Small Business Success Story: Hillcrest Media Group

Some businesses go with the flow. Others create their own flow. If your small business is looking for new ways to obtain success, you can look to today’s successful small businesses for guidance. Read about Hillcrest Media Group to get started.

What is Hillcrest Media Group?
Hillcrest Media Group is a publishing company that offers an assortment of helpful services to authors and collaborators. Unlike other publishers that take more than their fair share of profits, Hillcrest Media Group puts the author first to ensure a smooth and successful publishing process. This company also helps authors find the right marketing strategies to attract buyers and get their books out there to the readers!

Who Started Hillcrest Media Group?
Mark Levine gained interest in the publishing world after publishing his own book about self-publishing! After seeing the success and realizing there was a spot in the market for a publisher that cares more about authors than making money, Levine started Mill City Press back in 2006. Eventually, Mill City Press became the starting point for a larger company known as Hillcrest Media Group.

How Did It Become Successful?
By offering something totally different from the competition, Hillcrest Media Group was able to become a pioneer of a totally new style of service! Authors no longer had to pay a fee just to get their book published only to share profits with their publishers—now they could work with Hillcrest Media Group and get the profits they deserved.

How Can This Story Help Your Business?
Excellent customer service is part of the reason why Hillcrest Media Group is so successful. Keeping your customer in mind and making sure they get what they need and want can help your business become more successful! Contact One Call Center can help you handle your customer service responsibilities so you can focus on other elements of success. We specialize in call center services as well as secure messaging, chats, and more. Take a look at our website or call us at 1-800-278-3347 to learn more.

Customer Service Don’ts for E-Commerce

E-commerce makes it easy for customers to get what they want, when they want it! This technology also helps businesses reach out to more customers in more places. Make the most of your e-commerce by learning about these customer service don’ts:

Not Keeping Your Promises
It is easy to attract customers with promises of free shipping, easy returns, and other important elements. Unfortunately, a lot of companies take advantage of the level of ease by making false promises to customers. If you offer certain perks and do not follow through, customers will not return and will likely make others aware of their negative experiences. Do not make any e-commerce promises that you cannot keep!

Only Offering Phone Service
Phone calls are a great away to get in contact with a business, but they are not the only way! Today’s customers are constantly busy and constantly on-the-go. That is why they want a variety of ways contact your business when they have questions or concerns. It is important to offer answering services as well as online chat services to make it as easy as possible for customers to get in contact with you.

Taking Too Much Time to Respond
How long does it typically take you to respond to customer questions or concerns? If you are not responding as quickly as possible, you might be losing customers! With mobile sites and online services, timeliness is more important than ever. Customers make decisions and purchases quickly, so responding quickly will make you more appealing and give you a better chance of success.

Using Generic Responses
Your customers want to feel heard and respected. They do not want to feel like they are talking to a robot. But that is exactly how they will feel if you keep offering generic responses for each question or concern. Take the time to carefully read comments from customers so you can respond appropriately and show that their voices are being heard.

Contact One Call Center can help you avoid these don’ts with our excellent customer service help! Call us at 1-800-278-3347 for more information about our after-hours support and call center services.

More Helpful Call Center Articles:

1. Knowing When It’s Time to Hire
2. Keeping Customers Happy During the Holidays
3. The Importance of Leaving No Call Unanswered
4. How Customer Service Has Changed Over the Years
5. The Ins and Outs of Managing Growth Successfully

The Importance of Leaving No Call Unanswered

In the business world, customer service is essential to your company’s success. It is important to give your customers easy access to help when they need it. Keep reading to find out why you should improve your call centers to ensure that every call is answered.

Dealing with Customer Complaints
If a customer is upset about your products or services and they cannot get ahold of anyone in your company, it will only upset them more. Increasing your call center and answering service efforts ensures that these customers can find someone to talk to when they have an issue so you and your staff can work toward finding a solution.

