Tagged with: Phone Answering

Receptionist Etiquette Tip: Four Ways to Skip Negativity

By | 02.02.2012 |

We’re all about focusing on the positive at Ruby® Receptionists. Our virtual receptionist team is great at answering questions from callers, and we like to keep our answers free from dead-end replies like “No” and “I don’t know.” Our telephone answering pros knows that with a few key phrases and a desire to help, any question can be met with an upbeat reply. Here are four tips for keeping every response positive:

Name Drop. You may not be the best person to answer a question, but if you know who is, say that name!

“Can you reset my password?”

“Our technician Tim will be happy to help you with that! I’ll try his line for you.”

This works great for departments, too: “A member of our sales team would love to answer that question for you! I’ll connect you with a sales associate.”

Investigate. When you don’t know an answer, but know how to find it, this phrase is an ideal transition:

“I’d be happy to find out for you! One moment, please.”

No-Name Drop. Not sure of the best person or team to field your caller’s question? No problem! These upbeat responses work regardless:

“That’s a great question! I’ll find the best person to answer it for you. Just one moment, please.”

“Great question! I’d be happy to find the best person to answer it, and have that person return your call. May I have your number?”

Bookend With Positivity. When you know the short answer to a caller’s question is “No,” flank that negative with offers of assistance:

“Can the attorney see me at 2:00 today?”

“I’d be happy to let the attorney know you’d like to meet! She’s in court for the rest of the day, but I’ll ask her to call you and set up an appointment. What is the best number for a return call?”

Negative statements are an unhelpful letdown to callers, but luckily, we Rubys have found they can typically be skipped altogether! Got any questions for the best virtual receptionists on the planet? Please post ‘em in the comments section below!

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Receptionist Etiquette Tip: Match Your Caller’s Communication Style

By | 01.26.2012 |

Virtual receptionist tip: tone mirroringWe like to think of ourselves as the best virtual receptionist team around, and one way we show our skills is by making every caller feel comfortable. We’ve found a great way to keep callers at ease is by matching their communication style. If you’d like to add a bit of Ruby® to your conversations, try matching your callers in these four ways:

Introduction. Whether it’s Doctor Smith, Ms. Smith, or Susan, refer to your caller the same way she refers to herself. When given a full name, our virtual receptionist team opts for familiarity over formality — we’d refer to Susan Smith as Susan instead of Ms. Smith. Of course, when if a client asks us to address callers formally, Ms. Smith it is! As for which route you should take, we suggest checking with your employer. And always use a caller’s name when you can — it’s an easy way to engage a caller and show you’re listening!

Pace. Fast-talkers may be in a hurry, so get them to where they need to be as soon as you can. If your caller asks brief, to-the-point questions, keep your replies concise. When a caller wants to chat, engage in a little friendly banter, and when you’re asked a question about yourself, always thank your caller and reciprocate after answering: “I’m having a great day! Thank you for asking! How about you?”

Tone. If you sense any urgency in your caller’s voice, use it as a cue to reassure your caller, and take care of business: “I’ll be happy to put you in touch with our technical support manager — we’ll make sure this gets resolved.” Acknowledge any news your caller gives, whether good (“That’s wonderful to hear! Congratulations!”) or not so good (“I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ll do everything I can to help!”). When chatting with a chipper caller, have fun with ‘em, and keep your tone extra-upbeat. A caller’s a laughter is music to our ears!

Casualness. If you’re picking up a serious, uber-professional vibe from your caller, keep your tone and word choice the same. Meet casual callers with a more laid-back style. For example, positive words like Certainly! and Absolutely! work well in both cases, and expressions like You got it! or You bet! are great for those callers with an informal tone.

How do you engage your callers? We’d love to learn your tips! Share by commenting below.

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Receptionist Etiquette Tip: Hesitation Is an Opportunity to Help

By | 01.19.2012 |
Offering Assistance

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!

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How to Greet an Office Guest When You’re On a Call

By | 01.04.2012 |
Virtual receptionists Mercedes and Sara Lee

Ruby's front receptionists Mercedes and Sara Lee

Our clients know they can count on the warm, friendly voices of our virtual receptionist team to greet their callers. Visitors to the Ruby® office are treated to an added bonus: friendly faces to match! Our front desk receptionists Mercedes and Sara Lee field our clients’ calls like their fellow Rubys, but they also greet office visitors, and take care of all sorts of tasks that keep our office shipshape. How do they do it all? With a smile, of course! If you’re a front desk receptionist looking for a few tricks of the trade, look no further. Our telephone answering champs are here to help!

So what’s the best way to greet an office guest when you’re on a call? According to our front desk Rubys, it’s all about prompt, friendly acknowledgment. Says Mercedes, “When I’m on a call and a visitor arrives, I continue speaking with my caller, but make eye contact with the visitor, smile, and hold my hand up to show I’ll be with them in a moment. If I have a chance to place the caller on hold, I make sure my call notes are clear, then check in with the guest.”

Sara Lee agrees that the eyes have it: “The most important thing is making eye contact right away so the guest feels acknowledged and welcomed.”

