The PATLive Blog
The Best Ways for Real Estate Professionals to Answer Phone Calls
Answer with a Polite Greeting First of all, you want to start with a polite greeting. Sounds obvious, but if you are in the real estate industry and you are likely in between various showings, dealing with back-and-forth negotiations, or are submitting paperwork for a quick-to-sell property and you may feel stressed. For every prospective…
The Best Ways a Law Firm Can Answer Phone Calls
Answer with a Polite Greeting First of all, you want to start off with a polite greeting. Sounds obvious, but if you are a legal practitioner and you are in between various court sessions, client meetings, or are traveling to the next jurisdiction. You may feel hectic yourself. You may feel stressed getting to an…
4 Huge Benefits of an After Hours Answering Service
Many small businesses live and die by their ability to connect and make a good impression with customers over the phone – so it’s integral that all channels are open for contact night and day. An after hours answering service can help you grow your business by creating memorable experiences 24 hours a day, 7…
Case Study: High-Volume Answering Service for Real Estate Investors
Diamond Equity Investments is a real estate investment organization that purchases, renovates, and resells single-family homes, multi-family buildings, commercial properties, and land. Founded by Dan Breslin in 2006, Diamond Equity Investments offers fast and convenient sales for sellers in Atlanta, Chicago, and Philadelphia and their outlying areas. Too Many Phone Calls Diamond Equity Investments began as…
How To Choose a Virtual Receptionist Service
If you were to be on the lookout for a new in-office receptionist, you’d almost certainly take a decent amount of time to find the right person. You’d review resumes, interview multiple candidates, and make sure that your future employee had all the skills and traits necessary to do the job well while fitting in…
Call Handling 101
Congratulations! The day is here when you’re getting so many calls that it’s interrupting your day-to-day life or you simply can’t handle them all. While this doesn’t feel like an exciting thing, it means that your business has grown, and you need help managing incoming calls. At this point, growing businesses like yours turn to…
Case Study: Legal Answering Service
James Mullaney is a family law attorney serving the Jacksonville, FL area for over 20 years. With his experience and personable approach, James focuses on reducing the emotional toll of family legal disputes by making smooth transitions for clients and their families with fast resolutions and great service. Why This Lawyer Needed an Answering Service …
A Guide to Hiring a Small Business Answering Service
If you’re reading this, there’s a solid chance that you’re considering hiring an answering service for your small business. Congratulations – this is an exciting step, and it means that your business is growing and you’re being proactive about providing excellent customer service. Choosing a small business answering service or knowing how to get the…
6 Ways to Leverage PATLive’s Web & Mobile Apps for Your Business
At PATLive, we’re all about helping businesses save time and provide great customer service, and, now with our new web and mobile apps, we have new ways to customize your call handling instructions so we can deliver an even better experience for your callers. In this post, we’re going to look at six ways you…
PATLive Serves as an Extension of Your Team with New Web and Mobile Apps
PATLive’s team of U.S. virtual receptionists answer calls 24/7/365 for thousands of businesses nationwide, offering a wide range of services on calls such as call transfers, message taking, lead collection, appointment scheduling, order processing, event registrations, and more. And with PATLive’s flexible approach to call handling instructions (and new web and mobile apps), businesses can customize exactly how their calls are answered. With the number of people working remotely at never-before-seen highs, there…
5 Creative Ways to Show Your Customers You Care
When large corporations make a sale, that’s it; a sale happens, a customer is hopefully pleased, and somebody maybe gets a commission check. That’s typically not the case with small and even medium-sized businesses, where every sale can make a difference. Small businesses see sales coming in and it can make their day. They care…
4 Unexpected Ways a Virtual Receptionist Helps Your Business
There are plenty of advantages to hiring virtual receptionists that you’re likely already familiar with. Having someone else handle incoming calls is an enormous time-saver, and the fact that you can pass off the task to someone who will treat your customers as well as you do is a huge advantage. You and your staff…
5 Ways to Protect Your Business From Robocalls
An enormous volume of incoming calls is just part of the deal when you’re running a growing business, even if the business is in relatively early stages. Potential leads, vendors, and customers alike are all calling to ask about everything from return policies to order tracking to appointment booking. These calls can take up a…
4 Creative Ways to Provide Personalized Service for Customers
Customers have higher expectations than ever before. Customers know it, and businesses know it, and it’s true all over the world. It’s not enough to simply answer a call fast, or even to just be friendly while rattling off your strict company policies. Customers want more than that. Personalized customer service is the new standard of…
8 Marketing Tips to Promote Your Small Business
Marketing is essential if you want to attract new clients, make sales, and scale your business. It can also be really, really expensive. With strategies like expensive Paid Search ads, sponsored campaigns, and costly consultants taking center stage in the marketing world, it’s easy for small businesses to feel intimidated and end up not getting…
Remote Work in 2021: What to Expect
Over the past ten years, there’s been a distinct shift in how the business world works. While it seemed radical early on, some businesses started to incorporate remote working into their operations process. At first, many allowed the option on for special occasions, like when employees would otherwise have to call out because a child…
The Future of Customer Service
Customer service standards have shifted dramatically over the past decade, thanks to a combination of more competition in the market and an abundance of increasingly-accessible technology. All businesses understand that the customer experience is a powerful differentiator, and it absolutely will impact who customers buy from, how long they stay loyal, and even what they’re…
