Category: Blog

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Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day where we stop and reflect on those who have gone on before us. Those brave men and women who sacrificed so much so we can enjoy the freedoms and lifestyle that we have today.

Thomas Jefferson once said

“What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.”

While yes, unfortunately what Thomas Jefferson said is true that sometimes lives must be lost, sometimes the lives of our own. Even in times of war against ourselves, they are not forgotten, nor should they be.

We must remember that while we had a draft in the past, by and large, those joining are volunteers. They are willingly putting themselves in harm’s way to protect our very way of life. Those men and women shouldn’t be remembered during this day or weekend alone, but all year.

Every time those in our military are sent to foreign lands to fight, they experience horrors we can’t begin to imagine. They experience chaos, loss, sacrifice, and in some cases hopelessness. They experience these things and most of them overcome. They’ve overcome and the world is better for it. For them.

They’ve experienced so much and they protect us, not only from threats foreign and domestic, but also from the darkness they’ve endured. While America for a time experienced a difficult time where our best and brightest were not given the respect and dignity that they’ve more than earned, those times have ended and America is better for them ending.

America has followed Mr. Jefferson’s words in that while things may be hard for a war-torn land, we continue to do what we can to help those living in those countries to get back on their feet. Militarily and otherwise. Even after the threat subsides.

America is an experiment. An experiment on freedom and although we do occasionally slip, what country doesn’t? Regardless, we’ve done a great deal right, from ending slavery to making huge leaps in regards to women’s equality; Stopping evil dictators, and welcoming people from all over to come participate in this great experiment- in return enriching all of us.

So, for this Memorial Day, we have much to remember, much to be thankful for. For the freedoms and liberty that we enjoy, the opportunities and privileges that people from all over the world come here for, from the gathering of culture so we can honor our motto of “out of many, one.” For our ability to worship without having the state come and harass us or worse. For our ability to express our thoughts legally to those who lead knowing that in other countries people are executed for doing so. All of these and so much more.

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Planning a major Sale or Promotion

planning sales and promotions

Summer has arrived and already we’re receiving calls about air conditioners not blowing cold air. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, and as a heating and air company, you can take advantage of the rising temperature to run a major sale or promotion.

Whether it’s a discount for maintenance and upkeep or even a reduced rate on replacing their unit, advertising your promotional event will bring a lot of eyes to your company. How do you intend to meet that demand?

While you can let calls go to your voicemail, or even temporarily hire a receptionist or two, voicemails quickly become full and your callers are given no eta as to when you will be calling them back. Hiring receptionists are costly, especially if you will be paying them full time and possibly more. Not to mention the potential time spent on training them which is less time you can use to help your customers.

Don’t be that company that has reviews reading “They weren’t there when I needed them” Or “What is the point in running a promotion if they can’t answer the phone?”  Allow us to step in and help make your season a successful one.

We answer for multiple heating and air companies and have weathered the storm both during the summer and winter seasons year after year. We have shown our ability to handle increased call flows, and continue to hold ourselves to the standard and expertise that we’ve maintained for over 30 years.

Allowing us to do what we do best means that more of your team can focus on what they do best, and that is helping people locally or regionally survive another potentially dangerous summer in regards to the heat.

Would you like to take advantage of our services? Would you like to learn more? Then give us a call, because, yes, we can answer that!

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What if Someone Gets Injured at Work?

work injuries

At your plant, you do everything you can to keep your employees safe, from regular meetings discussing proper use of the machinery they will be using to safety being a focus during orientation.

You know what can happen if someone gets injured on the job, and that some injuries can cause long-term effects not only to the employee themselves, but to your whole organization too.

When this does occur, you need to know as much as you can about when it happened, who it happened to, what is injured, who their supervisor is, and the severity of the injury.

After the injury is documented, what is next? Do they need to call in every day to report it? What would be the best way to provide updates to their supervisor, HR, and to those in management who need to know how the employee is doing and when their doctor releases them to return to work.

Whether it’s FMLA, an extended leave of absence, short term disability, or even a day or two off work, it lowers productivity on the floor and can lead to the added expense of overtime.