Offering New Services
Improving your call center efforts helps you spread the word about new services that your company is offering. If a customer calls in to your business and always manages to find a real person with whom to talk, it gives you the opportunity to talk about new features and services that might interest them. Take advantage of customer calls by using them to inform your client base about important updates for your company and the services you offer.

Improving Your Company Image
If your customers can always get through to someone at your company, it gives them a better impression of your business. Whether they are calling with a complaint or a question, the ability to talk to a real person helps them gain confidence in your business and your customer service efforts. This might inspire them to help tell other people about your impressive customer relations, which could earn you some new business.

Take advantage of Contact One Call Center’s unique answering and secure messaging services to help your company keep your customers happy. If you want to avoid unanswered calls, our call center can help. We offer live receptionists, bilingual support, and after-hours support. Check out our website or call 1-800-278-3347 to learn more about our call center services.

How Customer Service Has Changed Over the Years

Customer service is the foundation of any successful business. Without it, you cannot build a strong customer base that helps you succeed in your industry. Learning how it has changed over the years can help you find the best way to serve your customers. Keep reading to learn more about the evolution of customer service:

Phone Calls to Talk to Representatives

Before 1995, customer service was only handled on the phone. Customers called a company if they had a question or concern and talked to a representative who would attempt to find a solution. Although there are a variety of other methods of contacting a company today, many people still prefer to call and talk to a person when they need something.

Emails and Web Help

Once the Internet became a worldwide phenomenon, people started turning to other venues for their customer service needs. Email became a popular facet starting around 1996 and remained a major aspect of customer service until about 2000 when more people started using websites for their service needs.

Chat Help

Around 2005, companies turned to live chat services to give them another edge in the customer service industry. Live chat services enable customers to reach out for assistance without even leaving a business’ website and they are still used today.

Mobile and Social Media Services

Since 2008, companies have taken advantage of the fact that a majority of their customers have smart phones by creating customer service apps. Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have made it easier than ever for customers to contact businesses.

Contact One Call Center is here to help you improve your relationship with your customers by offering answering services, after-hours support, and live chat help. Take your customer service efforts to the next level by taking advantage of these services. To learn more about how we can help you interact with your customers, visit us online or call 1-800-278-3347.

The Ins and Outs of Managing Growth Successfully

Any business owner is excited when his or her company grows, but they are not always prepared to handle it. If you want to keep gaining success in your industry, it is important to figure out the best way to manage this growth. Use this guide to ensure that you handle your new success well enough to keep your business growing even more:

Figure Out the Best Way to Manage

One manager in charge of a small team might suffice when your business first starts out, but it does not always work when it starts to grow. If you want to continue to find success in your industry, it is important to find a new management model that can encompass the new size of your business. Whether you have to hire more managers or create more departments, this new management plan can help your business grow even more.

Keep Up with Your Customer Needs

As your client base starts to grow, it is important to find new ways to cater to your customers. Improving your customer service efforts is one of the most important elements of managing growth success. Instill new venues through which your customers can interact with your business so they always can talk to someone when they try to contact your company.

Pay Attention to Your Numbers

If you want to continue to succeed, it is important to stay on top of your business statistics. Maintain control over decisions relating to your sales numbers and financials so you have a say about the direction in which you want your company to go.

No matter the size of your business, Contact One Call Center is here to help you improve the way you talk to your customers. From answering services to disaster preparedness, we are here to give you the assistance you need when your business starts to grow. To learn more about our customer service resources, visit us online or call 1-800-278-3347.

More Helpful Call Center Articles:

1. Customer Service Nightmares
2. Creating the Best Patient Experience
3. Team Building Exercises for Call Centers
4. Important Steps for Handling Customer Complaints
5. Challenges Facing Your Small Business

Small Business Success Story: WRAPPED

Small businesses that have succeeded in their industry give other startup companies hope. WRAPPED is one of these successful businesses. Keep reading to find out how this paper goods company has managed to stand out in their industry:

They Do what they Do Best

WRAPPED founders Ryland Arnoldi and Sam Seidman have always had a passion for art. Although they were both on the path toward big careers in the financial industry, they wanted to create products that combined artistic appeal with a natural edge. By combining their efforts, Arnoldi and Seidman managed to turn this passion into a business that creates beautiful, artistic pieces of wrapping paper and paper goods.