eBook: How Technology is Changing Customer Service
Customer service today looks vastly different than it did even ten years ago. Ten years ago, mediocre customer service was almost the expected standard, with long wait-times on phone calls or help emails that wouldn’t be returned for days. And sometimes, even if the customer service wasn’t great, you’d still stay on as a customer. …
Seasonal Call Answering Service: Boost Your Holiday Business
If you’re like many businesses, you can expect to have a significant uptick in sales and inquiries during the holiday season. More people need help with placing orders, selecting products, or tracking packages. Everything is high stakes, and everything is happening at a higher volume. This year especially, plenty of our customers are already seeing…
6 Easy Ways to Improve Customer Service in 2021
If you’re a small business owner, you’re taking stock of what helped your business to grow in 2020 and what can be improved in the upcoming year.One area you should definitely assess is how to improve customer service. You need to ask yourself what your customers liked, what they didn’t, and figure out how to adjust in a way…
6 Ways to Grow Your Small Business in 2021
Many small businesses have both short-term and long-term goals of growth. They want to increase their client base, boost their revenue, and grow their business overall. While COVID-19 may have thrown a wrench into a large number of business’s plans this year, the good news is there are plenty of strategies that you can still…
How to Build Reviews for Your Small Business
When you’re looking for new ways to promote your business and build trust with potential customers, there are plenty of different marketing paths you can take. There’s social media, paid ads, influencer marketing, sponsored promotions, lead generation strategies, and more. Few marketing methods, however, are as effective as garnering public reviews. Actually getting reviews, however,…
7 Easy Ways to Stand Out From the Competition
The far-reaching potential of the internet has made it more difficult than ever for your business to stand out from the competition. Companies from the opposite side of the globe can now accurately advertise to your audience with laser-focused targeting and PPC campaigns, giving you thousands of businesses to compete with instead of a handful…
6 Simple Ways to Automate Customer Communication
There’s a major trend that’s taken the business world by storm in recent years, and it’s transparency. Customers like businesses who are transparent and proactive in their communication, as opposed to those who make it difficult for customers to get information that they want or need. While this is a great standard, it can undeniably…
Top Customer Experience Statistics of 2020
Greg Gianforte from RightNow Technologies, Inc. defines customer experience (CX) as “the sum of all interactions that customers have with a brand, and the perception they form as a result.” Though customer experience is a general term, there’s a reason we hear it so often – it’s what makes businesses competitive in the times we’re…
Customer Service Week: Celebrating While Working Remotely
Customer Service Week is the first full week of October, and it’s all about celebrating your frontline. This year, of course, things look a little different, that’s why it’s more important than ever to show your appreciation to the customer service team that represents your business every day. Anyone who has ever worked in a…
How to Create a Great Customer Service Experience
The past twenty years have been more like a hundred, when it comes to customer service expectations. We’ve reached a point where technology and globalization are challenging brands across the world. And those brands are loosening their purse strings in order to meet these elevated expectations. According to a 2018 Salesforce study, 80% of service…
How a Virtual Receptionist Improves Customer Relations
Customer service can be the make-it-or-break-it factor for businesses in 2020. It’s well established by now that customers will actively seek out businesses with outstanding service, and that they’ll stick around longer if they find it. This is the differentiator that will help you land and keep clients, allowing your business to thrive. While implementing…
5 Great Customer Experience Tips from the Pros
The importance of a business providing a great customer experience is nothing new. In fact, some large corporations have entire departments dedicated to delivering an exceptional experience for their customers. But for most businesses, especially small businesses, that’s not necessarily feasible. The good news is 91% of customers prefer small businesses when the option is…
5 Lead Generation Strategies to Increase Your Call Volume
If you look at many businesses today, they often have complex online funnels set up that are designed to automate the lead and sales process. For example, a search result sends users to a landing page, where they get an automated chat that invites them to a free trial, which is then followed up by…
Client Retention Best Practices During Changing Times
We hear it over and over again: We’re now living in “the new normal.” There’s nothing really normal about what we’re all currently experiencing, but it is our new reality, at least for now. Everyone is impacted. Businesses are left struggling to not only focus on keeping themselves and their team safe, but to also…
In-House vs. Virtual Receptionists: How to Choose
As a business owner, receptionists help make your world go around by taking simple tasks off your hands so you can focus on the big picture. They can do almost anything for your business such as eliminate the ringing phone, screen calls, support clients, manage your calendar, process payments – the list goes on and…
The 4 Unexpected Benefits of an Answering Service for Contractors
There are plenty of advantages to hiring an answering service that you’re likely already familiar with. Having someone else handle incoming calls is an enormous time-saver, and the fact that you can pass off the task to someone who will treat your clients as well as you do is a huge advantage. You and your…
Our Favorite Business Podcasts – Impact Theory
If you’re a small business owner, and you aren’t already listening to the Impact Theory podcast, hosted by Tom Bilyeu, you’re missing out. More Than Just a Business Podcast Impact Theory is not just a business podcast; it’s a valuable resource for mindset training, as well as health and lifestyle tips to help you succeed (and recognize/appreciate…
Can Your Small Business Afford A Call Answering Service?
