Technology

Is this familiar? You meet the owner of an Island company at a Chamber of Commerce networking mixer. You chat, exchange business cards and depart with a farewell that “I’ll call you.”

And the next day you do.

But the telephone at that company rings. And rings. And rings some more. Not only does no one answer the phone, but there’s not even an answering machine in place to take the call.

Yikes! Sound strange? Not really, because, believe it not, many new business owners simply do not understand the golden rule that you never have a second chance to make a good first impression. And
letting a telephone ring is a lousy first impression.

A move like this can usually account for a revenue loss. Studies show that a potential customer who calls a company and encounters a continuously ringing telephone rarely calls back. That potential customer usually tries another company. And that’s a customer that’s probably lost forever.

What to do?

Granted, not every small firm or home-based business can afford a receptionist to answer incoming telephone calls. But in this age of sophisticated electronics, telephones
themselves contain digital answering devices. (The answering machine, as we know it, has gone the way of the wind.)

• Many managers insist that receptionists answer an incoming call by the third ring. A digital answering device can be programmed in a similar manner.

• Answering a company telephone simply with the word “hello” is unacceptable in modern business practice.

• The receptionist should answer in a cheerful manner, quickly giving the company name and his or her name.

That’s a good first impression.

By Bob Williams & Christian Moccia

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