Catalog retail is a world all it’s own. Many considerations that other retailers don’t have to deal with are of utmost importance to a catalog retailer. To name a few, the ordering process, warehousing and shipping must be streamlined for maximum efficiency. Maintaining a top notch inventory control and receiving department is also very crucial to business success. Above all, however, a catalog retailer must have a quality business phone system.
Business Phone Blues
I work for a specialty after market auto parts retailer. We have no showroom, so around twenty percent of our business comes from the Internet while eighty percent comes from the telephone. We send out catalogs to those who request them or anyone who has placed an order in the last year. We also advertise in the back of automotive magazines. Needless to say, telephone sales are truly the lifeblood of our business. As of late, however, I’ve been wishing that weren’t the case.
Caller ID of Death
As a broker, there is an unwritten rule that you don’t steal clients from a co-worker because we all work on commission. Our office phone system works in such a way that if a desk is unmanned, the call will be transferred to another desk until it is picked up. When I get a call of this nature, I can pull up the investors information and see exactly what has portfolio holds and who he normally deals with.
Cheaper is Not Always Better
I work for a large insurance firm in the northwest, in an office with over 500 other employees. Management recently decided to replace our existing phone system as the old system was no longer meeting our needs. I and my co-workers were under the impression that they were going to update the system, as in “make an improvement”, and that we would have late model phones with technological advancements galore. Boy, were we in for a surprise.
Civilization 4 and Why I Hate My Office Phone
If you’re familiar with the strategy PC gaming series “Civilization”, you probably know that it’s only slightly less addictive than crack. I’ve never tried crack, but the “word on the street”, so to speak, is that it’s a bit hard to let go of. I recently purchased Civilization 4, which is the latest in the Civilization series.
Customer Service for Business Phone Systems
Working in a law office often means long hours and late nights, especially doing probate work. Getting in before seven A.M. and staying until well past business hours, I assumed that I would always be available for whoever might call me. Recently, my office switched our business phone system and I started to notice a drop in the number of calls I was receiving each day.
Don’t Go Cheap When Installing New Business Phones
I recently replaced my business phone system to accommodate an increase in the volume of calls I was receiving. I own a car rental franchise and needed to have new lines and new phones installed to go along with the new customer service representative I needed to hire. By taking care of my customers and keeping my vehicles clean and available, I was able to build my business and force the closure of one of my two nearby competitors.
Handling the Purchase of a Business Phone System
Purchasing a business phone system is not an easy endeavor, but with the right mind set and a little knowledge about business telephones, you can find a viable, budget friendly solution to your business’ communication needs.
One of the first decisions you will need to make is whether or not to go with a key system or a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system. Depending on how many individual stations you need and how rapidly you expect your company to grow, one of these two options should fit the bill.
Head-set on Embarrassing Myself
My job is not stressful, I would say, just demanding. I answer the phone for a brokerage house on Wall Street. I enjoy my job, but I was having a problem keeping up with the volume of calls that come across my desk everyday. My supervisor noticed that I was having problems and suggested that they could provide me with a headset, if I thought it might help. I figured it would be worth a shot, so I asked for one.
Hold That Hold…Please!
It never fails. Whether ordering a pizza or making a doctor’s appointment, I hear it almost every time. “Can I put you on hold?”, they ask. Before I have a chance to even answer…I am on hold! What just happened? Was it a rhetorical question? Why even give me the option? Why not just say, “Welcome to XYZ, where we promptly put you on hold!”.
Maintainence of new equipment lengthens company investments
With any investment comes the importance of maintenance. As the CEO of a large company, I wanted to ensure the greatest length of use when installing my new company investment. After purchasing a multi-line digital phone system, I wanted my purchase to last for a lifetime. This would make the cost of the investment more sufficient to my future budgets.
Additional phone lines allows for greater customer-service success
With the complexity of ones business comes the stress of an effective phone system. With multiple customer service representatives at my business, I found it hard to find a phone system that could handle the workload of the many users at one time. After researching other options, I found a website that allowed me to not only buy the complete phone system, but also the equipment to add additional lines to my current business system.