We know better than anyone that small businesses often come with tight budgets, even as you’re starting to grow. You may be swamped with expenses that you never considered before starting up your own venture like invoicing software, liability insurance, and even pest control for your office if you have one. A small budget quickly…
How Remote Workers Stay Connected with a Virtual Receptionist
We’re months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and plenty of businesses still have as many of their employees working from home as possible. Even outside of the pandemic, a large number of businesses have been increasing remote work opportunities for their staff. While there are plenty of great advantages that come with remote working, some businesses…
The ROI of Great Customer Service
If you read absolutely any business publication or any blog talking about business growth, management, or tactics, you’ll see one key fact repeated over and over again: You need great customer service. Most businesses understand this in theory, but often struggle to prioritize exceptional customer service consistently because they’re trying to manage so many other things. Marketing,…
10 Things Every Virtual Office Needs
According to a study conducted by FlexJobs, remote work has grown 91% over the past 10 years. And that was before the COVID-19 crisis, which has even more of the working world doing so at home. Not only is remote work at an all-time high, but the need for a virtual office setup is too. When the…
5 Resources That Will Make Every Real Estate Investor’s Job Easier
To say real estate investors are busy is a gross understatement. Agents are constantly rushing to appointments with partners or to show one of their available properties or putting out any number of property management fires; it is not a career choice for the timid. When you have so many things coming at you at…
5 Seamless Ways to Get Your Calls to a Virtual Receptionist
Virtual receptionists can make your life much, much easier. They can answer all of your calls or any call overflow that you have (it’s up to you!), and high-quality services are able to take messages, capture leads, register customers, and even process payments. Your customers call you, and when you want us to, we’ll be…
10 Answering Service Posts Every Small Business Should Read
The Coronavirus pandemic has been a time full of uncertainties. With millions of us social distancing and working from home, small businesses worldwide have been preparing for their new normal as they begin to reopen their doors. One thing is for sure – your customers and clients are ready to see you again. And, people,…
Small Business Tips: How to Improve Your Customer Service Skills
Customer service is a crucial skill for all businesses. As a client, which would you rather work with: A business that takes four days to respond to an email after two follow-ups about being overcharged, or a business that has a friendly customer service agent answering the phone, email, or live chat in minutes and…
How to Reopen Your Small Business With A Bang
Small Business Week may have been postponed to a later date, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start maximizing sales in your small business today. The shutdowns and economic impact from COVID-19 have been frustrating to say the least, and have had a significant impact on small businesses. However, small businesses everywhere are starting to open their…
Our Favorite Business Podcasts This Month
Whether you’re preparing to reopen your doors, choosing to continue social distancing for a while longer, or branch out into an entirely new business, there’s no time like the present to seek a little business inspiration. At PATLive, we’ve been curating some of our favorite podcasts to help small businesses plan and prepare for the…
How to Personalize Customer Service as a Small Business
While large corporations are everywhere, Americans tend to prefer working with smaller businesses whenever possible. Small businesses are seen as more accessible. They aren’t bound by rigid policies that don’t make sense like corporations, and they’re often perceived as being heavily involved in the local communities. Customers often trust them more and feel more invested…
9 Stress Management Tips for Business Owners & Team Leaders
Managing a team and a business is no easy task, and it can be stressful even under the best circumstances. Trying to tackle business ownership or leadership during a worldwide crisis like the one we’re currently experiencing with the coronavirus pandemic, however, is a challenge that many have never faced before. There’s one thing that…
Why Communication is Key During This Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic we’re currently experiencing is unprecedented, and it’s forced all of us into social distancing and near-isolation. While we’re all kept further away from each other, communication is more important than ever before — especially for businesses who are still trying to keep their metaphorical doors open. Communication is key because even while…
Who’s Answering Your Phones During COVID-19?
