With technology evolving the way it is, it’s getting easier and easier for smaller businesses to compete with larger ones. Regardless of whether your business is a young tech start-up in your business partner’s mom’s basement or you have a small operation in a downtown office or shop, one way to improve your brand identity and make your business appear more professional is to use the services of a call centre such as those offered by Touch Communications.

Let’s examine some of the ways call centre services can improve your image:

Customers don’t have to know you don’t have a fancy office

There are many types of businesses where the customer never has to visit a brick and mortar location in order to get service. These businesses include website design firms, tradespeople, real estate agents and several others. Typically what customers will observe first is your company website and how they are received and treated when they call your company.

Make a good impression in these two areas and it will leave a positive brand image in the minds of your customers.

Small staff? No problem

As a small business, you might not always have enough manpower to answer every call that comes to your company. It is likely more important for your people to be out on sales calls, or otherwise dealing face to face with clients or working on projects rather than answering calls from people who may just be kicking tires.

When you use call centre services from Touch Communications, it frees your staff up to perform these other duties. Our professional CSRs can provide callers with basic information, set up appointments through a web-based portal, and even forward emergency calls to an assigned staff person in your organization.

This helps boost your brand image both in the eyes your callers who are dealt with in a friendly and professional manner as well as in the eyes of your face to face customers who will have the full attention of your staff.

24/7 Service

Most businesses today simply don’t have the capacity to be available for callers 24/7 – and this is especially true of smaller organizations. Despite this fact, customers and potential customers want information when they want it, and many will not bother to leave a message should their call be forwarded to voicemail.

With call centre services from Touch Communication, however, it is like having someone in the office all the time who is ready to take your customers’ calls. Your callers will appreciate the fact that someone is there to answer their questions, listen to their concerns or book their appointments.

But how will customers feel about getting forwarded to a call centre?

That’s the truly beautiful part about all of this. They won’t know! When you contract call centre services from Touch Communications, your unanswered calls get transferred to our call centre, where our professional CSRs will answer the call using a script that you provide.

Our CSRs will have the ability to perform a number of other functions decided by you – such as appointment booking, or transferring certain calls to your cell phone. From the customer’s perspective, they are dealing entirely with your business.

And it is this reliable, professional, and friendly service that will help to set your brand apart from the competition. So if you’re ready to take the next steps in growing your business, contact us and our team will be ready to help you get started.

As the holiday season approaches, many businesses are facing their busiest time of year. To cope with the added demand, companies are stocking up on inventory, hiring seasonal employees and looking for ways to maximize their efficiency.

One way to manage the extra calls is to employ the call centre services offered by Touch Communications. Especially during this holiday season, you want to ensure that you never miss a call – let us explain how this service can help you.

Seasonal call centre services

At Touch Communications, we have a professional team of customer service representatives dedicated to ensuring that your business provides the best customer experience possible. When a customer calls your business number, and you are not able to take the call, it gets automatically forwarded to one of our CSRs.

Our people will answer the call just as you would at your own business with a script provided by you. From the customer’s perspective, it is just as if they are speaking to one of your own employees. We can provide basic information, set up appointments or even forward the call to a designated person in your organization.

Better than voicemail

Some business owners may think that they don’t require call answering services because they already have a voicemail system in place. But callers who get put through to voicemail are less likely to become customers. More often than not, they will simply hang up and call one of your competitors.

After all, when you’re busy putting up the lights and decorating the tree, buying presents for the kids, and trying to organize turkey dinners with extended family, who has time to sit around and wait for someone to return your call?

And with our call centre services, callers can speak to a live person seven days a week at any hour.

Give your customers more face time

Especially if you operate a business that involves serving your customers face to face, then utilizing call centre services this holiday season can be a big help.

Instead of keeping your employees busy talking on the phone, hand that job over to our qualified CSRs. It’s much better for your own employees to be on the floor helping customers who are visiting your place of business. Whether your customers are visiting you because they are doing their Christmas shopping, getting their home ready for guests, doing winter maintenance or any other task that becomes more common this time of year, they will appreciate the extra attention they receive from you and your staff.

Meanwhile, the potential customers who call in and receive service from Touch Communications’ call centre will feel just as taken care of and valued.

Unsurpassed service – even if it’s just for a season

At Touch Communications, we are known for the high quality call services that we provide to our customers every day of the year.  But even if your business only requires call centre services seasonally for a few months – or even a few weeks – you can expect to receive the same professional service and expertise.

The holiday rush shouldn’t be sending your customers to voicemail. Call us today and let us put together a plan for your company.

In today’s marketplace, having a competitive advantage can make the difference between a business that does well and a business that simply fizzles away. But finding a competitive advantage is not always easy. Let’s face it – there is not much difference between the way one mechanic changes your oil and the way another one does it. And most companies will never be like Apple, offering that one exclusive product that everybody wants.

But one way a company can gain a competitive advantage is by using a live call answering service like TOUCH Communications.

What is live call answering?