They Maintain an Active Role in the Business

Instead of leaving all of their business decisions to others, Arnoldi and Seidman worked together to maintain an active role in their company. By taking control of these important decisions, they were in charge of everything having to do with their business. If you want to find success as a small business, it is imperative to retain a controlling stake in the decisions that affect your company.

They Found a Niche for their Product

The founders of WRAPPED were smart enough to choose a product that spoke to a wide range of potential investors. Instead of compromising and molding their product to the market, they went out and found investors who wanted to give them money for the products they wanted to create.

If you want to achieve success in your industry like WRAPPED has, it is important to focus more attention on your customer service efforts. Contact One Call Center has resources like answering services, live chat, after-hours support, and disaster preparedness to help you open the lines of communication with your customers. With our help, you can build a bigger client base to bring your business to new levels of success. To learn more about our services, visit us online or call 1-800-278-3347.

Small Business Success Story: Healthsense

Although it might seem like big chains rule the business industry, small businesses can still achieve great success. Keep reading to learn more about Healthsense and how they conquered their industry:

They Found a Business Need

One of the key factors of Healthsense’s success was their foresight. The company’s founders, Brian Bischoff and Bryan Fuhr, noticed that there was a lack of senior care that allowed older adults to maintain their independent living situations. By creating products like eNeighbor that comes with sensors to call for help in the case of an emergency, Healthsense now helps seniors safely stay at home longer. Products like these are extremely attractive to seniors who want to stay in their own homes for as long as possible.

They Found the Right Market for their Products

Another important factor of Healthsense’s success was their marketing prowess. Instead of focusing advertising efforts on seniors, they directed them toward caregivers and senior organizations. By finding the right audience, they were able to create more successful marketing efforts.

They Know their Field

Healthsense understands the market in which they work, which allows them to continue to offer their clients the products and services they need. People use Healthsense technology in about 265 senior living communities and 1,000 private residences, which gives them access to more than 20,000 customers. They continue to do research and acquire new companies to help them create new products that keep their customers coming back. By truly understanding the needs of their industry, they guarantee their success in the field.

If you are looking for ways to grow your small business, Contact One Call Center can help. Our answering services, after-hours support, and disaster preparedness help you improve your customer service efforts so you can optimize your success in your industry. We give you the services you need to give your customers access to round-the-clock attention. To learn more about our call center and our services, visit us online or call 1-800-278-3347.

Customer Service Nightmares

Customer service can make or break a company. In order to maintain an active client base, a company must find the right way to handle their customer service needs. Keep reading to learn about some customer service nightmares so you can be sure to avoid them in your own business:

An Inability to Contact Someone

One of the most frustrating times for a customer is when they cannot reach a customer service representative when they need one. As a business owner, it is important to give your clients easy access to a variety of venues through which they can reach a representative when they need help.

Rude Customer Service Representatives

Customer service representatives are supposed to do whatever they can to keep clients satisfied. If a company employs representatives that do not make the effort to help customers, however, they might be alienating a large percentage of their client base. Focusing on your customer service efforts and taking advantage of resources like call centers gives you the opportunity to ensure that your representatives are ready and prepared to handle any of your customer’s needs.

No Movement toward a Solution

Just because a customer service representative is kind does not mean they will do anything to offer the client a solution for their problem. If you want a really successful customer service department, it is important to train your staff on how to offer clients solutions that solve their issues. Improving your customer service department can help you grow your client base and offer your customers the help they need while improving your business image.

Contact One Call Center is here to help you make the most of your customer service efforts. From secure messaging to live chat services, we provide resources to keep you in touch with your customers so you can do everything you can to keep them satisfied when they have questions or concerns. To learn more about our services, visit us online or call 1-800-278-3347.