Answering Services and Call Center Solutions

Customer Service FAQs for Answering Service and Call Center Solutions

Why should I use Appletree Answering Services and not other answering services to handle my calls?
Why do I need a telephone answering service when I already have an office assistant?
How can I be sure that smart, friendly people will answer my calls?
How are call center agents trained to ensure the delicate nature of my business calls?
How do you guarantee that the privacy of my information and my clients are protected?
How quickly do you answer my calls?
Are my callers going to experience any hold times?
How do call center agents know what questions I need asked of the caller and what information I require?
How do your call center agents process orders for my company?
Should I let you know if I forward my phone for some reason during business hours?
Do you offer bilingual answering services?
What is the most popular service you provide?

Why should I use Appletree Answering Services and not other answering services to handle my calls?

The choice of which telephone answering service or which of our call center solutions to use is absolutely critical to your business. The telephone is the front line link to your customers, and it must be treated with great importance. The Appletree commitment to the customer experience is evident. We talk about the experience of doing business with Appletree with every employee every single day. This focus on experience translates into an exceptional experience for your callers. Appletree prides itself on the quality of service that we give to our clients. We hire the best agents possible and continue to educate and evaluate them on a monthly basis to better enhance this service. Our goal within Appletree is to make the transition between our two companies as seamless as possible.
Why do I need an answering service when I already have an office assistant?

Appletree is a full service 24 hour a day telephone answering service and call center. Appletree can be there when you can’t. We can cover times when your personal assistant is not available during business hours, as well as after hours and on weekends. Often the best opportunities come during off times. You would hate to miss an important call just because you or your assistant were tied up working on another task. It has become critical in today's business environment to handle calls, especially during the business day, with a live person. Live person answering is now a true competitive advantage.
How can I be sure that smart, friendly people will answer my calls?

We have a saying at Appletree that "you can't teach Friendly". Because we cannot teach friendly, we hire for it. Providing excellent quality starts with selecting the right agents. Agents undergo several steps in the hiring process. Prospective employees must pass an operator skills test and a Predictive Index test before an initial interview is scheduled. The applicant must then go through 2 interviews, before a decision is made.

Agents go through an extensive initial training program beginning with basic system functions, call handling and extensive 1-on-1 training. New agents are assigned to handle very basic accounts at first and work with their assigned trainer to earn the experience and skill to advance to the next levels of accounts.

All agents also undergo daily training in accordance to our ongoing training program. Included in this program is an allotment of time for new accounts. Training reports are measured against the grading report attached separately. Once reviewed, the report will then be discussed and analyzed with the agent. The recorded call will then be played to identify areas of excellence and possible improvement.

Agents also have the ability to earn additional money through this monitoring program. Incentives are based on individual and team performance.
How are the call center agents trained to ensure the delicate nature of my business calls?

Our hiring process is just the start for agents. After they have been carefully selected for critical attitude attributes, they are extensively trained in the subtleties of being an effective call center agent. We use a multifaceted approach to training, including material developed in-house, material developed by industry trade associations and extensive side-by-side listening sessions. Our best agents mentor our new agents, and much of the focus is on the nature of our business and how critical a link they provide. All agents are background checked, screened extensively and have signed confidentiality agreements that cover Appletree and our customers' confidential information. Our employee handbook makes it clear that just one confidentiality violation will result in immediate dismissal. We have never had to dismiss an employee for a confidentiality breach.
How do you guarantee that the privacy of my information and my clients are protected?

Each account within Appletree is separate from all others, including messages, forwarding numbers and specific account information. At the time of a call on your account, whether it be from you or one of your clients, the agent is only referencing your account. In addition, we have each of our employees sign a confidentiality agreement to hold information on your account private. That information is yours, not ours.
How quickly do you answer my calls?

We measure our call handling times in every office every hour of every day. Our average call is answered in less than 18 seconds and 80% of all calls are answered within 3 rings.
Are my callers going to experience any hold times?

Appletree staffs according to call volume and in most cases there should not be any hold time and if any, minimal. Should an increase in call volume occur without warning, such as inclement weather, all available agents will be brought in to adjust for the increased volume.
How do call center agents know what questions I need asked of the caller and what information I require?

Every account is designed around the unique needs of that customer so the agent has all the pertinent details in front of them when they need them. From the very first contact that you have with an employee from Appletree, we are learning from you. Our sales associate will gather the information needed to set your account up, including questions that YOU wish our agents to ask. If your account has some complexity, a complete script can be designed that will walk the agent and caller through the call in a seamless manner. If during your relationship with Appletree you need to make changes to your script or your account, a Customer Service Manager is available to work with you on those changes. We strive to handle calls as well as or better than our customers handle them in-house. We create an expert system that allows our agents to be completely up to speed on what each customer requires.
How do your agents process orders for my company?

We can do it any number of ways. We can build an order processing platform on our equipment, or we can utilize your back office systems. We typically use a web interface that ties into our customers' back office order processing system, but again we are flexible.
Should I let you know if I forward my phone for some reason during business hours?

As a rule of thumb, the more detail we have to handle your account the better. The more we know the more informed we sound to your callers, but there is no specific requirement that you let us know. We are there to handle your calls via our call centers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.
Do you offer bilingual answering services?

We do offer bilingual answering services. We have sites in Anaheim, CA and in San Juan, Puerto Rico that are both fully bilingual. We also have access to French bilingual agents through a strategic partnership with a call center in Canada.
What is the most popular service you provide?

Our bread and butter is still traditional live Telephone Answering Service and Call Center Service. We are able to bring big call center technology and expertise to the small customer in a boutique-type setting.