Tis’ the Season
Written by rmulroney on December 4th, 2009“Tis the Season”
Rick Mulroney/Westwind Digital
Well here we are again, another holiday season is on us and I may not be alone when I say, “Man that was fast”. Seems like just a few days ago the smell of fireworks was still in the air. Anyway, with the holiday season comes a few challenges for business owners and operators. For one, making sure your business stays productive and efficient when the natural tendency is to relax a little bit and enjoy the times. That’s all well and good but your customers may not have the same mentality. One of the things that happens at our office is the phone rings in a different way this time of year. It rings with a sense of urgency, like that call you know about before you answer it knowing the party on the other end is in need of some help.
Being in the service industry it is important for us to take each one of those calls and treat it like it was our only concern of the day even though it’s not. For your business it may be something else that gets your phone ringing but make sure your aware of how well your phone is being answered; if you use an automated greet maybe change the greeting to inform your callers of special events or promotions going on in your business during the holidays. Also, let callers know about your hours and when you will be closed over the holidays. If you have a live voice answering your phones encourage them to be friendly and understanding how anxious people can get this time of year.
Next, a little year end maintenance for your phone and video system is also a good idea. Get out your old trust can of compressed air, or you can get a new one at your local office supply store and get all the dust blown away from the fans, cables and connections. Take a minute and go through all those voice mails and delete the ones you don’t need anymore. Get some wet naps and clean the handsets and button pads and if your speed dial and other soft key buttons are worn out, go ahead and make some new ones and update any numbers you may need to. On your video system, once again with the air can blow out the fans and connections, clean the lens on your cameras with a wet nap and tighten all your connectors. All of these tedious yet simple tasks will ensure that when you walk into the office on January 4th, 2010 you’ll be ready for a great New Year.
Happy Holidays from Westwind Digital.