The Little Ways Remembering Someone’s Name Can Build Your Brand or Customer Loyalty

By Mike Stack | 01.25.2012 |

Today’s guest blog post comes to us from Mike Stack, the Area Manager of Dale Carnegie Training_® for Oregon & SW Washington. He has been with Dale Carnegie since 1985.

I recently took a pair of my favorite dress shoes into (New Shoes in Tigard, Oregon) to get the worn down heals replaced. It seems like I take a pair in at least once a year. When the store owner took in the shoes he smiled and said, “Nice to see you again,” I was surprised he recognized me since it’s a once a year deal for me and he had four others in the shop. I was impressed. When I picked up my shoes a few days later – which looked brand new by the way – I gave the owner my claim slip where my name was printed at the top. He looked at my claim skip, looked back at me and said “Hi Mike, let me get those for you.” My name was printed on the top of the claim slip and was in plain view, but he took that extra step of calling me by name which I did like. I recommend Don to anyone needing shoes repaired. He cares about his customers and does excellent work.

Why did Don make an impact on me? A Dale Carnegie principle from his book How To Win Friends and Influence People states: “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” It’s true for me, and I know it is true for you! We like our name.

I have been blessed to be a trainer for The Dale Carnegie Course for just over 25 years and we begin each course with tools for remembering names. I ask the same question at the beginning of every course I teach which is “Who here says they are horrible at remembering names?” The majority of hands in the room always go up. Remembering names is a challenge for most of us. If we tell ourselves we are bad at something it can become a self fulfilling prophecy. We need to have the right attitude for remembering names. Here are a few quick things you can do to remember names:

• You have to want to remember the person. The tools for names will be easier.

• Tell yourself that it’s like you to remember names and that you are good at remembering names.

• Stop thinking about yourself when meeting someone new and focus on them (you already know and like your name; you don’t need to remember that). Get a good visual impression.

• Try repeating their name if you can by first confirming you have it correct, then repeating the name several times in your mind. If possible, introduce the person to someone else.

• The strongest, and yet for some most difficult, tool to use is to create a mental image or association of the person.

Remembering names is a skill. It’s a skill that takes time for most of us to get better at doing. It is like any skill activity: fly fishing, golf, tennis, mountain climbing, or knitting; these are all things that need practice.

One social benefit is that others will consider you a genuine person because you took the effort and time to remember their name.

The benefit in business is showing your customer or prospective customer you care about them as a person, not just a new account. People like to do business with those they know, they like, they trust or are friends. We remember our friends’ names.

Make it a goal of yours in 2012 to remember just one new person’s name a week. This is not an all or nothing deal. Start slowly, build your confidence, and you too can develop brand and customer loyalty.

When people take the time to remember us, we remember them and their organizations. Remembering a customer or client’s name may be your best form of advertising.

Make 2012 your best year to date!

Dale Carnegie Training helps individuals improve key soft skills such as: Communications and Presentations, people skills, transformational leadership, sales, and management. The goal is for individuals to take these new performance shifts back to their organizations and improve the overall performance of the company. Dale Carnegie Training has been in business since 1912 with over 8 million graduates, and Ruby’s Director of Culture, Sarah Sackett, recently completed the course — we highly recommend it!

Ruby Feature Highlight: The Free Ruby iPhone App!

By Katie Wilson | 01.24.2012 |

How Ruby Works

Ruby_® is always innovating and always using the most advanced technology; it’s just one of the ways we aren’t your average answering service. In 2010, Ruby developed a convenient, free iPhone app that our clients can use to make the most of our virtual receptionist service – and we recently updated it to provide additional features!

With a few quick taps to the Ruby iPhone app, you can:

Let us know your availability. We call these “Whereabouts updates,” and you can quickly, easily modify the way our virtual receptionist team handles your calls. It’s perfect for anything you might’ve tapped an in-house employee on the shoulder to tell them and especially handy if you’re on-the-go!

Check out your call history. Talked to a prospect this morning but can’t remember their name? The iPhone app could jog your memory! Pull up the Activity tab in your Ruby iPhone app, set your Timeframe for today (or around the time you may have talked to them), select Calls, and you’ll be able to see what calls were connected this morning!