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting small businesses in a variety of ways from shifts in demand to transitioning to work from home, all with very little time to adapt. With about a zillion unknowns (including how long this is going to last) one thing is for sure – your business is still getting phone calls and…
Small Business Tips: Guide to Working from Home
Social distancing has required millions of people across the world to stay home. As businesses face immediate and unprecedented in-office shutdowns in an attempt to flatten the curve from the coronavirus, they’ve been left scrambling to shift their team to a work-from-home setup. While having your entire team shift to working from home is a…
The Complete Guide to Starting a New Business
Starting a business is an exciting time but can also be stressful and very involved with paperwork galore. According to the Small Business Association, more than 627,000 new businesses open their doors each year. Unfortunately, the same report found that around 595,000 businesses close every year, too, meaning that getting off to the right start…
Why Word Of Mouth Is So Effective
When it comes to growing your business, what worked for advertisers five years ago does not have the same effect today. For example, social media marketing platforms are so inundated with paid advertisements that users are conditioned to ignore them completely. Instead of spending more and more on the same ad channels to be competitive,…
7 Surprising Ways to Save Your Small Business Money
Most small businesses operate on tight budgets. They’ve got razor-thin margins, and with fluctuating markets and the need to reinvest money back into the business so that it can scale, it’s not surprising that most are constantly on the lookout for ways to save money. Unfortunately, too many businesses end up cutting “mission-critical” expenses that…
How to Find the Best Legal Answering Service
Swamped with work, many law practices eventually turn to a legal answering service to help them manage their constant stream of incoming calls from clients and potential clients. High-quality answering services accept calls, answer questions, take messages, collect client information, and book appointments as if they were an in-office secretary who worked closely with the firm’s attorneys….
6 Simple Ways to Create a Lifetime Customer Base
All businesses understand the value of customer acquisition, placing enormous amounts of time, energy, and money into attracting and converting new customers. Adding new customers to your roster is essential for growth, so this is a justified priority. Too many brands, however, stop there; they land one customer, and they move onto the next. This…
How to Transform Negative Reviews Into Opportunities
Every business with an online presence will experience it at some point. That dreaded, awful feeling that comes when you see a “less than glowing” review from a customer pop up online. Maybe their order came late, or not at all, or arrived broken. Perhaps they felt they ended up with lackluster customer service. We’re…
6 Quick Ways to Spark Growth in Your Small Business
When you first launch your small business, it can feel like growth is happening slower than you ever thought possible. Every time you gain two new customers, you lose one, whether it’s because a contract ends or natural churn rates have taken hold. And while you know that once you gain traction with your business,…
26 Motivational Quotes to Get Your Day Started
How do you start your day? Maybe you need your morning yoga to clear your head, or you need your morning coffee to open your eyes. No matter what, you could probably also use a little motivation to prepare yourself for the daily grind. It’s no secret that small business owners tend to be highly ambitious individuals….
The Benefits of Outsourcing Calls with an Answering Service
If you ask a list of small businesses if they’d like 100% of their phone calls answered, they’d say “Of course!”. If you ask the same small businesses if they need an answering service, the answers will most likely vary. Maybe it’s because of a limited budget, maybe it’s because they don’t realize how many…
Upset Customer Calls: How to Deal
It’s virtually impossible to make everyone happy, all the time. While you pride yourself on providing top service in your field, upset customer calls are bound to happen. Details are miscommunicated, mistakes are made, and they may not necessarily be in your control. How you turn around a bad experience makes all the difference, and…
7 Business Tools to Help you Work on the Go in 2020
We live in an on-the-go world, where nothing ever seems to slow down. It only makes sense that we’ve adapted and are increasingly searching for ways to work on the go, too. Business owners have historically been trapped at their desks from 9-5, Monday through Friday, and sometimes even later and on weekends, too. Now,…
9 Small Business Owners Who Inspired Us In 2019
Small businesses are full of challenges and risks, and it takes a special kind of person to run one successfully. While they are often a labor of love, the hard facts remain that about 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, and around half will shutter within five years (according to The Bureau…
10 Books Every Small Business Owner Should Read
Knowledge is power. It’s a cliche, but it’s a cliche for good reason, especially for people taking on big ventures like running their own business. Starting, running, and growing a small business is no easy task, and there is so much information you need to know to find success long-term. Plenty of people know that they…
What Types of Companies Need a Call Center?