Live call answering, put simply is directing your incoming calls to a call centre when you or your staff are not available to take the call yourselves. To the caller, they only know that they are calling your business. Our representatives are your representatives, answering the phone in the way you instruct and helping the customer accordingly either by answering simple questions, redirecting their call to an appointed person in your company, setting up an appointment etc.

Now, you may be wondering how this gives you a competitive advantage. After all, these are all things you would do yourself if you answered the telephone. The fact is however, that you can’t always be available to answer the phone during business hours – never mind, 24/7.

So here are a few ways live call answering gives you a competitive advantage:

• 24/7 – As we mentioned, live call answering service is 24/7 – that means the customer can get the answers they want when they want them. They will learn to call your business and not your competitor.
• Increased sales – When someone calls your business and gets put through to voicemail, chances are, they will not leave a message. Instead, they will go to your competition and do business with them. Likewise, when they get voicemail calling your competition, there is a good chance that they will hang up and call you. By always having someone answer your incoming calls, you are setting the stage for increased sales and for growing your customer base.
• Brand perception – Even though it may not be your fault, it can make a bad impression when no one is available to take a call – especially during business hours. Always having a friendly and helpful customer service representative to answer calls helps to improve your company’s image in the eyes of your customers.
• Spend more time helping customers face to face – the more time you and your staff spend talking to people on the telephone, the less attention you can give to customers face to face. Whether you have a storefront that customers visit or whether you provide services at the customer’s home, it is rude to be constantly stopping your interaction with them in order to take phone calls. With live call answering service, you can have peace of mind that the caller is being helped while you are focusing your attention on the current customer.

As a business owner, you know the importance of gaining a competitive advantage. But you also know that such advantages are hard to come by. Live call answering is one area where we can help.

Some of the best tradespeople do their work without a lot of office support. Many are one-man operations that mostly work out of their truck in between service calls. They may have an administrative assistant or a part-time bookkeeper, but often this is not enough to answer and transfer all the calls that are coming in for their services. A live call answering service such as that offered by TOUCH Communications can benefit those working in the trades in a number of ways.

Whether you’re a home renovator, plumber or HVAC technician, if you’re in your office, it means that you’re not earning money. Most successful tradespeople today, can usually be found in the homes of their clients, or in their trucks and vans driving from one client to the next.

The downside of this, of course, is that you may be missing important phone calls from other potential clients.

But with a live call answering service, calls can be answered, screened and directed to the appropriate person in your organization. Not only does this help you improve your overall customer service, but it actually helps you get more business since many people would simply call the next company in the Yellow Pages rather than leave a message or wait for a call back.

It allows you to offer 24/7 emergency service

There is never a convenient time for a basement to flood, a sewer to back up, or a roof to leak. And these kinds of emergencies don’t always happen from Monday to Friday during regular business hours. One way for tradespeople to generate more business is to offer 24/7 emergency services.

After all, if you do a great job for a customer during an emergency, they are also more likely to use your services for more routine applications.

But how can you offer 24/7 emergency services and still have a personal life? With live call answering from TOUCH Communications, a real person will answer your calls. Using the instructions that you give, they will determine whether the call is an emergency or not. If it is, they will redirect it to you or an employee that you designate. If it’s not an emergency, they can arrange a service call during business hours.

Booking service calls

Just because someone calls your business, doesn’t necessarily mean that they need to speak to you right away. They may simply wish to book an appointment to have their home inspected, their furnace serviced or their new dishwasher installed.

Using a shared online calendar, a representative can book these appointments for you. This leaves you more time to serve your customers.

Employee Check-in

If you have employees who are regularly on the road or working on job sites alone, consider using an employee check-in service. This not only helps you to know when and where they are working, but it also gives you peace of mind that they are safe.

With just a quick call, your employees can check in with a customer service representative at TOUCH Communications, and if they fail to check in, someone can be sent to check on them and ensure that everything is ok.

As someone who works in the trades, you know how important it is to have the right tools for the job. A live call answering service is a tool that you can use to help bring your business to the next level, and TOUCH Communications can help you get there. Contact us, and our team will be ready to help.

There has never been such a push in our society and culture for a healthy and active lifestyle. Because most people spend eight hours a day working at a computer, it has become more and more of a challenge to be physically active every day. Paired with this modern and inherently unhealthy lifestyle, there has never been more pressure to be in shape. This creates a lot of stress for men and women to achieve a healthy lifestyle while dedicating much of their time to unhealthy activities.

The idea of a 24-hour gym was once a rare feature offered only by the biggest companies in the business, but now most gyms are either 24 hours or at least 15 – 20 hours per day. People like the flexibility of being able to work out whenever they choose, even if that means at 4:00 a.m. before a 6:00 a.m. shift at work. One of the most important factors that gym users consider is availability and hours of operation. Therefore, if you are in the business of fitness you need to be accessible 24 hours, 7 days a week.

How TOUCH Communications can Help

TOUCH Communications provides a call answering service that benefits gym owners and personal trainers. Allowing them to live a normal life while still being “available” at all hours for their customers and clients. TOUCH Communications provides more than just messaging and paging. By understanding the company and getting to know the business, customers are treated with the same care they would receive if they were speaking to the gym owner or personal trainer directly.

