Appletree Answering Service

Appletree was recently recognized both regionally and at the national level for their continued success and growth.  For the 6^th straight year Appletree received the Philadelphia 100 award, being ranked as one of the 2009 fastest-growing, privately-held businesses in the Philadelphia region.  Rankings are based on verified revenue growth and Appletree was honored on October 1^st at the Annenberg Center on the University of Pennsylvania Campus. 
Nationally Appletree was named to INC.’s 2009 list of fastest-growing private companies in America.  Appletree has received the INC award every year since 2004.   

By Brendan B. Read, Senior Contributing Editor of TMCnet.com

Strong partnerships based on excellent, caring, service pays off. Just ask the American Red Cross (ARC) of the Delmarva Peninsula — which serves over 1 million people in Delaware and six counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore — and teleservices firm Appletree Answering Service.  The ARC has renewed its customer care partnership with Appletree Answers: a relationship that began back in 2000, whose longevity, observers say, is rare in teleservices.

The ARC offers assistance 7/24 to local families when disaster strikes. In 2007-2008 it provided emergency disaster relief after 198 fires, floods and other disasters and offered comfort and emergency needs to 295 families in crisis. The organization teaches lifesaving skills such as first aid, CPR and water safety and disaster preparation training. Over 20,000 people were trained on lifesaving while over 10,000 received disaster education in 2007-2008.

The Red Cross Lifeline program is another invaluable service the local chapter provides. Lifeline, which is a personal emergency response system, offers independence to seniors and other vulnerable people while giving peace of mind to their family and friends. More than 450 seniors and other vulnerable citizens became subscribers between 2007 and 2008.

In addition the ARC chapter helps local military families communicate during emergencies, such as when a family member needs to reach their relative in the military such as a death in the family, severe accident, or illness.  In 2007-2008 it delivered 1,000 emergency communications messages and other direct services to/for active duty, Reservist and National Guard personnel and their families. The Delmarva Peninsula is home to Dover AFB in Dover, Del. the state capital. This air force base is home to the 436th and 512th Airlift Wings which carries personnel, materiel, cargo, and sadly, the remains of those who died in the service of their country.

Appletree Answering Service provides ARC with customer care for all of these services and more, including card activation calls (when a victim is need of funds, the ARC gives them a card for use and it handles the activation) and media inquiries. It has 49 call center agents who handle their calls. Each agent assigned to them is individually trained on the account by a manager or supervisor. 

The firm says its value to the ARC is the ability to demonstrate empathy with very difficult calls: people who have lost their homes in a fire or parents calling for their children in the military to report a death. The call center agents accurately take the necessary information needed and efficiently provide it to the on-call caseworker for the American Red Cross.
“The reputation of the American Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula has been built over the past 100 years through caring and concern for those individuals in crisis,” states Daniel Valle, CEO, American Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula. “Many people don’t realize the multitude of services we offer until they are in need. To ensure the highest quality customer support for our community after-hours we rely on our dedicated partners at Appletree Answers to be the friendly, helpful, and empathetic voice available 24/7.”

“Our work with the American Red Cross is more than a business to business arrangement,” added John Ratliff, founder and CEO of Appletree Answers. “We consider the Red Cross a strategic partner and are honored to be trusted by an organization where every call is critical.”

Brendan B. Read is TMCnet’s Senior Contributing Editor.

If you have ever: Ordered from a catalog, purchased a concert ticket or  called to complain about an order or product , then you have interacted with a “Call Center”!  Of course, Appletree operates multiple call centers around the USA, however, our activities extend well beyond the handling of your calls. 

In addition to handling your tele-communication needs, Appletree offers a full solution menu which includes project support needs.   By eliminating your long distance phone charges and alleviating your staffing needs, Appletree will save your company significant time and money. 

Flexibility and quick response to our clients’ changing needs set us apart in the call center industry.  Whether your needs are re-occurring or singular projects, let Appletree accommodate your communication needs in the following ways: 

• Schedule, Cancel, or Confirm Appointments
• Customer Service follow-up calls
• Application Processing
• Customer Surveying
• Event and Conference Registration
• Ecommerce – Order Taking/Order Processing
• Cross Sell and Up-Sell Programs
• Live Web Chat
• 24-Hour Help Desk/Technical Support 

Whatever your company’s needs are, Appletree’s comprehensive corporate capabilities are available, accessible and affordable. Contact an Account Specialist today at 800-237-2810 to discuss any of your project needs.

