We’re at the Great Place to Work Conference in Atlanta, Georgia!

By | 03.28.2012 |

Paddy and Sarah at the Great Place to Work Conference

We’re always looking for more ways to make our virtual receptionist service a great place to work and keep our receptionists and staff happy — so much so that one of our Core Values is Foster Happiness! With this in mind, Ruby’s Director of Human Resources, Paddy McCaffrey-Allen, and I (as Director of Culture) traveled to sunny Atlanta, Georgia to attend the Great Place to Work Conference.

We’ve already heard an inspiring keynote address from John Mackey, Founder and CEO of Whole Foods. He observed that these days aggressive competition is the standard in business, but things like empathy and helpfulness are starkly missing. He noted, ”[p]articularly as we see women move into higher roles in business, we will see love take its rightful place in business.” As a woman-owned business full of cheerful, compassionate women (and four cheerful, compassionate men), we hope we can help with this change! And we can’t wait to see what else we learn from the other speakers!

We’ll be in Atlanta today and tomorrow; if you’re attending the conference or are in the area, let us know if you’d like to meet up or follow us on Twitter for more news from the conference!

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Client Spotlight: Linda DeVlieg and Albuquerque Real Estate

By | 03.27.2012 |

Linda DeVlieg

Our virtual receptionists have been cheerfully answering calls for Linda DeVlieg’s office at Coldwell Banker Legacy since September, and it has been fantastic working with her. An expert real estate agent in Albuquerque, Linda helps residents sell and buy homes as well as those relocating to the Duke City for work. She holds numerous certifications including being Albuquerque’s only Cyberstar®, an elite group of real estate professionals chosen for their proficiency and knowledge of technology in real estate marketing. We’re thrilled she chose Ruby to care for her callers!

We touched base with Linda and asked her a few questions about life as an entrepreneur, advice for buyers and sellers, and why she loves her job.

Tell us about your Albuquerque real estate business

My business is mostly centered around my website, which has been at the top of the search engines for a long time; I started it back when a lot of real estate professionals were worried about whether the Internet would kill our business; I believed that the Internet was where the customer was going, and I needed to go with them!

What makes Albuquerque such a wonderful place to live?

The weather and the scenery. 360 days of sunshine and the most beautiful vistas in the world! Plus, the people and the diversity – very easy place to live.

Do you have suggestions for first-time home buyers?

Choose a great real estate professional and let them guide you through the process. There’s way too much information to go through and do it on your own – and the sellers pay for us to help you! It’s a win-win situation.

What’s your best advice for someone who’s thinking about selling their home?

Get guidance from an experienced real estate consultant and don’t fight the market! Stage, place, and market your home to its best.

Getting to find families the perfect home must be very rewarding. Have you had any experiences that have moved you (no pun intended)?

Oh my, so many great experiences! I loved the one where I was holding an open house, and a couple walked in and wanted to buy it on the spot. I had my lender with me, and as it turned out they couldn’t buy it on a VA loan without being married. He got down on his knees and asked her to marry him. It was amazing!

You’re constantly on-the-go showing homes; how has having Ruby’s virtual receptionist service helped your business?

Ruby is essential to my being out with clients, doing business, and still having a live, friendly voice to answer my marketing calls. I know how much I hate voicemail when I’m contacting a business, and Ruby allows me to have my valuable customers get a live person answering my phone and either forwarding that caller to me, or taking a message and making sure I receive my messages immediately. I wouldn’t do without Ruby!

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Ruby CEO Jill Nelson Speaking at Dress for Success’s “Going Places Network” Series

By | 03.26.2012 |
Jill Nelson, Ruby Receptionists CEO

Ruby CEO Jill Nelson

Dress for Success is a cause close to our hearts, and we were honored when they invited Ruby Founder and CEO, Jill Nelson, to speak at their inspiring “Going Places Network” series.

Through 12 weeks of workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions, unemployed and under-employed clients gain professional skills, accelerate their job search, and build confidence. Jill will be speaking at today’s event on “Change Management” and offering insights on managing expectations and keeping motivated during the job search.

