who answers the calls

[zboomerz]

hi evveryone,

I am getting things together to start my pc repair biz and was wondering how everyone handels the calls.I have one cell now that I personaly use and will have to use as the main business line as well.It's not how I would like to have it but in the beginning it's the real only way right now.I have always wondered about those call centers where they take the call then shoot the customer over to you or what ever you setup but my better judgement tells me this is not the way to go.I am also afraid to give my only phone line (cell) out to everyone under the sun because I may get constantly distracted from my tasks at hand.I've been chewing on this one for a bit and was just wondering what methods you good folks use. thanks

[Bryce W]

Probably the best idea is to have a forwarding service on your land line, and a voicemail on your mobile phone. That way, you only hand out your land line number protecting you from constant mobile phone distractions. If you aren't at base it gets forwarded to your mobile.

People who are calling though the list of computer techies usually wont leave a message because they can just call the next guy on the list. So always try and answer when they ring.

However, having said that if your mobile is out of range or switched off, the voicemail will be a last measure to keep their business, to which you can call back later.

[swany971]

Well, I use my cell phone for business and personal use, without a seperate line. It works out fine since I don't have the kind of call volume where I would need 2 lines. Maybe someday if things really pick up, I'll buy another phone. I actually considered doing this also before I got started, but now I'm glad that I didn't waste the money. My suggestion would be to dive right in, as long as you know the technical side, you can always tweak your business as you go along.

[gsp]

I use a 1-800 number which forwards to a SkypeIn number on my advertising.

If I'm out of the office I can set Skype to forward the call to my mobile. Existing customers get the SkypeIn number ("My private number...") as the 1-800 costs about 3c/min to receive calls - it's great for advertising though.

I'm going to start experimenting with having someone other than me answering the phone (my brother), as he's less technical than me but has a much better phone manner/sales technique.

[greggh]

We of course started out using our cell phones with 1-800 number redirects/forwards. Now we have a call center with 3 people working daily as dispatchers.

[cmonova]

Typically my wife handles all calls either at the store or transferred to her cell phone. I have found that my guys in the store answer and for some reason they don't turn into jobs. But, when the wife handles the calls everything turns into jobs.

I think the idea is to have someone that puts the person calling mind at ease with the ordeal...I know some people have used call centers and i've called and waited and waited and also have been put on hold. I won't say that is all call centers i'm sure there are some good ones.

But, nobody is going to put the care into getting jobs as you or your family members.

[Bryce W]

Its most likely the tone of your wifes voice (there is something about a womans voice that helps) and she probably says the right things. For example, saying "would you like to book a time?" during the conversation. Perhaps you could get her to write a script for your instore guys?

[jimmm33]

I'm just a one man operation. My wife helps a lot but not fixing PC's or answering the phone. I have stuck to one cell. It's all about keeping costs down. I answer, help people out, setup service calls etc. People like to be able to get the tech right away. If I'm on site, I let voice mail get it and then I call them back. It's one way you can beat the big guys who force people to go through a phone system.

[tartis]

I have a Vonage business account for a local number, it is then forwarded to a GotVmail account which handles the calls to my cell phone. Got Vmail alos allows me to set business hours for routing to my cell phone.

[SandTech]

I have free incoming on my cell, so I use my cell phone all the time.
I have no problem receiving the calls on the cell phone.

Just make sure you have a lot of minutes on your cell phone to use. I started with 1000minuts, as I do a lot of warranty calls, I am on the phone more with the other ends.
So i run over 1000minuts.