Mercedes brings up a good point in saying, “Office guests don’t get angry and hang up.” But if they’re not acknowledged quickly, they might feel neglected, and that’s no good. As Sara Lee wisely says, ”There’s nothing worse than stepping into an office and wondering ‘Does she see me? Maybe I should clear my throat or something.‘” She adds, “If I am on the phone, I make sure to catch the visitor’s eye, smile, and nod to them. I may even give them the ‘One moment, please‘ index finger up that says ‘I’ll be with you in a moment.’”

A final note from Sara Lee: “My advice to receptionists who are balancing walk-in guests and phone calls would be to smile, make eye contact, and be their charming selves. It’s a winning combination!”

Do you field phone calls and greet office guests? How do you balance your daily duties? We’d love to learn your tips! Share by commenting below.

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Monica Wofford Inspires Confidence at Ruby!

By | 10.14.2011 |

Last night, Ruby®‘s virtual receptionist team came together for our final staff meeting in 2011. In addition to eating Hot Lips pizza, Creating Community, and chatting with coworkers, we had a special treat! Monica Wofford, Master Trainer and CEO of Contagious Companies, Inc., came to speak to our team about confidence. Her accolades are tremendous: Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), Certified CORE MAP® Coach, college professor, author, a degree in Speech Communication, an MBA, President of the Central Florida National Speakers Association, just to name a few.

We have enjoyed working with Monica and getting to know her over the years, and we had a blast meeting her in person and hearing her speak. Answering phones for public speakers, attorneys, plumbers, and more, means that our virtual receptionists speak with a wide variety of people every day. We’re known for connecting with our callers and clients, so it was fun to get a refresher on what a difference confidence can make and learn even more strategies for building relationships.

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Monica for coming out and inspiring our team! We’re energized and looking forward to spreading your “contagious” cheer!

Check out Contagious Companies and Monica’s book Contagious Leadership (which Ruby’s book club is reading next!) to learn more!

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Ask a Virtual Receptionist! Topic: “Can You Go Look for Him?”

By | 10.07.2011 |
Virtual receptionist Toni H.

Toni & the penguin that fellow Ruby LeAnna gave her

Our team of savvy virtual receptionists answer phones for a variety of businesses across the United States and Canada, and we pride ourselves on sounding like we’re actually in their offices. Occasionally, a caller may ask for us to physically go looking for someone in the business. While we cannot perform this task (without involving a plane, train, or very fast horse) we sure don’t want to leave them hanging! At Ruby® University, our receptionists have training on just this situation!

Mentioning that you’re with a virtual receptionist service may take the wind out of their sails, since traditional answering services can only perform limited tasks (sometimes even batching messages at the end of the day). They may think that we’re not familiar with the business and can’t do all the wonderful things we do (transferring calls live, emailing and/or texting messages immediately, answering FAQs, etc.). With this in mind, we try to frame things in a positive light and offer to help however we can.

To see the training in action, I asked virtual receptionist Toni H. how she would respond in this situation:

What would you say if a caller asked you to physically get up and go look for someone?

Toni: “I’m answering calls from a different office, but I’d be more than happy to try his line for you,” or, if I was unable to reach him or her, “I’m answering calls from a different office, but I’d be more than happy to take down a detailed message for you or connect you with his/her voicemail.”

There you have it! Whatever the question, our we’ll use our phrasing skills to make every caller’s experience top-notch!

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Receptionist Etiquette: Setting Great Expectations for Callers, Part 3

By | 10.05.2011 |
Telephone

Photo by Nate Steiner

Today, our virtual receptionist team shares another tip for setting solid expectations for callers: Know your employer’s preferences. Perhaps your boss checks her voicemail regularly, but rarely reviews her email — guiding callers toward voicemail is likely to ensure a quicker response time. Or maybe it’s just the opposite: The boss favors email over phone conversations, and encouraging callers to email her directly is the way to go. Knowing what your employer prefers can help you help your callers, and make life easier for your boss to boot!

The live virtual receptionist team at Ruby® takes pride in providing quality information to our clients and their callers. Our phone answering pros can gather important information before transferring calls, such as an account number or company name. If you’re a voicemail fan, we’re happy to route calls to voicemail, and each time we do, you’ll be emailed a .wav file of the voicemail message and a receptionist-written email containing the caller’s name and caller ID (plus any other info you’d like us to gather before transferring). The Rubys are tops at taking messages, too. Want us to collect an email address with every call? No problem! Got a few questions you’d like us to ask potential new clients? We’re great at that!

Knowing our clients’ needs and preferences allows us to give callers the best experience possible, and helps us provide the exact service our clients seek. Talk about a win-win! We Rubys encourage all of you skilled receptionists out there impress your boss and boost your callers’ satisfaction by learning your employer’s preferences and guiding callers accordingly.

We hope this series of tips has helped you shine like a Ruby! Are there any topics you’d like to see addressed on our blog? Leave a comment below — we’d love to know what you’re interested in reading about!

