Appletree Answering Service

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.

For those of you who are sports fans, this story may peek your interest, but I will not give you the blow by blow recant of the game.  Stay with me, I promise it’s going somewhere. 

So last night, I was lucky enough to get 2 club box tickets to the Philadelphia Flyers vs. Dallas Stars game, with a premier parking pass.  We had exceptional seats, about 12 rows off of center ice; access to the club box bar and close proximity to a restroom, which seems small, but quite the luxury at a crowded sporting event.  The game proved to be exciting clear through the 3^rd period where the Flyers pulled out a 4 -3 win over the Stars, giving them their 5^th win in a row.  With all the commotion of an exciting win and masses of people exiting the stadium, my friend and I went out the wrong exit.  So much for a premier parking pass…  And to add to it, it was raining, hard!  Taking advantage of the situation, we decided to run through the parking lot, jumping in rain puddles, splashing each other and racing through the parked cars like an obstacle coarse.  It was freezing cold and we were soaked, but it was fun.  Fun that you see children having, carefree, easy fun and it was all stimulated by a mistake.  When I woke up this morning, I was excited to share my story.  If it made me take the time to reflect on the simplicity and smile, then maybe it would touch someone else.  I guess the moral of the story is, not to let mistakes get you down, don’t dwell on them.  Get through them, learn from them and make the most of the situation! 

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. 

Remember when you were a child and your parents would harp on you to send thank you notes, clean your room when family was coming over or make sure you invited all of your classmates to your party instead of singling people out?  As my experience grows and I interact with Employees and Customers, I am now convinced that our parents constant nagging was a precursor to “paying attention to the details”. I could think of a million scenarios where the little details mean so much.  Remembering someone’s name, following up on a problem to ensure it was not only resolved, but there were no other issues to address or sending a thank you note to a new Customer.  Isn’t that just common curiosity to thank someone for their business?  We live in America for goodness sake; there are more options for Customers to have their needs serviced than anywhere in the world!!!  Being a part the Service Industry where the widgets we sell are packaged in a friendly hello, accurate message and a delivery of that message, it always amazes me to be subject to exceptional service.  The details…  I recently took a weekend trip to Atlantic City with a friend of mine, where we did some shopping, people watching and caught a concert at the Taj Mahal.  During our shopping excursion, we made a pit stop in Tiffany’s and of course, we treated ourselves to a little silver present with a gorgeous turquoise box.  As if the product was not perfect enough, it comes with its own little residence!  And to end it all, 4 days after my return to reality, I received a hand written thank you note from Ambur.  Ambur remembered me, my name, what I bought and how my face lit up when I put on my new necklace.  Of course Ambur was thanking me for my business, but she also made my purchase memorable by paying attention to the details.  Thanks Tiffany’s and Ambur for raising the bar on Customer Service!This blog was written by guest blogger, Candy Myura

I just returned from an industry trade association board meeting.  On the flight home I found myself wondering about the value in serving on voluntary boards, both within your industry and for charity.  Many successful CEO’s spend at least some time in voluntary service roles, and I was examining the value of that activity. 

It was never something that I actively examined, so it made for some interesting thought time.  I truly feel that all of my board involvement has furthered my career and my company, but not in the ways you would traditionally think.  It has not really been about networking and connections, although they have certainly helped.  I think the real value for me has been in the underlying exercise of solving strategic challenges for other organizations.  We become so focused on the day to day interactions and challenges in our own companies that we can lose sight of the bigger picture.  The ability to step into another role and work on different problems, is very energizing. 

There is a fine line with volunteer time, and board negativity can really suck the energy out of you, but overall I think it is a valuable and worthwhile endeavor!

Have a great week!

How do you communicate and educate 400 people across 12 sites nationwide?  You go on a Road Show!

I know it seems silly, but I will tell you, aside from the topic of my traveling expedition, it is as real and worth while as any project I have worked on.

The overwhelming objective that came to light pretty quickly after speaking to a few of our front line agents was they were not aware of the company’s goals, how they impacted those goals and the importance of their role within the company.  So with those initiatives in mind, I created a presentation that was not only informative, but drew from real examples in their everyday lives and experiences at Appletree, and tried to make it fun. 

The presentation kicks off with a very clear description of the company’s goals, the respective site level goals and drills down into how each individual person impacts those goals.  We talk about initiative, attitude, respect and the tangibles, like showing up to work on time, being efficient on the phones and taking accurate messages.  The combination of communication, education and tying the two together seem to be the missing piece of the puzzle.

We expect a lot from our people, and work towards aggressive goals to service our customers well.  In my experience, I have found that the more you share with people, the more apt they are to feel part of the big picture.  A company is only as successful as each of its individual employees; it’s my job to arm them with the tools and information necessary to be just that.

This blog was written by guest Blogger Candy Myura.

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.

I am the President for the National Amtelco Equipment Owners Association and in that capacity I write a monthly column for our newsletter.  The overall topic of this month was Customer Service.  I really had to stop and think about the state of Customer Service today and how it fits into an overall business strategy.  It is sad but true that delivering an above average level of Customer Service has become a competitive advantage!  Deliver extraordinary service and books will be written about you…

Why has it gotten to this point?  I get the sense that a variety of factors have led us to this point.  At or near the top of the list is the pace at which we move today.  We are in a 24/7/365 world.  I know because my company helps power that world.  We get the strangest and most routine calls at 3am, at times you would think it was midday on a Tuesday.  Customers have come to expect instant access, not just to information but to people.  That means you need to be on your Customer Service game around the clock.  30 years ago this was pretty much unheard of, but today it is the standard.

Another factor in the demise of service is the number of customer touchpoints that must be managed.  It used to be phone call, letter (snail mail) and face to face.  Now there are a wide variety of channels customers use to make contact, and many of them are difficult to manage in real time because they require someone to “notice” them.  Web chat, email, voicemail, etc. are at times more passive and require tightly defined systems to deliver a high level of service.  Training costs and challenges increase exponentially as well.  The skill sets required to serve in this new world are more diverse.  Written and oral communication skills are now a must, and much harder to find in the employee pool.

The upside to all this, for the companies that crack the Customer Service Code, is a huge competitive advantage!

Have a great week!

I am just back from a 2 day Sales and Marketing Summit that was co-hosted by Fortune Small Business Magazine and Verne Harnish of Gazelles (Gazelles.com). What an amazing 2 days. They brought in an array of great speakers and delivered excellent and timely content. The networking was very good and you can always count on some great peer sharing when Verne gets a group of entrepreneurs together!  But what really hit home for me was how important it was to stay educated. There were CEO’s in the room who have achieved, by all standards, the pinnacle of success. Yet there they were side by side with their team continuing to learn. I am proud of the fact we have made learning such a huge priority at Appletree Answering Service and even went as far as to set some standards by quarter on how much time EVERYONE in the company should spend on education. It is a top to bottom initiative as well. Everyone in the organization is responsible for meeting education goals.I look forward to expanding our intiative in 2008 and continuing to develop our learning library. It is the best gift we can bestow on an employee, the gift of new knowledge. My goal is to deliver knowledge that everyone in our organization can take with them for the rest of their career and life, not just for their time with us. We are trying to develop people one by one and live up to our mission statement…Improving the lives of Customers and Employees, ONE interaction at a time.