Full Version: Home based phone question
From: basehorawards [#1]
6 Aug 2006
To: ALL
How many of you with a home based business answer the business line before or after "business hours?"
I took Friday off to take my family to the local amusement park so I had to work in the evening to get caught up. At 8:45 p.m. the phone rang with a woman needing two trophies by the weekend.
After the usual questions and answers I told her I could get what she wanted for around $15 each. She said that was not enough and that she wanted to spend about $50 each. I obliged her and delivered them to her Sunday at her place of business. (For a fee.) She was so happy that I answered the phone and that I took care of her I have a new customer. She has competitions in her store for her customers and needs trophies and she judges contests and orders trophies for them. This could be the start of something good all because I answered the phone at 8:45 in the evening.
Another question: Does your shop phone ring in the house? Mine does so I would have answered even if I had not been in the shop.
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#2]
6 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#1] 6 Aug 2006
James,
If I'm here, (home) I usually answer the phone, whenever it may ring.
Like you, by answering the phone before (or after) usual business hours, I've found myself in the right place, at the right time.
One of the few exceptions, is if I have visitors; especially on a weekend. Then I let the answer machine pick up.
EDITED: 6 Aug 2006 by DGL
From: Becky (KIAIJANE) [#3]
6 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#1] 7 Aug 2006
James-
I answer the phone always. No matter what day of the week or what time of day.....You never know when that needy customer will turn out to be a repeat customer...as you said...all because you answered the phone.....
Sometimes it works, sometimes not. But I know if I don't answer it, it'll probably bug me.
Becky
From: Dee (DEENA-ONLY) [#4]
6 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#1] 7 Aug 2006
Jim,
Our business cards have our store # and an office # which rings in our home. We always answer our home phone with a business greeting.
Good customers have my cell #.
Dee
From: Upacreek [#5]
6 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#1] 7 Aug 2006
I went with a different approach for the business line. All calls go to my cell phone. I can answer any calls I want or turn the cell off if I really don't want to be disturbed.
I have had no problems with customers feeling put-off by background noise when I'm at an event or driving or whatever and answer the call. I take the honest approach and tell them I'm at an event but am more then happy to answer their questions. I usually receive a follow-up email thanking me for answering the phone at odd hours along with an order placed.
Some of my customers are quite amused when they call if I'm out about on the property. They can hear the roosters crowing or the sheep baa'ing in the background and some have asked if I'll step back outside so they can hear those sounds again. :-)
Michel
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#6]
6 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#1] 7 Aug 2006
James,
A twist to your question for storefronts might be:
Those who have retail storefronts, do you forward after-hour calls to your home or cell phones?
I personally do not. If a customer were to call me at home with an emergency, I'd treat them with the utmost respect and do what I could to satisfy their need.
From: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#7]
6 Aug 2006
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#6] 7 Aug 2006
David,
You and Michel have mentioned what we do. If I'm away from the shop for any reason, the phone forwards to my cell.
We tell folks that we don't try to compete on price with the other shops in town (there are 4 of us in a town of about 14,000). Two of those shops sell cheap crap that I wouldn't DREAM of selling, but they sell it CHEAP. We won't touch their prices. However, we blow them out of the water on our service.
Taking calls during off-hours is only part of it, but that's saved a few customers some face. We're glad to do it. Maybe that's part of the reason that our business has been so blessed!
Cody
From: basehorawards [#8]
7 Aug 2006
To: ALL
Glad to see I am right in with the pack on this one. I have had very positive results come out of almost every afterhours call I have answered.
I forward my phone to my cell when I am out of the shop too. Being a one man operation I have yet to figure out how to be in the shop and out seeing customers and making pickups. A few customers have been surprised that I can not answer their pricing questions while I am out driving around but most have understood and appreciated getting a person rather than voicemail.
Customer service is almost as important as putting out top notch quality.
From: Mike (MIKEN) [#9]
7 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#8] 7 Aug 2006
From: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#10]
7 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#8] 7 Aug 2006
From: Ed (EBERTRAND) [#11]
7 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#1] 7 Aug 2006
James,
We are not a home based business, but we are a mom and pop shop
with one full time employee and 1-2 part time employees.
We are open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturdays EST and close for national holidays.