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Receptionist Etiquette: Setting Great Expectations for Callers, Part 2

By | 09.28.2011 |

Welcome to another telephone etiquette tip from the virtual receptionist team at Ruby®! This week’s tip for receptionists is to prepare for questions about time frame. As our phone-answering pros know, questions like “When will she be in?” and “When can I expect a return call?” are asked commonly by callers. Having a general answer to questions like this can help you set great expectations for your callers, and avoid making promises your co-workers may not be able to keep.

When they’re not sure about a time frame, our virtual receptionists like the phrase “She keeps her own schedule,” and always follow this handy deflection with an offer of assistance:

“When will she return my call?”

“She keeps her own schedule, but she’ll be happy to return your call as soon as she can. Is there a time that works best for you?”

A response beginning in “She keeps her own schedule” can help you avoid negative phrases like “I don’t know” and “I’m not sure,” and it’s a great way to segue into taking a message.

Another helpful option is talking to your employer about a time frame for return calls. Does she typically like to make return calls at a certain time during the day? If so, would she like you to relay that time frame to callers? Having a standard response like “She usually returns calls after 3:00. Would that work for you?” can be a handy, but be sure to clear it with the boss first. We suggest using a word like typically or generally or usually in this kind of response.

Stay tuned for another post on the topic of setting great expectations for callers!

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Confessions of a Virtual Receptionist: How to Sustain Pep & Cheer Throughout an 8 Hour Day

By | 09.20.2011 |
Virtual receptionists Marie, Lianne, and Mercedes

Rubys Marie (left), Lianne, and Mercedes at this year's "100 Best Companies to Work For" awards

We’re proud to say that today’s guest poster is one of Ruby®‘s talented virtual receptionists, Marie!  

“How are you are so perky?” Ask any virtual receptionist at Ruby, and she will surely tell you of a time when a caller or client asked her this very question. Our usual response is something about copious amounts of coffee, but I wanted to give a more comprehensive answer to this fabulous question. Personally, I draw energy from three main sources: Positivity, Health, and Community.

Positivity

  • Language is a powerful tool. Replacing drab words like “ok” or “sure” with WOW words, like “absolutely!” “fantastic!” and “certainly!” makes callers feel more cared for, and their happiness reflect back to you.
  • Phrasing your sentences so that the caller knows what you CAN do keeps calls on the right track, and everyone stays up beat.
  • Keeping your tone of voice cheery and helpful can create a positive atmosphere. To do this, simply smile while you speak. You’ll find that your tone of voice perks up as your lips curve up!

Health

  • Knowing ergonomically correct posture keeps my energy flowing in a positive direction. OSHA is a great resource and offers many solutions that I’ve seen Ruby employing such as wrist rests.
  • Healthy snacking is another way I keep my energy levels up. We virtual receptionists know that talking on the phone and eating do not mix, so I make sure to have something munchable ready on each break.

Community

  • Creating Community is
    Baby Panda

    Via Awesomer

    one of the Ruby Core Values, and it has been game-changer in my work experience. The little things my co-workers do for me can completely turn my day around. I was chipper for the rest of the morning after Lianne sent me this little guy!

  • Being friendly isn’t unprofessional! Personalized notes and emails are a great way to make someone feel appreciated, which makes everyone involved more cheerful! We received one of these e-cards from a client recently, and it made our day!
  • Lastly, I brighten my workspace with objects that make me smile. I keep special notes from my family and co-workers, along with a box of crayons for crafting fun cards:

    • Virtual receptionist Marie's desk

What do you have at your desk that makes you smile throughout the day?

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Receptionist Etiquette Tip: 3 More Ways to Connect With Callers

By | 09.13.2011 |

Photo by Nicholas Smale

We’re all about creating connections at Ruby®, so we thought we’d follow up on last week’s post about connecting with callers by giving you a few more tips from our virtual receptionist team. Our telephone answering pros don’t often have the opportunity for a long chat with callers, yet we routinely receive feedback about the positive impact our remote receptionists make on callers. How do we make a great impression in a short time? Here are three ways:

Look for an “in.” When a caller says something about  him or herself, always acknowledge it, and never let a chance to offer help pass you by. Any opportunity to help your caller is an opportunity to connect! Here’s an example:

Caller: Will you let Susan know I’m going to be a bit late for my meeting? I’m having car trouble.

Receptionist: Certainly. Is there anything I can do to help? I’d be happy to call a cab for you, or help in any way I can. Car trouble is no fun!

Check in. Look for opportunities to ask friendly get-to-know-you questions of your callers. A great time to ask a friendly question is just after gathering a caller’s name: “Thank you, Kelly! How are you today?” Try adding an introduction to the mix: “Thank you, Kelly. I’m Jane. How are you today?”

Always accept an invitation for conversation. Callers who invite you to chat may be rare, which makes them all the more special. When a caller engages you by asking “How are you?”or the like, respond enthusiastically, and thank the caller for taking an interest in you: “I’m fantastic! Thank you so much for asking! How are you?” An added bonus: Even if you’re not having the best day, replying enthusiastically and smiling can boost your endorphins and actually turn your day around!

How do you connect with your callers during brief calls? We love comments — leave one and share your thoughts!

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