View your messages (screenshot on the right). As with your call history, you can also filter your messages by Company (if you have Ruby answer for more than one of your companies) and Timeframe. Every phone number and email address is automatically a hotlink, so you can return calls straight from the app!

Save contact info to your phone’s address book. At the bottom of each call or message, there’s an option to “Save to Contacts.” Any info such as name, phone number, and email address will immediately be imported into your iPhone’s address book!

See your assists. If you’re optimizing your time by having our virtual receptionists return calls for you, you can reference the Assist option under the Activity tab. There you can view a brief description of any assists you’ve requested!

Receive push notifications showing recent activity. If a Ruby virtual receptionist has taken a message for your company since the last time you logged in, you’ll see a little number in red on the corner of your app icon.

Contact Ruby! Tap on the Ruby tab and our phone number and email address appear as hotlinks for a quick way to contact us! There’s also a link to an FAQ page on the Ruby app. Plus, if you’re ever in Portland, Oregon, our address is listed as a hotlink and will bring you straight to a Google map — feel free to stop by, and we’ll give you a tour!

If you’re an iPhone user, you can download the free Ruby iPhone app here! And don’t worry Android and Blackberry fans, we haven’t forgotten about you! Our feature-rich Member Services Area is completely mobile-friendly!

Ask a Virtual Receptionist! Topic: Making Someone’s Day

By Katie Wilson | 01.20.2012 |

Ellie B.

We talk a lot about Fostering Happiness at Ruby_® (it is one of our Core Values after all!), and we give our virtual receptionist team strategies to make our clients’ and callers’ days brighter. However, each Ruby is unique and each has their favorite way to make connections. In today’s feature, I asked virtual receptionist Ellie B. how she spreads cheer over the phone:

What’s your favorite way to make someone’s day?

My favorite way to make someone’s day is very simple: I like to wish them a good day at the end of our call. Our clients are very busy people – that’s why we’re here! By wishing them a good day, I usually get a thank you and they wish me a good day as well, and that puts a smile on my face, too. I feel like it ensures our clients that we do care about their day, and it reminds them that we are here to help make it a good one, too!

One small gesture can be a real mood booster! Sincerity shines – even through miles of telephone wire — and wishing someone well or genuinely asking how they are may make their day and yours, too!

Receptionist Etiquette Tip: Hesitation Is an Opportunity to Help

By Phoebe Osborn | 01.19.2012 |

Receptionist Tips

Photo by Andreas Johannsen

Ever been met with a less-than-eager response when offering a call to someone? It happens to our virtual receptionist team from time to time, and it goes a little something like this:

Receptionist: Hi Jim! This is Stephanie from Ruby. I have Walt Smith on the line. Would you like the call?

Jim: Oh…hmm…umm…

It doesn’t seem like Jim’s ready for Walt’s call at the moment, does it?

We’ve found that hesitation like this is often a teeny, tiny cry for help. Lucky for our clients and callers alike, the Ruby_® telephone answering team is driven by a desire to help! When you’re met with a bit of hesitation in this type of situation, we suggest offering to take the next step. It’s sort of a motto at Ruby: When you think someone needs help, don’t make ‘em ask for help — go ahead and offer it! In a case like this, it’s as simple as saying, “I’d be happy to take a message, or relay a message to him if you’d like.”

This is just a small example of what we call fulfilling unexpressed needs, one of the levels of our Ruby Hierarchy of Service Pyramid. Looking for ways to help the people we interact with is fundamental to being part of the Ruby team. By anticipating what a caller or client may need and offering it preemptively, we take that helpfulness a step further. The next time you sense a need for help, try offering it before you’re asked. We think you’ll find fulfilling unexpressed needs is a fun, rewarding way to WOW!