When it comes to Customer Service, our front line agents take the prize.  Here at Appletree we are very proud of the product our agents deliver to our Customers and their Customers.  Managing the efforts of our front line staff is an elite group of individuals we refer to as our Team Leaders.  The Team Leaders’ job is to educate, hold accountable and cultivate our front line agents.

The week of January 5^th, Appletree brought in 30 Team Leaders from all of our 12 sites for an aggressive training, tour of the Corporate Office and Management Presentation sessions.  The focus was to drive home the value our Team Leaders add to the organization, while giving them additional tools to do their jobs.  John Ratliff, CEO states, “The number one way to create a culture and pass down the company’s DNA to our front line agent is to empower the people that manage their efforts.”

Several modules were developed in an effort to support and educate our Team Leaders.  Human Resources and Employee Fulfillment Directors presented on many topics to share risks, techniques and legal regulations associated with managing people.  Information Technology Directors presented on the do’s/don’ts with our systems and the Q and A session was valuable as our managers began to share best demonstrated practices.  With the recent roll out of Salesforce (our Customer management tool), our Team Leaders were granted access to the system with a very detailed process to assist with consistent documentation and Customer Service.

The bulk of the time was spent with the Operations Directors, who focused on industry specific education.  Opening the lines of communication and introducing this level of management to one another to help with overflow traffic, sharing of resources and training techniques on difficult accounts. 

The investment back to the company and the service expectations that our Customers can expect from this experience are simply put, worth it!  Measuring employee turnover, Customer attrition and quality will be the tangible evaluation and reward.

Appletree has taken a multi-lateral approach in communicating the importance of our Customer data. 

1. Company Insight:  As an answering service, we act as an extension of your business.  If we don’t properly emulate your business, then we are not successfully servicing your customers.  Our Service Managers are constantly asking you for information about your company: FAQ’s, directions, services offered, hours of operation, etc. in an effort to represent you transparently to your customers 
2. Customer Contact Information:  Contacting the right person in your organization is important to us.  For example, if we have a billing question, we want to talk to the appropriate person.  In order to adequately do this, we need to ensure we have correct email addresses, points of contact and phone numbers.  This will allow us to reach you at a moments notice, in the event of an emergency.
3. On Call Directories:  Having correct and up to date on-call information for your employees lets us assist your customers quickly and accurately.  Always contacting the appropriate on-call employee improves the caller’s (your customer’s) perception of your business.  We understand the importance of being in a 24/7 business and real-time information allows us to contact the appropriate employee for that middle of the night emergency call.

Appletree has taken strides to provide our Customers and Employees with the tools necessary to improve the overall experience.  With the implementation of our CRM SalesForce this year, our Employees are working hard to update our Customers company and contact information.  This resource has been a tremendous help in communicating with our Customers.  Proactive campaigns are aiding us in obtaining more detail about our Customers needs, products and concerns.  In the coming months, you will be receiving information cards that we would like for you to complete and return.  Remember, the more information you provide us, the better armed we are to serve you and your Customers.  Finally, we have implemented technology enhancements that allow most of our Customers the ability to check and change their on-call schedules 24/7 via the web from anywhere you have internet access.  For those locations that do not have this capability yet, we are working very hard to ensure we have similar systems in place and the directories are loaded in real time and with the most accurate of schedules.

With growth comes responsibility.  And with an intense focus to deliver exceptional service, Appletree has restructured our Company Core Values.  Our Mission Statement, “Enhancing the lives of our Customers and Employees one interaction at a time”, demonstrates the overall commitment we are striving for; our core values help us define how we are going to deliver on that commitment. 

•   Employees are Critical

•   Think like a Customer

•   Integrity Matters

•   Small Details are Huge

•   Be Quick, But Don’t Hurry

•   Take Care of Each Other

With 12 sites and 350 employees, the deployment of our Core Values had to be perfect.  We created small laminated pocket cards that included our Mission Statement and Core Values, and were distributed to all of our employees.  John Ratliff, CEO of Appletree, recorded a video that was posted on Youtube.com defining the value and importance of a company standing for something and getting behind a common goal.  Finally, we posted descriptions of our Core Values on our internal Intranet to help the employees understand at a detailed level why we chose the Values that we did.

There are a multitude of efforts being put forth this year to build an organization that strives for excellence.  Education programs, people development, benefit and recognition programs, as well as personal interest programs such as Dream On, are a just a few.  Appletree believes that building a family of employees who have the knowledge and tools to do their jobs well will create an environment that is ready to deliver that exceptional experience.

