Choosing The Right Phone and Voice Mail System

Choosing The Right Phone and Voice Mail System

by: Jason Morris

Phone and voice mail systems can be pretty costly, even for companies with a low number phones. Before investing in any type of phone system or voice mail system, you need to estimate how much your company is likely to expand over the next few years and if possible how many phones you may require. Failure to do this could cost you or your company a lot of money in upgrade and restructuring costs further down the road. It is better and cheaper to plan and allow for expansion at an early stage, than wait until it is too late.

If you plan to remain under ten phones then I would recommend you invest in a KSUless phone system. Basically these look like normal phones that carry all the technology and software needed to run a small phone system of up to four lines and eight to twelve extensions. These systems incorporate many of the features that full PBX phone systems offer (though not voice mail). So be sure to check with your supplier what features are available on these types of phone systems. These systems are relatively cheap compared to other types of phone systems. They are also easy to install, so can be quickly relocated to another office or building. This type of phone systems usually arrive as a boxed product that is installed by you, and carries a manufacturer’s warranty. You will have to make enquiries with your vendor as to the level of after sales support that is available. You may find it is much less than if you had purchased a larger more expensive phone and voice mail system. One major disadvantage of KSUless phone systems, is that they cannot integrate separate voice mail systems. If you do choose to purchase one of these KSUless phone systems, then you will have to use a voice mail service that is offered by your telephone company.

If you decide that you must have a fully featured voice mail system, and can confidently predict your company will expand beyond ten phones within next few short years, then you will be better off investing in one of the fully featured KSU phone systems on the market. These phone systems are typical in companies with around ten to forty users. Some suppliers may recommend installing something called a Hybrid phone system. These systems are ideal for small to mid sized companies of about fifty to a hundred employees, and offer many of the features much larger PBX phone systems offer.

Below is a check list for when you are selecting a new phone and voice mail system and supplier:

1. Try to estimate how much your company will grow in the next three to five years. Look at how many lines and extensions you have at the moment and decide how many your company may require in the future.

2. Contact potential phone systems suppliers, and arrange an appointment with them for a full demonstration. A number of these can be sourced off the internet or through your local business pages. This will also give them a good opportunity to have a look at you and evaluate your potential requirements. Remember to ask them about their experience and if necessary ask for referrals. You could even ask to see a phone and voice mail system they have recently installed.

3. Make sure you decide on a rough budget for your proposed new telephone and voice mail system. Ask around other businesses of similar size, what amount they have invested in their phone systems.

4. When potential suppliers provide you with a quote for your new phone and voice mail system, go through them carefully, ensuring they include all of the requirements your business will need. These may include extras like; Full voice mail capability, additional handsets, call handling software, automated attendants, service level agreements (SLA’s) and any other additional features.

5. Once you have decided on one or two suppliers, it is time to get them back round. Remember, they want your business. Bearing in mind the budget you decided earlier, make your decision based upon not only price, but which supplier you think can provide your company with the best service before, during and after the installation of your new phone and voice mail system. Any good potential supplier will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the phone system they intend to supply and install for you.

Thanks for reading.

About The Author

Jason Morris is coauthor, search engine optimization and marketing consultant of http://www.businessphonesystemsdirect.co.uk Specialists in the supply and installation of business phone systems and accessories. Visit our site now and get a free quotation on a quality Business Phone System.

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 06

by Jason Morris

Is Your Business Making These Mistakes When Custom

Is Your Business Making These Mistakes When Customers Contact You?

by: Peter Geisheker

In this marketing article I would like to discuss the importance of presenting your business in a professional manner when customers and sales prospects contact you.

The first thing I want you to do is think to yourself, กIf I were a customer contacting my business, what would I think of this business? Would I think this is a friendly and professional business with great service or would I think it was unprofessional and a bit of a joke?ก

I ask you to go through this exercise because from my experience of working with clients on improving their sales and marketing programs, many businesses are presenting themselves in a very unprofessional manner and they are losing sales because of it.

Here are some guidelines for providing your customers and sales prospects with a professional experience when they contact you:

1. Answer your phone in a friendly and professional manner and say the name of your company. Don’t answer your phone by saying, ‘this is Mike.ก Instead, say, กHello, this is Mike with XYZ Corp. How may I help you today?ก

2. Do everything possible to make sure your phone is answered by a live person. In today’s fastpaced world, people want instant gratification. If a prospect is ready to buy and calls your business and nobody answers the phone, your prospect will probably go to your competition and buy from them. How many times have you gone through the phone book to purchase a product or service and kept calling different companies until you got a live person on the phone? I do it all the time. If you are not answering your phone, you are losing sales.

