|
|
Home  Money Business Start Your Own Telephone Answering Service
|
Start Your Own Telephone Answering Service |
|
|
|
Page 2 of 2
It isn't necessary that you have specially designed or printed
message slips, but you should have a plentiful supply available and
within easy access to your operators. Simple 4 x 5 inch pads should be
all you'll need, and if you'll check with your local quick print shops,
you'll find most of them willing to make up a thousand or so pads of 50
to 100 pages each, from scrap paper, for almost next to nothing.
Another essential to plan on - buy in wholesale lots and keep handy for
your operators - is pens. It may be exasperating until the business is
on a sound profitability basis, but in a busy month, one operator can
easily go through 100 or more pens. Don't fight the how's and why's,
just charge it up as a business expense and order more pens.
You'll need some form of maintaining basic customer information
such as address, name and number to contact during an emergency and any
special answering instructions. For this, simply go with 3 x 5 or 4 x
5 index cards and place them in each customer's message slot for easy
operator reference. Many services have these cards laminated in
plastic to prevent them from getting dirty or deteriorating with
constant use.
Efficiency is the name of the road leading to profits in any small
business, so when you begin with one switchboard, make sure you have
that position-splitting key, and that you balance the board - half of
them on one side and half on the other side. This will enable you to
put two operators on that one board in times of emergency. Your
customer lines must be distributed according to usage across the board
for maximum efficiency of your operation.
Each time a customer "signs" for your service, you should have him
sign a simple contract that specifies the name and address of the firm
to be billed for the service, and the typed name as well as the
signature of the person authorizing the service. There should also be
space on this contract for alternate phone numbers, names and addresses
as well as phone numbers of persons to contact in case of an emergency,
and any special answering instructions the client may want you to use.
Don't forget to include a clause requiring a 30-day notification of
cancellation by either party to the contract. It's also a good idea to
state that a full month's payment must be made for any partial month's
usage, in order to cover any disconnect charges. You'll probably want
to stipulate that the last month's base charges are to be paid at the
time of service approval, in order to enhance your working capital
situation.
Check with the phone company - find out if they or you are to bill
the customer for hook-up charges, and the line into your switchboard.
By all means get everything written out and fully explained in the
contract. You will be money ahead by paying a good contract attorney
to put all that you want into a legal contract that not only protects
you, but also is binding upon your customers.
One other item of paperwork you should have is an Errors &
Omissions Insurance Policy. This protects you and your operators
against any liability from mistakes or missed messages - very good to
have, and available at very low cost through the Associated Telephone
Answering Exchange, Inc. by special arrangement with Lloyd's of
London. Your other insurance needs are those basic to any business.
Always shop around for the best rates.
In the beginning, you and your spouse or partner can operate a
telephone answering service. However, we strongly suggest that you add
to your operator staff just as quickly as you customer list warrants.
The longer you try to operate with just two people, the longer it's,
going to take you to achieve real profitability.
Remember you want a 24 hour, seven-days-a-week, full service
operation. This will require at least three full-time operators for
your board, plus at least one relief operator - and don't forget about
commission sales people.
Ideally, you should try to hire people with telephone switchboard
experience, but in order to get these people, you may have to offer
short-shifts, moonlighting jobs to regular telephone company
operators. It will take some time to train inexperienced people, so
bear this in mind when you begin looking for people to hire. It's
always a good policy to hire your new, inexperienced people for the
evening shift. Break them in by having them "sit in" with an
experienced operator during the day-time hours, and have someone close
at hand during their first week on the evening shift before turning
them loose to handle the board by themselves.
The most important qualifications to look for in an operator are
voice and attitude. The voice must be pleasant and sound alert,
interested and ready to help the caller. Warn your operators never to
allow their "personal feelings" to show through when they are answering
the phone. They represent your business and your customers. As such,
they must project a professional manner at all times.
Teach your operators to answer the phones with a "happy smile" in
their voices. Train them to take their time with the callers, and get
the message right by reading the message back to the caller, and also
be sure they ask the caller for the correct spelling of his or her
name. Unless specifically instructed otherwise by a customer, insist
that your operators never allow an incoming call to ring more than
twice before answering it. Hardly any thing frustrates anyone calling
a business number more than a telephone that seemingly rings forever
before someone answers it.
You can start your inexperienced people at $4 an hour, and your
experienced operators at $6 an hour. Try to explain to them that the
success of your business depends on them, and as your business
prospers, so will their monetary rewards . Get them involved and
interested in helping you succeed.
It's going to take aggressive selling on your part to reach success
with a venture of this kind. You must spend at least 50 percent of
your time making sales calls - if you can't or don't wish to do any
personal selling, then you will have to hire at least two full time
sales people to take your place. In addition to your own sales efforts
or people who fill your shoes in this area, you should hire at least
one other full time salesperson. You should plan to have someone
making telephone solicitations for at least 3 hours out of each working
day.
Selling your service - building an ever larger customer list - is
the name of the game for real success. You've got the start up
information, and from here on, the rest depends on your own ambition.
Associated Telephone Answering Exchanges, Inc.
Bankers Square
100 Pitt Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 683-3770
TYPICAL EQUIPMENT COSTS:
Two Operators Chairs, $90
Desk & Chairs, $100
Two side chairs, $50
Bookcase, $50
Filing/Supply Cabinet, $50
Calculator, $50
Used Typewriter, $150
Base for Switchboard, $60
Message Rack, $75
Time Clock, $250
Office Furnishings/Decorations, $150
5 thousand message pads, $25
24-dozen pens, $12
Switchboard lease (one board), $4,000
Cable Installation (one board), $1,500
Rent on office, $600
Utility deposits, $50
Business Licenses, $50
Business Insurance, $350
Legal fees, $100
Supplies, $200
TOTAL: $7,962.00
|
|
|