Prepared for what? You may ask. Anything.
Here is a useful checklist free for your use:
Is your telephone answering service prepared for:
- Any natural disaster
- Electrical Outage
- Gas Shortage
- Employee Shortage
- Your Business Growth and increased service needs
- Your New Marketing Strategy which will spike the number of calls your telephone answering service receives for you
- The Swine Flu Epidemic (which actually never happened)
- The Wicked Witch of the West’s house falling on it
- Pigs flying over it
- Daylight Savings Time Changes
- Handling your calls in a professional, courteous, friendly manner
These are just some of the scenarios that could interfere with your service, if indeed your telephone answering service isn’t prepared.
When shopping, go ahead and ask if they are prepared. If your telephone answering service is also security conscious, they won’t share their specific disaster plans and recovery plans with you, but they will be able to discuss the overall concepts involved in an intelligent and simple way. They shouldn’t have to resort to big words to explain how prepared they are to handle any type of event that might pop up.
Also, for items 8 and 9 above, ask if they have any ruby red slippers, fairy dust and magic wands around. If they do, you might steer clear of them. If an answering service is relying on ruby red slippers, fairy dust and magic wands to help them through a disaster, I don’t like their chances…or yours.
Bippity, boppity, boo…
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