We are all affected in some way by the current economic slowdown.  The key to success is managing through these tough times with minimal strategic impact.  Companies lay off workers, cut back on resources, reduce wages and freeze benefits.  General anxiety leads millions of companies to hunker down and stop spending, which slows the economy even more.  However, your business does not have to suffer during these hard times.  During times like these, there are still several ways for companies to thrive and continue to grow their business.  Below are some tips from experts on how to save money and still grow your business during an economic downfall.  Along with some suggestions on how Appletree can help. 

Get your Finances in Order
It’s important to keep your business costs low and maintain cash flow.  Save money on jobs by eliminating non-profitable areas and outsourcing in order to use money where you need it the most. 

As your receptionist, you don’t have to pay Appletree a salary, benefits, sick and vacation days, taxes, or workman’s comp.  You don’t have the expenses of office space and you only pay us for service when the phone rings.  Appletree provides significant bottom line savings in comparison to full time employees.   

Keep your Staff Happy
During down times, management needs to place absolute focus on the core business.  Take care of the people that are going to carry your business through this tough time. 

In order to avoid hindering your employee’s productivity, Appletree can help your employees focus on their jobs and fulfilling their responsibilities.  By screening their phone calls, we can transfer their urgent calls and relay the messages for the others.  In addition to taking calls, Appletree can also answer your employee’s emails around the clock. 

Increase the frequency of communications with existing clients
Another key element for thriving during a recession is to focus more on customer satisfaction.  By focusing on delivering more than you promise, you are putting the customer first.  This helps reinforce their decision to buy from you.  Personalized attention makes your callers not only feel important, but also makes your company stand out.

Appletree will address client concerns, take orders, and answer their questions one-by-one, all while providing you with 24/7 customer support. With Appletree, you can increase your productivity, while still providing your clients with the personal attention they deserve.

Invest in Your Business
Promote, promote, promote!  Look at effective ways to market your business. When people are ready to buy, they want to talk to someone now.  To get an answering machine or voice mail gives them no sense that they have made any contact at all with your company.  Many feel that if they cannot reach someone when they are ready to buy, surely they may not reach anyone when they have a problem. 

An answering service can give your callers the impression of stability and professionalism that they look for in a company they want to do business with.  Appletree will always be there to answer their calls and can help you generate new business by making outbound phone calls or fielding and screening your incoming sales calls.  Your image starts with the person who answers your phone.  Show your prospects that you are a customer service oriented company.  With Appletree, all of your calls are handled with accuracy and expediency. 

I am often asked the difference between a Call Center and a Telephone Answering Service.  To be frank, the lines have been very blurred in recent years.  Let me offer some insight into how Appletree segments it’s business between Call Center and Answering Service.  One hint, it is not by customer size!

It really comes down to the complexity of the customer needs.  We have very large customers that have very simple name, telephone number, message type needs, and we would clasify them as traditional Answering Service.  They are processed on our state of the art call center platform, and have access to all the same services and features, it is just that their needs are simpler.

In contrast to that, we have some small customers that have highly customized needs.  As an example we have an emergency response account that responds to tractor trailer accidents that occur within their fleet.  There are a multitude of notifications and forms that must be completed when there is an incident, and we have built out a complete call handling script to cover all possible combinations of events.  The script took over 100 hours to build, yet this customer averages about 5-10 calls PER YEAR!  Certainly not a big customer in terms of call volume, but definitely a Call Center type of account.

Essentially, the Telephone Answering Service Industry, in partnership with our equipment vendors, have brought high level Call Center type services to companies of all shapes, sizes and configurations.  We are proud to service members of the Fortune 50, many of the Fortune 500, as well as sole proprietors and thousands of small businesses.  At any level of sophistication…

Have a great week.

Appletree is joining the blog world! As an innovator in the marketing arena for our industry, I am embarrassed that we are so late to the blog party. In our research we have found there are a multitude of reasons to actively participate in the blogosphere, not the least of which is communication with stakeholders. Customers, employees and key vendors are all engaged in research and interaction with related companies.I am excited that our employees will have a venue to make more of a connection with me and our company in general, and that is the primary driver for me becoming an active blogger. Business today has changed dramatically, and valuing employees as true stakeholders in the company is central to our philosophy. We even design new office spaces around front line employees first. They get the best views, the best space and the most ergonomic workstations.As a CEO, this progression to employee centric thinking is very rewarding. While it costs more to provide employees a first class experience, the service they deliver to our customers makes it well worth it. There are topics in just about every executive meeting about how to make the front line employee experience better. Our number one job as a company is to service our employees, so that they in turn service our customers. It is a real shift in thinking but one that is completely worth it.

Appletree Answering Service launches company blog to promote employee and customer education and communication.