Although someone is usually in the shop at least until noon 365 days
a year. Me????
We have 5 incoming telephone lines, including 1 fax and 1 800#
which is actually piggybacked on our regular number so you don’t
know it is a 800 call until you actually find out where the customer
is calling from. (Old-timer who had more old time employees 10-
15 years ago when long distant phone calls were very expensive)
and I didn’t want anyone to cut a customer short just because he/she
was calling on my 800 # to ask questions.
We usually have someone in the shop by 7:00 a. m. and take calls
from that time on.
We do not have an answering machine we like our
customers to be able to talk with a real person and get a response
to their questions.
We do not forward any calls outside of the shop, and do not
use voice mail. If the person is not available at the time someone
calls looking for that party we ask if someone else can help. If
not, the number is taken and put on that persons desk so the call
can be returned as quickly as possible.
Ed
From: basehorawards [#12]
7 Aug 2006
To: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#10] 7 Aug 2006
From: PenMan [#13]
7 Aug 2006
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#9] 7 Aug 2006
From: Mike (MIKEN) [#14]
7 Aug 2006
To: PenMan [#13] 8 Aug 2006
I must admit I am somewhat confused at what they are doing but it's ok with me. I never had a paid ad with the yellow pages.
Most of my calls are long distance so the cell phone saves me about $90per month over what my SBC wide area service plus a cell phone was costing.
Now I have an audible signal for my business fax hooked to my home line at about $4.95 per month and I was able to transfer my business fax number as well.
From: aallen [#15]
7 Aug 2006
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#9] 7 Aug 2006
I hope this is not to off the subject but, I would also like to do more business calls with my cell phone, but we live just enough out of the way that we do not get very good reception, so we end up using the regular phone for most calls when in the office/home. Do any of you use a house antenna or anything like that to help with reception?
I am getting ready to change cell phone company, are there any cell phones that are better then others out in the country?
As for the question, I too answer at all hours. I transfered to the cell phone while on vacation this year for the first time. The one customer did understand why I didn't have the price on the top of my head when I told her I was in Branson at the ripples museum!
I too have had the farm animals making noise while on the phone. A friend loves it when she calls and the kids and aniimals are making noises. It is entertainment for her! :-)
From: Upacreek [#16]
7 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#15] 8 Aug 2006
In my previous Tech life, I had to manage the cell phones in addition to all the computer and servers. We had employees based all over the US and traveled all over the world and of course, cell phones had to work everywhere. One brand does not do it all.
The best thing you can do is find a local wireless store that sells & services more then one cellular brand. This will be hard to do as many places are forced to only sell Sprint or Verizon products in their store or else they cannot remain a factory authorized store.
We found our employees consistently had problems with Cingular/AT&T service all over the US. Sprint/Nextel was fairly rock-solid except for the D.C. area and a few areas along the East Coast and midwest. Verizon had better coverage on the East Coast and good coverage everywhere else. T-mobile had great coverage in populated areas and outperformed the other providers at a Las Vegas Convention, but if you strayed from major roads, you lost coverage.
You can get antenna's for your house to improve cell coverage. It's been 2 years since I researched them, but back then, you needed to have your cell phone plugged into that antenna cable.
Hope that helps.
Michel
From: Mike (MIKEN) [#17]
7 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#15] 8 Aug 2006
I've been using T-Mobile for several years and have been very happy with it. But, my sister lives just off the beaten path on a farm in Ohio and she is just a couple of miles out of range of the mobile service she has and she complains of too many dropped calls.
I would check with delivery drivers and the mailman etc. to find out if their service is good around your farm and what kind they have.
From: John (JOHNRMONTG) [#18]
7 Aug 2006
To: PenMan [#13] 8 Aug 2006
From: UncleSteve [#19]
7 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#15] 8 Aug 2006
We have a phone line from Cablevision and it comes in over our cable connection. It is a flat rate per month and works great as long as there is electricity AND the cable bill is paid... LOL!
From: aallen [#20]
8 Aug 2006
To: Upacreek [#16] 8 Aug 2006
Michel,
Thanks, this helps me some. I think I need to look into an antenna and a phone to match. I would really like to change the phone services around some. I will check them out again and see what I can find.
Thanks
aleta
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