If you ask most small businesses if they feel like they need the help of a call center, they’d probably dismiss it pretty quickly. Most like the sound of having someone reduce the flow of incoming calls, but think that this isn’t something that they either need or can afford. In most cases, this couldn’t…
6 Ways a Live Answering Service Will Improve Your Business & Life
When small businesses are determining how they should reinvest into their businesses, they typically look at what would help them most. Some opt to go all-in on marketing, while others upgrade equipment or move to a new office. Live answering services may not be the first thing you think of when deciding how to best…
7 Ways to Promote Your Business This Small Business Saturday
As a live answering service for thousands of businesses nationwide, small businesses have a special place in our hearts. Making up 99.9% of U.S. businesses and 47.5% of the workforce, small businesses play a critical role in the economy. That’s why American Express created a holiday just for small businesses in 2010, and it’s paying…
How to Find the Right Answering Service that Fits Your Business
Answering services can benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes. You’ll have a team of virtual receptionists take as many incoming calls off your plate as you choose, whether you only want to use the service for overflow or after hours, or as your first line of defense for every incoming call your office gets,…
4 Proven Ways to Increase Your Repeat Customer Base
Landing new clients is exciting. It’s like a rush — you see your profit margin increase, and your business scaling right in front of your eyes. Your business can’t really scale, however, unless you’re able to keep your clients in addition to landing new ones. Repeat customers are essential for retention rates and long-term success….
5 Customer Service Skills that Drive Every Business
Customer service departments don’t just exist to address issues after they’ve already happened; they’re meant to be proactive parts of your overall business strategy. The level of competition in almost every field is so high that customer service has become a key decision-making factor for most buyers today. 96% of consumers, for example, stated that…
The Benefits of Call Answering Services: An Infographic
As a busy business owner, you know the importance of the ringing phone but that doesn’t mean you have the time or resources to answer every call. Enter call answering services, the business solution that does so much more than message taking. With service packages now starting at just $39/month, you can rest easy knowing…
Why eCommerce Customer Service is the Difference Your Brand Needs
Quality customer service is crucial in every industry. However, compared to a brick and mortar retail store, eCommerce customer service is significantly different. The lack of physical interaction before a purchase can lead to more uncertainty before committing to the purchase. Combine this with unhappy customers taking to social media to vent their frustrations, and…
The Role of the Phone in the Customer Service Lifecycle
Delivering excellent customer service relies on your ability to understand your customers, their relationship with you and your brand, and what they need from you. You can’t do this without understanding how customer service fits into the customer’s lifecycle and buying process. A customer who has a few questions about your return policy prior to purchasing,…
Virtual Receptionists: What They Are And How They Help Your Business Grow
Starting a small business can be one of the most difficult things anyone can do. Scaling a business and keeping it successful can be even harder. Just when you feel like you’ve got things figured out, with a solid schedule in place and a growing roster of clients, you’ll likely find that things need to…
34 Customer Service Stats You Can’t Afford to Ignore
We all understand the basic value of customer service, knowing that if we aren’t able to deliver a good customer experience, they’re going to walk away unsatisfied. Better customer service means happier customers, which means more profit, better retention rates, and an easier job growing your company. But what exactly does that look like, and…
How to Drive More Phone Calls Using Your Law Firm's Website
The average day at a law practice is action-packed, so it can be easy to forget to continue optimizing your marketing efforts. There are, however, a few quick ways to make sure you’re on the right track. If you’re a law firm looking to grab a few new clients, you’re in luck. We’ve outlined three…
5 Simple Ways to Make Your Customer Service Shine Into the New Year
The end of the year is headed towards us full steam. Before we know it, we’ll be in the hectic holiday season and then, bam! 2020 will be here. There’s nothing like the upcoming close to the year to create some urgency in your business. As a small business owner, you’re taking stock of what…
Customer Service Week: How to Celebrate in 2019
Customer Service Week is a nationally recognized event celebrated annually on the first full week in October. If you’re wondering why anyone would ever want to celebrate customer service for a day, let alone an entire week, here’s why. At PATLive, we celebrate Customer Service Week to remind our live receptionists what an integral role…
Business Podcasts Every Entrepreneur Should Listen To
International Podcast Day is September 30th – and it’s no wonder this new medium has its own day, with over 50% of the US population having partaken. Podcasts have a unique draw, providing listeners with insights and entertainment that are tailored to their interests. As of June 2019, there were 750,000 podcast shows and counting,…
4 Ways to Get the Most Out of PATLive’s Answering Services
Though plenty of businesses see the appeal of having an answering service to keep their phones from ringing off the hooks, many express one single objection over and over again… and it’s finding room in the budget. The number one thing they’re worried about is that it will be obvious to the caller (often a…
Customer Journey Mapping: What It Is & How to Get Started
Customer journey mapping is gaining prevalence in the business world, especially within the realm of customer experience. Some CX experts might even say if your business hasn’t taken the time to create a journey map, it can’t properly serve its customers or anticipate their pain points. While there are many ways to create an exceptional…
The True Value of Providing Human Customer Support
Do you dread calling a customer service line? Unfortunately, that’s what many of us find ourselves doing when placing a call to a business where we know we won’t get through to a human being. And if we do reach a person, we have to repeat our stories a handful of times before reaching someone…
How to Keep Your Small Business PCI Compliant in 2019
Security is becoming an increasing concern for businesses and consumers all across the globe. Digital risks are becoming even more prevalent, leaving business owners in charge of protecting themselves, their employees, and the customers that keep their doors open. When it comes to security– and cyber security in particular– there’s a lot to keep up…
4 Technologies That Aren't As Scary As They Sound
Technology is evolving at a break-neck speed, with new developments coming out faster than most of us can keep up with them. This can be overwhelming for anyone, but especially for business owners and managers who are trying to keep up with changes in their business, their market, and their industry on top of everything…
Is an Answering Service for Lawyers Right for My Practice?