Here’s where we come in. As an answering service, we can collect the information you need to document the incident and accurately report that to the correct department and staff.

Should we e-mail it to their supervisor? No problem! Should it be sent to a group of people in HR and management as well? We can do that! 

We work hard to accommodate your needs in regards to injuries and so much more.

Don’t let a mis-reported injury be another pain point for you. When it comes to situations like these, whether major or not, give us a call and let us know what you need because yes, we can answer that!

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How We Help During the Summer

customer loyalty

As we get closer to summer, the importance of our HVAC unit working as it should, quickly returns to our mind, especially as temperatures start to rise in expectation of Summer.

As a heating and air company, this is an important opportunity for you to build your customer base, and to make sure you have the customers you need to continue through the year.

When your potential customers see your advertisements and recommendations, that little seed is planted encouraging them to call to schedule that maintenance or tune up of their unit.

Say someone sees your commercial on tv at 8 PM, and they decide to call and schedule that tune up, or if their air conditioner isn’t quite cooling as it should. We have 24/7, live agents that can give your customers the correct information and schedule any service calls needed.

Often, when a caller actually reaches someone and hears that their issue is going to be resolved, they tend to stop there. Even if they are made aware that the office will be returning their call, that is enough. Having loyal customers that continue to bring repeat business is great for any company and we can help.

While we are an answering service, we want your customers to get help just as much as you do. We want you to continue to be successful as much as you do. Let us be a part of your team and help you grow.

If you’d ask us if we could help handle the increased call flow before, and during, the summer season? Yes, we can answer that!

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Hiring for a New Line in your Company

hiring

Congratulations! You’ve taken on another line in your factory and now you need people to come in and help handle the increased production. What do you do?

Putting an employment ad online, or with staffing agencies may help, but how do you know the potential employee, or temp, will have all the information? And if going through a staffing agency, how much are they told about the job, and how can you know if what they’re told is accurate? We’ve certainly had cases where people worked for a very short time and they told us “this isn’t what I thought it would be.”

Taking on this extra workload means that your client needs your help, and needs it done correctly, so you can trust that the people who come to work are aware of what they will be tasked with.

As an answering service, we can help in multiple ways: We can be your information courier.  What is the work they will be doing?  What do they need to know in regards to your expectations? Should we go over your attendance policy? Is there anything else you’d like them to know? We are the first point of contact, the receptionist, the schedular, and much more. 

We understand there is a lot of stress in the entire process, and we’d like to help as much as we can. We want to help you fill the space on your assembly line by giving those interested the information they can use to determine if they’d like to go forward with the sign on process. We’d love to say to you “that’s what we can do for you! We can answer that!”

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What We Mean by 24/7/365

we are open

Heating and air issues don’t wait until it’s convenient. Any time, day or night, the fan can stop operating, the pilot light can stop igniting, the air filters can get stopped up, or several other things can go wrong.

Does your company have a reliable, 24/7 service to handle these calls?

Say a storm blows through and a potential customer’s power goes out. When their power returns, their heating and air unit does not, however. They call and try to reach someone for a service call. If no one answers, they’re likely to go down the list until they can find someone who can help, and that’s lost money for your business.

As an answering service, we ensure that any customer that calls, no matter the hour, gets to speak with a live representative that can address their concerns and get the messaged paged to the O/C technician for quick, reliable service.

There are many heating and air companies locally, let alone regionally, so anything that you can do to compete, and possibly exceed your competition is to your advantage, and a part of that is knowing that even at 3 AM on Christmas day, if Brian’s heat goes out and he has family coming over at 9 AM, we’ll be here to take his service request and pass the message to your O/C so Christmas can be saved.

These are the examples that people remember, and by answering the phone 24/7, you have created a loyal customer that will keep returning with any of their heating and air needs.

So, if you’re needing that kind of service from us, so we can give it to your callers, please contact us. We can answer that!

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The Snow Has Ended, Now What?

after the snowstorm

On February 3rd and 4th, a cold snap hit several states even as far as Arkansas knocking out power and iced the roads making them dangerous for multiple days. How did your heating and air company fare during this event?