Customer (DIS)Service: What’s Lacking and How to Get It Back

By Katie Wilson | 01.17.2012 |

CNBC recently aired a special entitled “Customer (DIS)Service: A Maddening Look at the State of Customer Service” where they shined a spotlight on the customer service provided by outsourced call centers, waiters, retailers, recorded menu options, and a host of other industries. Not surprisingly, most of what they found left much to be desired. Man-on-the-street interviews showed an overwhelming frustration with regards to customer service, or as CNBC puts it, “customer disservice.” For all the advancements in technology — computers, databases chock-full of information, sophisticated phone systems — it seems that customer service has actually declined over the years. But why? And why is customer service so important for businesses, anyway?

To answer the first question, we think interviewee Shaun Belding, author and CEO of The Belding Group, put it best: “All the technology was designed to connect us to each other. And that’s what we did. But we lost the beauty of connecting with each other.” Since our interactions these days are often over the phone, it’s easy to become disassociated – they’re just a name and a disembodied voice, right? However, missing that opportunity to connect is missing an opportunity to make a person’s day better, maybe even your own, and certainly make a good impression for your business. You never know who that voice may be attached to: the next evangelist for your company, someone who’s having a rough day that you could cheer up, your neighbor?

In thinking about personal connections, it reminded me of a call I took when I first started at Ruby as a virtual receptionist. We take calls from businesses across North America, and this particular business happened to be on the East Coast. In the course of taking a message for the client, I learned that the caller was from my hometown of Huntington Beach, California, and not only that, he lived at the same intersection as my childhood home! What are the odds? We had a lovely chat about the area and the lively Main Street, and we both ended the call smiling. It could’ve been a very rudimentary call; I could’ve simply taken a message, and we could’ve gone our separate ways. But I wouldn’t have remembered it nearly three years later, and my caller wouldn’t have been nearly as happy.

When people make a personal connection or have an extraordinary experience with a business, they not only become loyal to that company, they’re going to want to talk about it. They’ll tell their friends, colleagues, and family about how someone went above and beyond for them or invested in them or just plain listened to them. Word of mouth – whether it’s positive or negative – can spread like wildfire.

Making meaningful connections with callers and clients isn’t something extra, a nicety; it’s something to cultivate, and it’s imperative to the success of our business. In fact, we put it at the very top of our Ruby Hierarchy of Service Pyramid. Making meaningful connections is at the crux of truly outstanding service, and as ING Direct CEO Peter Aceto said at the end of the CNBC special, “Customer service is the new marketing. It’s the only differentiator businesses have left.”

Ruby Mentioned in Carolyn Elefant’s Book Solo by Choice!

By Katie Wilson | 01.13.2012 |

Carolyn Elefant’s Solo by Choice: How to Be the Lawyer You Always Wanted to Be is an incredible resource for solo attorneys, and we at Ruby_® are extremely grateful to have been mentioned in her new edition! In her chapter on Office Technology, Elefant discusses the plethora of phone options out there as well as the dilemma of who will answer your phone: a live receptionist, a voicemail system, or an answering service.

If you decide to go with the latter, she suggests that you, ”[s]elect a secure, reputable answering service or shared receptionist…Ruby Receptionists is a virtual receptionist/answering service used by many solos and small businesses” (p.110). She also offers several tips on call handling, such as making sure the person who answers says the firm’s name in the greeting and that keeping them in the loop about your availability will make your practice look good.

Solo by Choice is a fantastic, beneficial read for solos and anyone thinking about striking out on their own, and she touches on everything from starting a practice to marketing and social media to how to take a vacation (a real one!). We’re delighted to be mentioned in such a comprehensive guide! If your interest is piqued and you’d like to pick up a copy, you can order one here.

Training for WOWism: Focus on Basics First, Then on Outcomes

By Phoebe Osborn | 01.12.2012 |

Small Business Tips

Staff Cultivator Holly and receptionist Jenny S. going through the Ruby training guidebook!

The virtual receptionist training program at Ruby_® is ever-changing and ever-improving. However, one thing that stays the same is our goal to equip our phone answering team with the tools they need to field calls efficiently while putting smiles on callers’ faces. And it all starts on the first day of training. As Joseph A. Michelli outlines in The New Gold Standard, focusing on outcomes rather than idividual tasks can create memorable moments of customer service, and we’ve taken that philosophy to heart.

