V
oIP service continues to focus on one great reason for Connecticut businesses to switch from traditional land line phones: price. Everybody wants to save money, but for your business to succeed, you uneed more. When you do make the switch, be sure to get more than a low price. Get what you really need.
VoIP Service or PBX: don’t forget your goal
Your phone system (PBX or VoIP, which is the abbreviation for Voice Over Internet Protocol) should be a communications tool…a marketing tool for your business. VoIP has come a long way from just five years ago: back then the voice quality was low, there were “dropouts” and calls were often disconnected.
Most common problems have been overcome with a combination of improved technology, and users investing in increased internet speed.
Your phone is your most important way to communicate
Your telephone system is your most direct line with potential and existing customers. While email or text have grown, research underwritten by Ring Central shows that communicating by phone is alive and well:
Phone calls are still the preferred communication channel for customers after they’ve bought something from a company. Thirty-six percent of respondents in the Customer Communications Review over the age of 56 rank phone calls as the top preferred communication channel, and for respondents 40-55, 30% choose phone: just about the same as who choose email. Even for the 18-39 demographic, phone is very close at 22%.
An Invoca survey found that 65% of people have called a business in the last month, compared with only 22% who contacted a business through social media.
And, maybe you are thinking these phone users must be an older crowd, but the same survey found that 66% of Millennials are likely to contact a company by phone.
So how to maximize your phone’s effectiveness?
There are simple guidelines for better business telephone use:
- Answer every call by the third ring. If that’s not always possible, use the “automated attendant” feature of your new VoIP Phone system. When you do never use a “computer generated” or “default greeting.” Since you only get one chance to make a great first impression, consider a professionally recorded greeting.
- Speak clearly, be polite and never interrupt.
- Listen closely to requests
- Learn how to transfer calls
- When placing a caller on hold, make sure your callers hear information. That decreases frustration, annoyance, and hang-ups. Callers placed on hold listening to messages instead of VoIP Music actually perceive the time as shorter. And research shows that 1 in 5 make a purchase based on information they hear.
Moving to a VoIP System?
Join the crowd. For more tips on getting what you really need, email us. Or, in Stamford, Norwalk, or Fairfield Connecticut call us at (203) 655-3920. Nationwide call (800) 862-8896.
7 year Stamford Chamber Ambassador