As an Answering Service we jumped in and assisted our clients with professionalism and accuracy, giving our callers the assistance that they need. Also, our dispatchers were in constant contact with the on calls of each our clients ensuring speedy communication from the callers and the companies.

During this event, Answer Fort Smith did not lose power and was able to help our clients 24/7. This fact is extremely important because as an answering service we can’t let our clients down when they need us most. Reliability is a virtue we strive to maintain.

Extreme weather causes many hvac issues and creates a lot of potential customers.   In cases like those, especially during the winter, your customers need to contact someone so you can give them the heat that will help them get through the cold. Did they reach you?

Said event may cause an increase in your call volume due to general maintenance as well. An ignored unit is an unreliable one, and that’s when emergencies occur. 

Time is money and you want to make sure to get to all of your service calls and maintenance calls quick and efficiently.  We are here to help you separate the calls that make you money from the ones that don’t and we give you the time to take care of your customers and not worry about answering the phones.

Regardless of the reason, we’re here to help, and would love to hear from you. We can answer that, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach us so we can answer those too.

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Managing Product Recalls

product recalls

A major struggle for any manufacturing plant is recalls on products.

Letters are sent out to customers, but that often leads to an abundance of questions.  Is it still safe? What is wrong with it? Can I fix it myself? What is the return policy? Do I have to pay for shipping? How long will you keep it? Is it a first production set that had the issue or all of them?

These recall letters lead to a lot of customers calling in to have their questions answered.  The increased call volume and potential long hold times can delay productivity even further, resulting in less margin for your company and adds to the customers frustration.

This is where we come in.  If you are a manufacturer, time is money.  You don’t want to overwhelm your team, we can be tasked with calling your customers for you, giving the information you’d like them to know.   We document all the calls and get them to the proper departments so that each call is handled by the correct person and in a timely manner.  This allows you to handle the most important part of your job, manufacturing. 

While we are an answering service, we do so much more than simply answer calls. If you are thinking of using an Answering Service who goes a step beyond, yes, we can answer that- and more.

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What We Did During the Snow Event

severe weather services

One thing we noticed during severe weather was that when employees called out, they didn’t know what the protocol was. Do they call out? Do they not? Is it going to count against them? Can they use PTO so their day is paid even if they can’t come in?

Some companies had automated messages pick up before the employee’s line rang in, others gave us information to give their employees, while others wanted us to follow standard procedure for callouts. Regardless of the directive, Answer Fort Smith was there for each of our clients and documented each call out appropriately.

What about you? We can handle call outs due to bad weather in a number of different ways in order to fit your company’s needs.  Just let our client relations team know and we’ll take care of the rest.

In times like these, communication is extremely important.  Communication between our clients and ourselves, especially in high volume circumstances like these, ensure that your employees know the information that you need them to know.

So as your answering service, we will do our best to give you that communication. We are staffed and capable of handling the call out volume, and any scenario in which you need us to properly relay the information to your staff to ensure maximum efficiency.

We are familiar with all types of call outs, so no matter what you decide, we can answer that!

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The Power of a Good Impression

impression stars

One of the most important aspects of growing your business is word of mouth. With reviews easily found on the internet, that is the first thing people see when searching for a heating and air company. How is your online rating? How many people reviewed your company? Would they refer your company to their friends and family?

When someone finds your company and calls, what will they hear? As your answering service, they will hear professionals who give your callers the respect and courtesy they deserve. We have strict guidelines and procedures we follow, and that is what gives us the ability to say “we can answer that.”

First impressions of your business begin with the very first phone call.  A bad impression on the first call can lead to loss of business, and bad reviews that can also turn away other potential business.  A great impression can build a lifelong customer that will bring you more business through word of mouth.  That all can be decided on the first phone call. 

Our goal is to be your backline and take care of the customer service relations so that you can focus on emergency calls, maintenance, and service calls that are the backbone of your business.

If that’s what you are looking for, we mean it when we say “we can answer that.”