Even if a gym is open 24 hours, most gym owners do not have staff available for reception beyond the hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. With TOUCH Communications, reception services can be available to your customers at all hours whether it’s questions about the facilities, membership fees or other services.

A personal trainer can become a very important role model and a key influencer in their clients’ lives. Although a trainer may wish to go on vacation or take the weekend off without having to worry about their clients, this can be extremely difficult as clients often reschedule appointments and call with inquiries concerning injuries, diet and nutrition. Personal trainers never have to worry about leaving a client hanging when they are unavailable by using TOUCH Communication services. A trainer is able to have all calls received by certain numbers automatically forwarded to a TOUCH Communications customer service representative, who can assist their clients with all of their needs, or, if urgent, they can have the trainer call them back. The quality of the service, whether it be a great trainer or a helpful gym receptionist will help keep clients on track with their fitness and continue supporting the business.

Operating a gym that is open 24/7 is not an easy task, but with the help of TOUCH Communications operating your gym can be uncomplicated and painless. Contact us today and we’ll be ready to help.

Have you ever found yourself in the following scenario? You’re busy doing something at home and the phone rings. You look at the display on the phone but don’t recognize the number… so you let it ring. You reason, that if it’s important, they’ll leave a message.

While we may be guilty of doing this at home, most of us would never dream of simply letting a phone ring at our business. This is because the importance of being accessible to our customers cannot be overstated. After all, now we are talking about our bottom line! But even if would never dream of deliberately ignoring a call, it can be difficult to always be accessible. Calls may come in during non-business hours, or at a time when everyone in the organization is busy with other tasks or on the phone with other customers.

Why is being accessible to customers important?

In today’s competitive market place, businesses need every advantage they can get. And being accessible can give a business a clear advantage. Here are a few reasons why this is so important:

1. No they won’t leave a message if it’s important – Okay, to be fair some customers might leave a message. But suppose you run a plumbing or electrical company, and someone calls in with an emergency situation only to get your voicemail. Most likely that customer will simply hang up and call one of your competitors.
2. We live in a culture of convenience – Like it or not, convenience is highly prized in our society. We can sit at home and do our shopping in our pajamas. We can get movie tickets and gift cards uploaded to our cell phones. And driverless cars are soon expected to be on the market. If you are not accessible, that is not convenient for your customers. And rather than being inconvenienced, they will most likely call your competition.
3. It reflects on your customer service – A big part of whether a customer gets a favourable impression of a business is whether they feel that they are getting good customer service. If no one is available to assist them when they call, or if they have to wait on-hold for lengthy periods of time, it can give them a negative impression of your customer service. Even if you provide a great product or service in the end, this initial impression can taint their perception of your business.
4. It reflects on your entire business – A common habit of consumers these days is to look up online reviews of a business before they purchase products or services from that company. When you are not accessible to your customers, it can lead to negative online reviews. This can lead to loss of potential customers you never knew existed.

What’s a business owner to do?

Unless you operate a very large enterprise, it is simply not possible to always have an employee on hand who can answer the telephone. Fortunately, Touch Communications provides a simple and affordable live call answering service that can help ensure your business is always accessible to customers.

Call us today to find our more. (We promise to be accessible!)

One of the biggest concerns that many businesses have when they are considering a live call answering service, is that it will be impersonal, or that it will not reflect the brand of their company. But at TOUCH Communications, we understand that your business is unique. Even if you have hundreds of competitors, there is still something special about your brand – and as such, your business deserves customized service.

How do we provide custom call services?

The first step in customizing our services, is to understand your business and your business needs. Do you need our reps to answer the phone a certain way? Do you need us to ask specific questions? Do certain calls have to go to certain people?

By taking the time to get to know you and your business, we can tailor make a package that is perfect for your brand and your business. The following are a few ways we can put together call services designed specifically for your business:

Live call answering

Whether you require help in booking appointments, handling inquiries or simply managing the large volume of calls that you get every day, our CSRs (Call Service Representatives) are representing your business when they answer the phone. Your clients will never know they have reached a call service – that professional and friendly person on the other end of the line is your personal assistant.

Transferring calls

When certain types of calls have to go to certain people in your company, we can do that for you. This not only saves you the expense of having a dedicated switchboard person, but it also ensures your people don’t waste any time on calls not meant for them.

Call forwarding

Do you need to have important calls forwarded to you when you’re travelling, or to someone who is covering for you while you’re away? Simply let us know, and customers calling your number can be transferred to any phone number you choose.

Appointment booking

Not only do we answer calls, but we can also provide a service where we actually book appointments for you using a shared online calendar. And don’t worry, you can customize when you want to have appointments booked and when you don’t.

Employee check-in

Do you have employees who work shifts alone? Increase their safety through our employee check in service. It’s the next best thing to having a co-worker being there with them.
These are just a few of the ways that a custom call service like TOUCH can work for your business. If there is another type of telephone, text or email service that you require, let us know – because if you can think of it, it’s probably something that we can do!

After all, there’s a reason we call it “custom.”