In line with our Ruby Hierarchy of Service Pyramid, Ruby training begins with basics. In initial training, our virtual receptionists gain the skills they’ll need to thrive as members of the Ruby team. We show them how to use our unique software: what button answers a call; where to find the client’s custom greeting; what to say when introducing the call; and how to transfer it to the client, take a message, or transfer it to voicemail. We also introduce our Core Values right from the start, because once a groundwork of basic skills has been established, we come back to them to work our way up the pyramid. Trainees then focus on the outcomes of fostering happiness, creating experiences (showing how tone and phrasing can make even the briefest exchange an uplifting one), fulfilling unexpressed needs, and making meaningful connections.

Achieving these outcomes is all part of what we call ”practicing WOWism.” (It’s so important to us that Practice WOWism is one of our Core Values!) Our concept of WOWism was captured perfectly in a recent post: “The WOWism that we hold so dear is really a commitment to listening, always looking for ways to help without being asked, and most importantly, making a personal connection.” When we hear a “Wow!” from a caller, we know it’s working!

How do you train your employees to inspire excellent customer service? We’d love to hear from you in our comment section below!

Confessions of a Virtual Receptionist: On Being Ruby

By Marie R. | 01.11.2012 |

Ruby Marie R.

On a blustery day last January I was commuting by bus for my third day of work as a virtual receptionist at Ruby_® Receptionists. About half way through my trip I noticed another young lady board, whom I thought I recognized from the office. I was unsure of her name so I called out, “Hey Ruby!” and she turned around just as if I had called her by her own name!

How did I know she would respond? Well, we have a unique feature at our virtual receptionist service, where clients may have us address ourselves as “Ruby” when answering their calls so that they appear to have one ever-cheerful receptionist. For example, “Thank you for calling the Law Office of John Smith. This is Ruby. How may I help you?”

Originally, our founder and CEO Jill Nelson had called her company Worksource Inc. However, she quickly realized that the real core of our service is our cheerful demeanor and personable attitude on calls. In 2005, Jill and our branding company Sockeye chose the new name, Ruby Receptionists, to convey the attitude that we are really more of an off-site employee. “Ruby” has evolved into a real person just like me. We’re not “an answering service”; we are all your receptionist – even though we answer from Portland and get to talk to clients on the phone rather than by the watercooler.

Sometimes clients refer to me as Ruby when we’re on a call and then apologize, knowing that I have my own name. But I actually take it as a compliment! To me, the Ruby branding is much more than just a marketing tool. She is our mascot! As you can see from our Fashion Friday posts on the Ruby Facebook page, each virtual receptionist is a unique individual. And it is thanks to Ruby that we can all unite to become one super receptionist! Her brightly shining smile inspires a special vitality in me when I’m taking calls as I imagine how Ruby would handle the situation. And I know my fellow Rubys feel the same!

The Ruby Service Pyramid

By Jill Nelson | 01.10.2012 |

If there’s one thing Ruby_® Receptionists is passionate about, it’s our knock-your-socks-off service, for our clients and their customers alike. “Good customer service” is table stakes for us. At Ruby, if we aren’t hearing “WOW!” every day from our clients, we’re not hitting the mark.

The Ruby Hierarchy of Service Pyramid, modeled after Maslow’s famous Needs Pyramid, a fundamental of Psych 101 classes everywhere, is our roadmap to that WOW experience.

ABOUT THE RUBY SERVICE PYRAMID

Like Maslow’s pyramid, the Ruby pyramid lists fundamentals at the bottom, and introduces the finer practices of Ruby service at the top. Receiving a card congratulating you on your son’s college graduation isn’t going to win any points if we aren’t consistently answering your phones — that’s why Be Prepared with the Right Infrastructure is our foundation, and Make Meaningful Connections is our peak.
While the higher levels are dependent on the lower levels, they are all equally important, and improvement at all levels is a constant endeavor.
Mastering each level is a balancing act of empowering people and adhering to consistent processes. When we’re looking for new ideas, we rely on the creativity of our staff. When something is broken, we look to our process to see where we can improve.