No matter what type of law you practice, we know that you’ve got a lot of tasks on your plate and that all of them are pretty hands-on. You’re the one who needs to meet with your clients and discuss contracts, strategies, and next steps; you often need to handle the majority of cases yourself,…
7 Customer Service Trends Driving Success in 2019
Everything about the business world is rapidly evolving, ranging from the tools we use to connect to customers to how exactly those client interactions are going. Customer service trends are no different. We’re very much living in a buyer’s market, where the client holds all the power and has the option to choose from so…
Call Forwarding – How Can It Benefit My Small Business?
You call your doctor’s office, needing to make an appointment the next day for your sick first grader. It’s not an emergency, but you want to make sure that you can get an appointment the next day if it’s available. You’re expecting to be sent to voicemail because it’s 8 o’clock PM on a Tuesday,…
7 Tips For Outstanding Phone Customer Service
We’ve all been an angry customer on the other end of the phone, frustrated with a problem that a brand has caused us while a customer service representative tries to come up with a solution for us. Some calls go great, with an outstanding rep who really seems to care about your experience and works…
PATLive Listed as a Top Answering Service on Clutch B2B Review Site
Customer service is the cornerstone of a positive relationship between a business and its clients. If a customer does not feel valued by a business or service provider it can damage the relationship to the point where they may cut ties entirely. But it can be difficult to maintain these quality client relationships, with potential…
Why Phone Calls are Essential to Customer Service
Customer service has increasingly become an omnichannel experience for both customers and the businesses trying their best to serve them. Trying to keep up with the evolving technological landscape, many companies are offering phone lines, social media messaging, email responses, and even live chat on their site. With so many options, it’s easy to get…
3 Undeniable Reasons Your Business Needs a Live Receptionist Now
The phone is ringing. Again. It’s ringing when you’re trying to finish an expense report. It’s ringing when you’re trying to take ten minutes for lunch. It’s even ringing while you’re on the phone with another client. Whether it’s an employee trying to get in touch, a vendor who needs clarification, or a customer who…
How to Make a Great Company Phone Greeting
First impressions matter, and even if someone is familiar enough with your business to get on the phone and reach out, that first call can have a big impact on how they perceive your business. Your company greeting should be created with that in mind. A strong company greeting will start the call off right,…
7 Ways An Answering Service Puts Money Back Into Your Pocket
Answering services get dismissed by business owners due to the initial cost. Yet, partnering with one is an investment that will pay for itself repeatedly. One huge benefit of answering services: they provide all your customers with a live person on every call. But there’s more. Answering service agents help with tasks like event registration,…
What an Answering Service Can Do For My Business
As your business grows, however, it’s not possible to be on call 24/7; it’s not really possible even if you’re a single-member business. If you and your key employees spend all your time fielding customer calls, you won’t be able to actually do the work or run the business. Too many business owners know the…
Comparing The Costs of an In-House vs. Virtual Receptionist
Every small business owner has spent hours thinking of ways to save their business money. Have you considered what you could save by switching from an in-house receptionist to a 24/7 live answering service? The low monthly fee you’ll pay to have your phone calls answered 24/7 by a team of experts pales in comparison…
Live Answer Scripting: Develop the Perfect Call Script
At first glance, trusting another company with your phone calls might seem risky, if not straight-up absurd. We get it! No one knows your business like you do — yet. How can you be sure that another service will capture exactly what makes your business special and communicate that to every caller? I sit well…
Even More Customer Service Advice from Small Business Consultants
A few weeks ago, we asked a bunch of consultants and marketers from lots of different industries to weigh in on the most useful advice they could think to give a small business. (You can check that out here.) We’re back today with a few more gleaming nuggets of customer service gold, just for you. …
Customer Service Advice from 17 Small Business Consultants
That’s right! Here’s a treasure trove of customer service knowledge from 17 leading consultants, from accounting wizards to content-creating wordsmiths. We asked each of them to weigh-in on the topic of customer service and communication, and each of them delivered with a unique perspective. Topics range from clever branding to enhancing responsiveness across channels of…
What are Virtual Receptionists? The PATLive Guide
You might’ve heard the term “virtual receptionist” before, and it’s not immediately clear what exactly they are or what purpose they serve. Are they robots? Do they sit in the corner of your office, beeping like the Jetsons’ robot maid? (We’ll get that one out of the way now—no.) If you don’t know what a…