We’re also looking forward to sponsoring Dress for Success’s “Celebrate Success” event for the second year in a row — keep an eye peeled for more info on this wonderful event!

If you’d like to help support Dress for Success and their mission to help disadvantaged women, or would like to learn more, please check out their website here!

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The Ruby Video Wins a Gold Oregon ADDY Award!

By | 03.23.2012 |

We’re thrilled that our video has won a Gold Oregon ADDY award! Our brilliant branding company, Sockeye, outdid themselves when creating this whimsical representation of how our live virtual receptionist service works.

We’d also like to thank again our virtual receptionists and wonderful clients, Shawn Busse with Kinesis, Bonnie Richardson with Folawn Alterman and Richardson, and Matt Burk with Fairway America for their touching testimonials!

Watch the award-winning video below:

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WOW Story of the Month : An Oscar-Winning Performance!

By | 03.22.2012 |

One of the things that makes Ruby such a great place to work is that we get to work with great clients! Ruby clients make our days brighter and that is what motivates us to keep brightening theirs. This month’s WOW story comes to us from an amazing pair up from our Client Services department and virtual receptionist team: Kate and Dallas!

One of our amazing clients, Donna Cutting, released a book called The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service, and we just absolutely love it! Donna is an expert in educating people on how to make great impressions and provide over-the-top customer service and we feel so lucky to be able to work with her.

Part of Donna’s mission to experience the real celebrity red carpet, she was able to score a chance to attend the Academy Awards! Kate and Dallas were so excited for her, so they put their heads together to come up with a fun way to show it. They decided to make sure that she didn’t have to leave the Academy Awards empty handed and sent her her very own customized Oscar (we like to think she probably won it in the category of “Awesomeness”).

Donna posted this photo and comment on her Facebook wall:

“Kate and Dallas from Ruby Receptionists knew that I had just come back from my bleacher seat at the Oscars. On a whim, they made my day by sending me my very own Academy Award!”

We are so excited that we could give a little of that red carpet service back to Donna for all the great work she does to inspire others!

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Receptionist Etiquette Tip: 4 Easy Ways to Impress Callers

By | 03.20.2012 |
Excellent Feedback

Photo by Dominik Gwarek

Being a standout receptionist is not only easier than it might seem, but as the live virtual receptionist team at Ruby® knows, it’s incredibly rewarding. Our telephone answering experts love finding little ways to connect with callers, and provide the best possible call experience. If you’re looking to do the same, here are four habits to add to your phone repertoire:

Repeat your caller’s name. As soon as you catch a caller’s name, say it back to ‘em. Using a caller’s name is a great way to show you’re listening, and it creates instant rapport. A simple “Thank you, Karen!” does the job perfectly, and if you want to go the extra mile in engaging your caller, add a friendly question: “Thank you, Karen! How are you today?” They may not seem like much, but those seven little words might just make your caller’s day!

Make the most of caller ID. Got a crackly connection? Not sure how to spell your caller’s name? Didn’t catch the last digit of that phone number? Check caller ID — if what you see is similar to what your caller said, you’ve got a good jumping-off point. Caller ID info isn’t a reliable replacement for basic questions like May I ask who is calling? and May I have your number?, but it’s a helpful tool when your conversation isn’t crystal clear.

Check your work. Always read phone numbers back to callers when taking messages — it’s the easiest way to confirm you’ve taken a number down correctly, and it  reassures the caller that the person they’re trying to reach will be able to return the call. The same goes for email addresses, web addresses, and physical addresses. Read all contact info back for confirmation, and use a spelling alphabet to confirm any tricky letters.

Don’t miss out on manners. Say “please” and “thank you,” and say them often. When you’re thanked, reply with a heartfelt “You’re welcome!” And if your caller is kind enough to ask how you’re doing, show your appreciation, then do the same: “Thanks so much for asking, Karen! I’m having a great day. How about you?”

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Can You Use Ruby’s Virtual Receptionist Service with Rollover or Hunt Lines?