THE LEVELS OF THE RUBY SERVICE PYRAMID:

Be Prepared With the Right Infrastructure. At the base are the systems and technology that enable us to provide our service: our ININ communications platform and our proprietary software and databases. But it also includes our staffing models and metrics to deliver an average answer time of four seconds.

Do What We Say We’re Going to Do. This concept speaks for itself, but we’ve found it takes an amazing amount of attention to ensure consistent delivery. Our training programs, feedback systems, and performance monitoring help us know if we’re on track.

Foster Happiness. Again, a pretty straightforward concept: be nice and make others happy. But when you can do this with every phone call, you find you stand out. Ruby’s strategy? Hire the nicest people on the planet and do everything we can to make sure they’re happy and stay happy.

Create Experiences. Have you ever ended a conversation with someone and found yourself in a better mood than before you called? That’s Ruby’s aim with every interaction. Our receptionists strive to engage each caller with friendliness and professionalism. Grammar, tone, word choice, and confidence all come together to create that mood-changing experience.

Fulfill Unexpressed Needs. This concept is also known around Ruby as “Practicing WOWism.” A hesitation in your voice when we ask you if you want to speak with “Joe from Warehouse Unlimited” is a cue for us to offer to handle the call for you. A whereabouts update mentioning an unexpected trip to school to pick up a sick child might prompt our receptionists to offer to call and cancel your afternoon appointments.

Create Meaningful Connections. Getting to know our clients isn’t just a fun, rewarding part of the job — it’s integral to our success. We train on it, measure it, create incentive campaigns around it, and develop technology to support it. We know we’ve succeeded when we are no longer viewed as a service, but an integral team member in your growing business.

How can the pyramid work in your business? In the coming months we’ll be digging deeper into the pyramid and how Ruby practices each of the levels.

How Ruby Uses Technology to Create Community

By Katie Wilson | 01.09.2012 |

Happy Customers

”Create Community” and “Innovate” are two of our unique Core Values here at Ruby_®, and it’s through cutting-edge technology and caring, happy people that we’re able to provide the highly personalized virtual receptionist service we’re known for. Here are just five ways we put these two Core Values to work so that we can connect with our clients and make their days a bit brighter:

Our “About” field. We have a special area in our custom-designed software where virtual receptionists can add notes so that they can get to know our clients better. In fact, in our new “Ruby WOW Story of the Month” feature, we shared an inspiring story of how virtual receptionist Whitney L. used this field to make a particuarly memorable connection with one of our clients!

Frequent/familiar callers. Our one-of-a-kind software can recognize Caller ID numbers that are programmed into the system. That way our virtual receptionists can see at a glance whether the caller is a client or client’s family member and greet them with an extra warm hello!

Time zones. Our software shows the local time in each client’s account. An enthusiastic, ”Good afternoon, John!” when introducing a call to an east coast client (even when it’s 9:00am in Oregon) can be a thoughtful way to start things off. It’s also a wonderful way for our remote receptionists to sound like part of the team when chatting with callers!

Microsoft Sharepoint. We’ve shared in the past how we use Sharepoint to Create Community among the Ruby staff, but we also use Sharepoint “Quizees” to get to know our clients and their businesses better. A Ruby ”Problem Solver & Happiness Maker” (aka a member of our innovative Client Services team) may create a Quizee asking receptionists situational questions about call handling and general questions about what the company does so that they can WOW our clients.

Whereabouts updates. Ruby clients are welcome to keep us in the loop as to their status at any time with a quick whereabouts update. They can do this via email, our iPhone app, or our mobile-friendly Member Services Area. Whichever method they choose, they will always receive a personalized confirmation from one of our live virtual receptionists — never an automated response. An update that they’re leaving for vacation might spur the responding receptionist to add a personal note to the end of her confirmation: “That sounds wonderful, John! We’ve noted that you’ll be out of the office March 15-30th and will let callers know. We wish you a relaxing time in Hawaii — don’t forget the sunscreen!”

We’ll keep on adding new features to our software and tweaking our service so that our receptionists can make the most out of every interaction — anything we can do to put a smile on a client’s face is worth it!

The Watercooler.

Keeping it personal in a virtual world.