Information in all forms is important to any industry. In the telephone answering service industry, it is important to give customers access to their information at a moments notice so they can process it and benefit from it.
I truly believe that planning is what you need in order to excel in the next few years.
The first and probably most important tool is information. I am not simply referring to things like messages or orders,
but real, actual, raw information. Information is important; information is knowledge that is communicated. Collecting important data and then processing it increases its value, making it worth much more than we are getting for the same amount of effort.
Ok its powerful, you may be thinking, but how can I use it? When it comes to collecting and distributing information, the telemessaging industry has the most experience and skill, no question. There are telemessaging businesses that have been around for years, back when the industry was just starting to appear. Because of their ability to maneuver information, they have not only survived but also flourished. The World runs on information and the right information at the proper time is what separates being wildly successful and barely scraping by.
You have to stop and ask yourself, "Do you believe a demand exists for self-service exists?" If you do believe there is, how and when do you think you can take advantage of it? There are two tools that you should consider using. They are the Internet and IVR, or "Interactive Voice Response." The great thing about self-service is that it broadcasts specific information to your callers whenever they want it. It does not matter if it is in the early morning, after noon or very late at night. With both tools, the Internet and IVR, there is very low labor input required and awesome returns. You need to understand the economic motivation, which of course are lower costs.
You need to consider providing web access to the information you processed from raw data. You should work on enabling a front end or perhaps integrating a sophisticated decision-making IVR system. You should definitely implement of either these, or perhaps both, when you decide to get your client to pay for the information.
The means is simple since the necessary hardware and software and the service you need are add-ons. Improving the amount of your knowledge and moving up a level in terms of seriousness can be rather difficult. Finding good, solid clients that only want the best and are willing to pay for it, can be difficult yet entirely rewarding. You need to explain to your staff that the company needs to step up a notch to be competitive. You need to explain that your company is becoming bigger and they can expect the clients to increase but it will be very much worth it. Knowing where and when to charge more and how much depending on what you are offering is a difficult task that is to be handled with tact.
Know that our business is in fact information and that the lifeblood of every business is in of course information. So, keep in mind that our challenge, the need we are to fill is providing relevant information that is both useful and invaluable to the appropriate businesses. To survive we have to become an integral part of the business environment. There has to be a need, a cause, for us to step in and provide. Information is only good when applied and utilized correctly. Presentation of this information can only benefit a company if it is organized and of quality. That is why research and dedication to customer satisfaction needs to be the underpinning of what we are doing here. Business needs information, and we were in the business to provide it. If anyone could do this, then somebody else would be doing it. We have to do what we do best, and make sure people know that.
We have the means and the ability. We have repeatedly not failed to provide information access to companies. We are versatile and we know how to fill needs and create solutions. There will always be a reason for our work, and we will continue to expand and learn more. We are the backbone of the global business infrastructure and can do anything. No job is impossible and as a unified and powerful information machine, we can tackle any problem with confidence.