5 Lessons I Learned While Following Shep Hyken on Twitter
Customer service and experience expert, Shep Hyken, is doling out tons of actionable (and free) advice right on Twitter. I’ll admit that when I accepted my position at PATLive, I knew very little about customer service. Beyond the niceties that are practically baked-into my southern upbringing, I had never really considered service as anything beyond…
Read if You Dare: The Most Dreadful Customer Service Stats of All Time
There’s no stopping it: bad customer service is everywhere. Even worse is that customers have a very low bar for what equates good service; a scant one percent of customers feel that their expectations of good customer service are always met. And yet businesses still miss the mark.We all know that a great customer experience…
Customer Communication: 3 More Ways to Keep Cool During Stressful Calls
A few months ago, we shared some tips for taking the heat out of your most stressful customer phone calls. Since good customer communication is a skill one can always improve upon, we thought we’d offer up a few more tips to help you smooth over your toughest calls. As a quick reminder, your business…
6 Brilliant Quotes to Inspire Awesome Communication with Your Customers
It’s been said that 85 percent of our success in life is directly linked to our skills in communication. That is a huge number. And it’s definitely a stat you should note if you own a business; customer communication plays a major role in your success. \We all know communication goes beyond talking, but what…
4 Crazy Simple Ways to Communicate Better With Your Customers
If you ever thought customer communication is over-rated, consider this simple fact: 70 percent of consumers are willing to spend more with companies that provide excellent customer service. Source: Neil Patel Blog The way you interact with your customers has a direct impact on your sales numbers. If they’re treated with respect and feel that…
Answering Service Tips: How To Keep Your Cool During Stressful Calls
It’s impossible to make everyone happy all the time, and owning a business practically places you in the hot seat. Those customer complaints are sure to come. It’s how you handle them that makes all the difference. Answering calls from angry customers is just one stressful task small business owners have to handle. And it’s…
6 Ways Answering Your Own Phone Harms Your Business (And How An Answering Service Helps)
You want to be as hands-on in your businesses as possible, but sometimes delegating certain tasks to other people is the best solution. Answering your own phones, for example, is one of those tasks that would be better handled by a receptionist or answering service. If you’re answering your own calls yourself instead of delegating…
3 Things I Learned About Customer Service by Being a Plumber First
This week we’re sharing a post from one of our favorite social media friends, Steve DiGioia. Steve is a renowned customer service trainer, author and speaker, and shares a ton of great advice on his blog. One of our favorites is a post about the service lessons he learned by being a plumber first. It’s an…
6 Reasons An After Hours Answering Service Builds Your Business
It’s a different day, but the story remains the same: you have just finished up work for the day, your receptionist has headed home and you’re daydreaming of unwinding over dinner. And just as you go to lock the door, your phone rings. You sigh, but you answer anyway. It’s a customer. And they need…
7 Simple Tips that will Actually Boost Your Customer Service
Customer service that delights. That’s always the goal, right? It’s easy for business owners to get bogged down with all the options for creating the best possible customer experience. From paying consultants to software to chat tools and on and on…there are a number of solutions right at your fingertips. The thing is that all…
Infographic: Maneuvering 5 Difficult Customer Personalities
All small business owners have their bugaboos. Some may be terrible at following a budget or tracking finances. Another may avoid marketing like the plague, while others may have a tough time managing a difficult customer. Do complaining customers freak you out? Does it drive you crazy when your customers are overly agreeable? Or if…
The 26 Ultimate Inspirational Quotes from Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are a hard-working and brave lot. Think about it: they have the cojones to start businesses in the face of turbulent economic conditions, are constantly brainstorming to solve problems in new ways, and withstand tons of adversity. Yet, they still come out on the other end as thriving survivors. Their power resides in their…
The One Thing that Will Make Entrepreneurs More Productive
Have you ever been proud to tell someone about how little you sleep? Did you brag about how much you accomplished or how much money you made because you only sleep three hours a night? Your arrogance could be costing you. Jason Fried, co-founder of the task management tool Basecamp is fed up listening to…
The Quest Begins: Customer Journey Mapping for Your Business
The time has come and your journey has begun. Though you can’t be sure what dark roads you will encounter, you can be certain you will find your destiny at the end. There are no wizards. No wraiths. No lords, ents, or imps. There is only your business, its customers, and their experience. I’m talking…
