulty is that what one person feels is frank, another person may find insulting. It is important to consider how you come across to other people.

Little changes to your telephone answering skills can make big changes to how your customers see you. At Zoom UK we are always striving to improve our telephone answering service and customer service skills.

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!