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Conversations dominate our markets. We no longer live in the days where customers and consumers turn to companies for answers. Word of mouth and the opinions of others are worth much more than the company jargon on a web site. With the advent of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Yelp, your employees are talking and accessible outside of the office walls, and the market is listening to what they have to say. Whether you are a small business owner or CEO of a major corporation, your employees are your most important brand ambassadors.

The steps to having successful brand ambassadors are simple.

1) Realize the importance of employees… all of them.

Your employees, from entry-level positions to the most senior management, are extremely important. Remember that whoever has the first point of contact with your markets is in an influential position. Their interaction with your customers and consumers is crucial. This interaction shapes the image of your brand in the mind of the consumers, and they will take that information to their friends, their conversations and the web.

2) Keep your employees informed
Communication is key. This sounds like a no-brainer, but it is surprising how little internal communication there is in some companies. As ambassadors of your brand, an informed employee is one of your strongest assets.

3) Let your employees know you appreciate them and the work they do

Employees are happier when they feel their work is appreciated. Without them, your company could not exist and be successful. Let them know you appreciate their hard work. Happy employees will gladly sing praises.

Markets are dominated by conversations that are happening all the time. Today’s technology provides numerous platforms for conversation. Your employees are an influential voice in these conversations-they are your strongest brand ambassadors, and it is important to treat them as such.

Whether you are a business owner blessed with too many phone calls, or an entrepreneur looking to convert callers to clients with greater consistency, a telephone answering service can often be a valuable partner in maximizing your business. However, too many businesses do not get the results they are looking for upon choosing a telephone service provider. Here are the Top 5 Mistakes they typically make:

1.Assuming all telephone answering services are the same.
Enter telephone answering service as a search in Google and you’ll return more than 1,000,000 results. The most common mistake is to assume all these companies provide the same type of service, equal quality of service or even serve your type of business at all. The telephone answering industry has evolved quite a bit in the last decade and has become increasingly specialized.

2.Not knowing what you want from an answering service.
The best way to identify what type of telephone answering service you require is to first understand what you are trying to accomplish. Are you simply looking for a live person to answer a call and take messages? Would you prefer someone who can function as your receptionist to screen, announce and connect the calls you want in real-time? Maybe you need someone to handle a call from start to finish by scheduling your appointments, placing orders or more. Do you want your callers to feel as though they have reached a service, or that they have reached your office and are speaking with your receptionist?

3.Not asking the right questions of the answering service.
Depending on your answers to the above, there is certain fundamental information you should gather from a prospective telephone answering partner such as: How many different people will be answering my calls? What are your live answer hours? Will there be additional usage charges for having calls connected back to me in real-time? Where are your agents located? What systems do you have in place to guide agents in handling my calls? Will I have the opportunity to meet or speak directly with those handling my calls?

4.Choosing the low cost provider.
Like most things in life, you get what you pay for with telephone answering services. Too many business owners compare solely on price only to discover their calls are not handled to their specifications. There is an incredibly wide range of telephone answering services available. From calls answered 24×7 in distant, off-shore call centers by agents paid a few dollars a day to highly trained and well educated receptionists working business hours in your local community. A part-time shift worker at a large call center will never become as familiar with your business as a full-time receptionist in a smaller local office. Don’t underestimate the value of having your bread and butter business phone calls handled professionally and to your specifications.

5.Not communicating your needs clearly and consistently.
Whether you are delegating work to an on-site employee or an off-site receptionist, it is critical to clearly convey your desires to the people doing your work. Not only is it necessary to setup clear procedures initially, but it is essential to keep your partner informed as your business changes and your needs vary accordingly. Keep in mind that nobody will know your business as well as you (employee or virtual assistant), so be sure to make your instructions clear, concise and consistent.

So, before choosing that answering service, call center, virtual remote receptionist or other off-site partner, spend a little extra time to thoroughly research your decision using these guidelines. This will greatly enhance your chances of forging a successful, long-term partnership with your telephone service provider.

There are many benefits to having a live, professional receptionist answer telephone calls for your small business. Among them are enhanced professional image, improved customer service and the ability to manage your workload more effectively. As with anything, there are certain people who are naturally predisposed to doing certain work and the receptionist is no different. When it comes to telephone reception, whether you are looking to hire a full-time receptionist for your office or outsource your telephone answering to a virtual receptionist service (sometimes called off-site or remote receptionist), there are several key qualities you will want your receptionist to posses.

1) Strong telephone personality – As effective a communication tool as the telephone can be, it is a somewhat narrow channel. By this I mean that messages and meaning can only be conveyed verbally and are only received using one of our five senses. The result of this is that the caller must rely solely on the voice coming through the phone line to interpret the communication effectively. This necessitates having a receptionist whose natural speech pattern is animated and friendly. Without the benefit of the non-verbal cues that dominate so much of face communication, meaning can easily be misconstrued if not delivered articulately and with appropriate emotion.

2) Genuine desire to help – Some people just take natural pleasure in assisting others. You want to engage a receptionist who derives satisfaction from lending assistance and makes it their mission to see every call through to its best conclusion. If your receptionist does not have the caller’s best interest at heart, this will come through on the phone. Not unlike a top salesperson who must be customer focused to succeed, your receptionist should channel all their skill and knowledge into understanding what the caller requires and finding the most expeditious manner to deliver it.

3) Coachable – Another key quality you want your receptionist to possess is to be coachable. This means they are willing to learn and adopt those systems you have in place for your business and execute them effectively. By definition, the receptionist is not charged with developing the experience you want your callers to have. As a business owner, you must develop the systems you wish to employ for converting callers to clients and repeat customers. The job of the receptionist is to learn these systems and follow your instructions to take the caller down the appropriate path in the most amenable fashion.

While many of the skills necessary to be a good receptionist can be taught, you will find that if your receptionist has these key qualities, they will naturally excel in this important role.

If you’re in business for yourself and have considered hiring staff or leasing a traditional office to grow your small business, there may be a more intelligent way to enhance your professional image, improve customer service and manage your workload more effectively.  Unlike a traditional telephone answering service, a remote receptionist (also known as a virtual receptionist or off-site receptionist) can provide you many of the same benefits as a traditional receptionist without the need to hire an employee.

Having a live receptionist answer your business telephone calls is one of the best ways to inspire confidence in your callers and maximize your professional image.  With recent advances in telephone technology, it is no longer necessary to lease office space and hire staff just to have your phone answered professionally.  A remote or off-site receptionist has the ability to answer your business phone calls at their location, assist callers as you’ve trained them to do, then privately announce and seamlessly connect only the calls you want back to you on any phone number.

Even more compelling, with the advent of current web-based tools, your remote receptionist can schedule appointments, place orders, register seminars and perform many other phone based and administrative assistant duties from a remote location.  Unlike a large call center, the best receptionist companies will provide you a small dedicated team of receptionists who you can train to function as your employee for each phone call.  Done properly, your callers won’t even realize your receptionist is not at your location.

Considering the high cost associated with office space and hiring employees, with a little research you may find that using a remote receptionist is a more intelligent option than leasing an office.