This Is Why Successful Real Estate Investors Use Live Receptionists
To say real estate investors are busy is a gross understatement. Agents are constantly rushing to appointments with partners or to show one of their available properties or putting out any number of property management fires; it is not a career choice for the timid. The very nature of the job has the investor on…
Customer Service Insight: How We Combat Call Center Burnout
Call center agents have one of the most stressful jobs on the planet. Sure, they aren’t the President of the United States or a general in the army, yet handling customer issues can really take its toll on a person physically and psychologically. Why is the job so stressful? If you boil it down to…
How Upselling Can Make You Look Like a Greedy Vampire
I vahnt to suck your blood! Or at least get you to pay for a large-sized order of fries for 50 cents more. The tempting beast that is upselling – a sales technique used to lure customers into purchasing a more expensive item or an upgrade – has been around for eons. In fact, there…
Business How-To: Customer Service Phone Etiquette
I am an avid watcher of Real Housewives of New York. My favorite person of the show: The Countess LuAnn de Lesseps. She’s snooty, always dressed impeccably and has the most enviable collection of giant statement necklaces ever. She’s also an authority on etiquette; de Lesseps even has a song about etiquette that is awash…
The Top 5 Customer Service Skills Every Employee Should Have
It should be a rite of passage that everyone work one retail position in their lifetime. Retail positions get you out on the floor, mingling with the customers, and truly learning what customer service is all about. It’s in-your-face customer service. It’s where you can get a grasp on different personalities and how people should…
Your Customer Service Guide for 5 Difficult Personalities
It can be a jarring experience. You go about your day and usually only speak with kind folks who are patient and have an easy time explaining their issues. They leave, pleased with your service. And then it happens: Your business has made someone mad. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to diffuse…
5 Tools Your Business Should Be Using
Does your business still rely on Microsoft Office to do everything? If so, you’re missing out on some crazy-amazing tools that will make your business run more efficiently and keep you miles ahead of your competition. It’s understandable to be afraid of new tools and easy to stay with what you know. Office is definitely…
Awesome Customer Service Advice from Our Call Center Team
Would we be bragging if we called ourselves customer service extraordinaires? It isn’t bragging if it’s a fact! At least, that’s what my mom has told me. At PATLive, our number one concern is to take care of our customers and their customers with a deft hand. We place a high touch on all of…
5 Things Every Virtual Office Needs
I am at work, but my office for today doesn’t have the conventional four walls. I’m sitting at my local coffee shop, sipping on a foamy (and ultra strong) latte and writing this article. Between paragraphs, I give my eyes a break and check out the other folks; some are typing away furiously on their…
What to Do When A Customer Yells at You
Customers are going to get angry. And then some customers are going to get heated. Whether you work as a customer service rep for a larger company or if you just opened your doors for business, an elevated situation with a customer is never ideal. If you look at the flip side, an angry customer…
Above and Beyond Great Customer Service: A Profile of Zappos
What is great customer service and how is it done? That’s a question we seek to answer every month or so as we highlight a company that takes its customer service and turns it up to eleven. Zappos is known far and wide for its unbeatable customer service practices. Have you heard about the time…
If You Build It, They Will Come…But Will They Stay?
“If you build it, they will come.” Everyone knows that famous line from “Field of Dreams,” the tear-jerking tale about baseball and unrealized relationships or ambitions. It’s still the quintessential dude flick. Little did you know that line could be turned into a lesson on customer retention. Sure, you can build a small business and…
5 Steps to Building a Customer-Centric Culture
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou You don’t have to be a zen-buddhist or a humanitarian to create a company that is focused on making its customers happy. Your employees don’t need to…
Being Prepared: Crisis Planning Is No Joke
Don’t panic, but crisis planning should be at the forefront of every business owner’s mind. Being aware of what could potentially go wrong in your business will help you be prepared should disaster strike. What types of disasters are we talking about here? It’s the bad stuff: fires, earthquakes, violent storms, workplace violence, bomb threats,…
Customer Appreciation: 4 Ways to Show Them the Love
“Your customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” ~ Damon Richards Stories of customer service that goes above-and-beyond are always captivating. Most people expect either run of the mill or poor service with long wait times and uncaring staff. When the opposite of that happens, it’s like stumbling…