By | 03.16.2012 |
Rollover Lines

Photo by alexkerhead

Many business owners take advantage of rollover or “hunt” lines, where if the line is busy or no one answers, the call will ring to a second (or third, or fourth) line until someone can get to the phone or voicemail picks up. Quite a few clients have asked us whether a rollover lines can work with Ruby. The short answer is: Absolutely!

When you forward your published line to our virtual receptionist service, it will typically break the hunt cycle. Your calls won’t roll to the other lines in your office, but rather will all roll to Ruby where a cheerful virtual receptionist will answer just as if she were sitting in your lobby! And we’ll help you figure out how to make sure you have enough paths for all of your calls to get to us – we can even hop on a conference call with you and your phone provider if you’d like us to make sure everything’s tip-top!

Do you have questions about how Ruby can work with your business and help your company grow? Give us a call at 866-611-7829 or post your query in the comment section below!

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Ruby the Receptionist on the Silver Screen!

By | 03.14.2012 |

Does anyone watch Once Upon a Time on ABC? If you caught Sunday’s episode, you may know where I am going with this…. For the rest of you, Once Upon A Time is a family show about all our favorite fairytale characters being banished to the real world by the Evil Queen. The plot line cuts between the fairytale world with all our familiar characters (Prince Charming, Snow White, etc.) and their modern world counterparts in a town called Storybrook. Living in this town is a young waitress named Ruby. Naturally, she is the modern counter character to Little Red Riding Hood. In last night’s episode Ruby got in a fight with the owner of the restaurant where she waitresses and ended up working for the sheriff…answering phones! That’s right, she became Ruby the Receptionist! You can see a clip below:

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Pretty good, right? I especially like how she is so naturally inclined to answer the phones that she picks it up as soon as it rings. I guess it is a Ruby thing! And with a little phrasing help from our training program, I’m sure she could be as wonderful a virtual receptionist as anyone at Ruby Receptionists! Needless to say, I was pretty excited about this connection to Ruby, and I fancied one of our clients might be watching and thinking of us as well!

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Ruby Will Be at the ABA TECHSHOW March 29-31!

By | 03.13.2012 |

ABA TECHSHOW Exhibitor LogoRuby’s taking a road trip! We’ll be exhibiting at the ABA TECHSHOW March 29-31st! Stop on by booth #513 and say hello to our friendly sales team, Diana Stepleton and Ashley Fisher. Ruby Founder and CEO Jill Nelson and our Director of Marketing Kevin Gillam will also be making the rounds!

Aren’t attending and would like to check out the vendors? Click here for a free pass to the EXPO!

If you’re in the Chicago area and would like to meet up, please drop us a line! We’d love to see you!

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Ask a Virtual Receptionist! Topic: Training

By | 03.09.2012 |
Virtual receptionist Taryn

Taryn C.

Everything we do at Ruby is a combination of great people and solid processes. We hire the best and the brightest, and then we give them cutting-edge tools and training so that they can succeed. Ruby University is our top-notch, ongoing virtual receptionist training program where receptionists learn not only how to connect calls and take messages but also proper phrasing and etiquette so that they can make the most out of interactions.

We took a moment and asked virtual receptionist Taryn C. about what she’s learned at Ruby so far!
 

What’s a phone answering technique that you’ve learned at Ruby that may have surprised you?

I was surprised by how effectively we’re able to calm frustrated callers. There’s a whole section of training on what to do when a caller is upset: we’ll listen carefully to them, restate what they’ve said, confirming we’ve heard them, and sympathize with them. We’ll also them know that we’ll relay the situation and urgency to the client, and it really allows them to feel like you are on their side. And when you let them know that you will do everything you can to make sure that they are taken care of, it can really make a difference.

Plus, it helps our clients be better informed when they take the call or receive the message. Ruby has a very thorough process for caring for callers who are having a rough day, and it feels good to be able to help!

I second this! We really do want to help whenever possible, and sometimes simply being able to comfort someone who’s going through a rough time can be incredibly rewarding!

Want to learn more about our techniques? Check out our Training Writer Phoebe Osborn’s blog post entitled Receptionist Etiquette Tip: 3 Steps to Turn a Tough Call Around!

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