3. If you are unable to answer your telephone, you better have voice mail. Nothing is more unprofessional and irritating than calling a business and the phone just rings and rings and there is no voice mail. If you do not have voice mail, shame on you! Immediately stop reading this article and call your phone company and get voice mail.

4. Check your voice mail often and return phone calls quickly. If you want to make more sales, do everything you can to return phone calls quickly. And by quickly I mean in under 2hours. If you wait a day or two to return a prospect’s call, you have probably lost that sale and the only one to blame is YOU.

5. Have a fax machine. It makes your business look very unprofessional when a customer wants to send you a fax and you have to tell them to send it to your local copy shop (or not to send it at all) because you don’t have a fax machine.

6. If you have a website, use your website’s domain name for all employee email addresses. Businesses that are using hotmail, yahoo or aol email addresses look unprofessional. If you do not have a website and you are forced to use a yahoo, hotmail or aol email address, at least use something that looks professional. Using กhotgirl28ก at email.com is horribly unprofessional. You may laugh and say nobody would do that but I see it all the time.

About The Author

Peter Geisheker is CEO of The Geisheker Group. (http://www.geisheker.com). The Geisheker Group is a marketing firm that specializes in developing strategic marketing and advertising programs. Our passion is helping our clients attract new customers and increase sales.

This article was posted on September 13

by Peter Geisheker

Breaking The Voice Mail Barrier

Breaking The Voice Mail Barrier

by: C.J. Hayden

Even if you never place a cold call, you still have to reach people by phone. That customer who was so interested last month never called you back, and now you must call her. You call once, twice, three times, but you can’t get her in person. How can you manage to close a sale if all you ever get is voice mail?

Doing business in the age of voice mail can be extremely frustrating. While it is true that some people leave their voice mail on all the time, you can sometimes get through by calling off hours. Try calling before 8:30 or after 5:30. You may also find people at their desks during the lunch hour.

So should you keep calling or leave a message? Actually, you should do both. Assume that most people won’t call you back, so just keep right on calling them.

Josiane Feigon, principal of the telesales training and coaching company, Telesmart Communications (www.telesmart.com), suggests that you try pressing ก0ก or ก0ก# to transfer to the receptionist. That way you can verify that the person you are trying to reach is still in the same job position, and find out

when they are expected to be in.

Whether you reach your prospects or not, never make them wrong for not returning your calls. Rather than saying, กI haven’t heard from you,ก let them know you are eager to speak with them, and wanted to try again while you were in your office. Feigon recommends, กAs a rule, try not to leave any more than three voice mail messages over a 10day period of time and then lay off for a month.ก

Speaker and trainer Melinda Henning of Doing Business by Phone (www.unforgettablelearning.com) says that the way to deal with voice mail is to use it as an advertising medium. In other words, leave a voice mail commercial. Especially if you are cold calling, Melinda suggests that you compose a series of different commercials, each one revealing some new and interesting fact about your business, and another reason for someone to speak with you.

Whenever you leave a message, include some incentive for the person you are calling to have a live conversation. กI would like to introduce myselfก is not a reason for prospects to talk to you. Why should they care? Tell them what it is you think you can do for them in their own unique situation. And do it in 30 seconds no one likes long voice mails from strangers, and the delete key is at their fingertips.

Look for some connection between you and the person you are calling that you could put in your message. A mutual acquaintance, membership in the same association, or having attended the same event are all worth mentioning. If you have seen them speak, or read about them in the news, compliment them on it. Be warm, friendly and upbeat, so your message is a pleasure to listen to.

If you have called, left messages, and still can’t get through to the person you want, send an email. Many people will quickly respond to email because it is easy. If you can interest them in what you have to offer (without revealing all the details), they may be willing to set up a phone appointment with you to find out more. When you don’t have the personกs email address, try finding it on the companyกs web site or asking the receptionist.

Should you ever stop calling? That depends on the value of the potential sale. A $1000 sale might only be worth two or three calls to you, but a $10,000 sale would certainly pay for many more. Every salesperson has a story about a customer who finally said yes after the 17th phone call, so if it seems worth it, don’t quit!

About The Author

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Since 1992, C.J. has been teaching business owners and salespeople to make more money with less effort. She is a Master Certified Coach and leads workshops internationally. Read more of her articles at www.getclientsnow.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 21, 2003

by C.J. Hayden