If you’re relying on your answer machine to collect messages from your customers and clients then you could be missing out.  Research suggests that 1 in 10 callers hang up when they reach an answerphone or voicemail.  Your customers and clients would much prefer to hear a representative of your company and leave a message or find out more information.

Our telephone answering service is simple and cost effective.  We can stop prevent those missed calls, organise appointments, act as a virtual receptionist and transfer calls to you directly, or a member of your team. Our team of experienced Virtual Assistant professionals work together to provide a very high standard of call answering for our clients.

We are so convinced that you will love our service and that our team of Virtual Assistants will add value to your business that we have a fabulous February offer.

Our normal trial for clients is for ONE week (25 calls max)

During February 2012 we are doubling that to TWO weeks and giving you a bonus 10% off your first invoice!

Sign up via www.callteam.co.uk/sign-up and quote WEB1 to get your 2 weeks (50 calls max) no obligation free trial and if you sign up to continue the service, we will give you 10% off your first invoice!

If you have any queries about the service then please do contact us on 0845 544 0681

Last Posting Dates for Christmas

To beat the Christmas rush, make sure you post before the recommended last posting date.

Wed 14th December – Standard Parcels
Sat 17th December – Second Class and Recorded Signed For
Tue 20th December – First Class and Recorded Signed For
Wed 21st December – Parcelforce express 48
Thu 22nd December – Parcelforce express 24
Thu 22nd December – Special Delivery
Fri 23rd December – Special Delivery

We all know at least one client or contact who has everything. What can you possibly get them for Christmas? If they are like most entrepreneurs, the one thing they wish they had more of is TIME.

• More time to generate sales
• More time to spend on projects they enjoy
• More time off

So, how can you give them more time? By giving them an extra pair of hands!

We are proud to announce our Christmas Certificates of Time. With our many services, you decide which one would be best for your recipient.

• How about 2 hours of word processing assistance?
• Or, maybe a month’s call answering assistance?

The possibilities are endless.

Contact us for further information.

Christmas is so close around the corner that it’s almost here.

It’s coming up fast so here are a few reminders to make the holiday season as pain free as possible.

Don’t forget those all-important Christmas cards, we can organise mailings, both by traditional means and via email newsletter informing your customers and clients of your holiday hours and plans. Why not do a review of the past year for them to share your success?

Want some time off over Christmas to be with family and friends? As Virtual Assistants we are used to pre-planning campaigns for Twitter and Facebook in advance and can set up your account so that marketing tweets and information remains seamless.

It’s also a good time, if you aren’t taking a break to start planning your “New Year Resolutions”. What difference are you making to your business in 2012, we can help you? We have a wide range of services available to support your business and make 2012 your best yet. From call handling, Twitter and Facebook management, audio transcription, diary management, email management, bookkeeping etc., we have just the service to help your business.

Are you overwhelmed, understaffed or plain tired of not having any spare time?  Are you spending too much time on tasks you don’t enjoy doing?  Well, it is time for you to re-evaluate your business and personal priorities and consider hiring a Virtual Assistant.

Maybe you have thought about hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) but thought it would be too expensive.  Maybe you are wondering what a Virtual Assistant can do for you.  Maybe you don’t know how to begin delegating work to a VA.

The first step is making a list of all the tasks that you perform on a regular basis.  You can make two lists, one for business tasks and one for personal items.  Include everything from the tiniest detail to the largest project.

What does your list entail?

Take a good look at the list you compiled.  Below are ideas of duties you could delegate to a VA.  Identify where your list looks similar and where it differs.  Add new things inspired by the list.

• Transcription
• Call Handling
• Diary Management
• Email Management
• Client and Potential Client letters
• Marketing Campaign Management
• Credit Control and Invoice Payment Chasing
• Quotes and Invoicing
• Database Management
• Travel Arrangements
• Newsletter Creation
• Outbound Calls
• Stationery Orders
• Word Processing

Should you outsource or not?

Once your list is complete, for each item listed go back and ask yourself these questions: -

1. Is this something that I enjoy doing?  If your answer is no, then make a point to outsource it.  If your answer is yes, continue with the rest of the questions before determining whether to outsource it or not.
2. How much time do I usually spend performing this task?  If you enjoy the task, and it only takes a minimal amount of time, then continue doing it yourself.  If it something that takes a lot of your time, then it might be something to consider outsourcing, but continue with the rest of the questions before making a decision.
3. Does performing the task take my focus away from other more important business or profit generating tasks?  If you enjoy the task, but it takes up a lot of your time and it takes your focus away from your profit generating tasks, then it is probably best to outsource this task to allow you to focus on other things that allow you to grow your business.
4. Is this something that can be done by someone else if a small amount of training or initial set up is involved?  No matter the task, or how difficult you think it would be to outsource, more than likely there is a VA who specialises in what you need.

There are tasks that as a business owner, you cannot or should not outsource, like attending a networking event or calling an important client to seal the deal.

Can I afford a VA?

Most people think hiring an assistant is expensive but studies have shown you can actually save money.  Business owners, especially sole traders wear many hats.  They perform duties that normally require skills and experience of several people including marketing, book-keeping, sales, customer service, administrative, web design, order processing, advertising and many more.

How can you grow your business of you are busy performing all of these tasks?  If you are occupied promoting and marketing your business, who is doing the client work?  You cannot be everything to everyone and trying to trying to takes up valuable time, away from profit generated tasks designed to generate more business.  Hiring an assistant frees up time for you to concentrate on the important tasks of growing your business.  So, if you are making more money, is hiring an assistant such a stretch?  Do you think you would be throwing your money away?

A VA can give you more time to make money, along with less stress and more time for yourself, your family and your business.  A VA is a very affordable alternative to trying to do everything yourself.  After all, isn’t one of the perks of being a business owner supposed to be more freedom?

Ways we can help | 0845 544 0681

Would you spend them calling clients?

Brainstorming on ways to grow your business?

Spend more time with your family?

Perform more volunteer work?

Take some well deserved time off?

 Imagine being able to:-

• Spend more time with clients
• Travel, and not worry that customer follow-up is being neglected
• Project a professional image to clients
• Have things done right the first time
• Have more money to spend on your marketing activities
• Pay only for time worked, and not coffee breaks
• Have the flexibility to take on new challenges
• Be free from doing the things you don’t want to do, don’t have time to do, or don’t know how to do
• Know that someone else is dedicated to your success

Contact us now to allow us to assist you in business and give you your time back.

As your business grows your office management systems require to be continuously improved so that they keep pace with your needs. What was adequate for you initially can end up hindering your business.

Why do you need efficient office systems in place?

• To quickly and easily find important contact information;
• To be able to respond to client requests straightaway;
• To keep track of your business;
• To be able to follow-up with clients and contacts;
• To enable you to stay on track with your projects;
• To monitor your marketing campaign.

Sometimes, problems don’t become apparent with your office systems until you actually start using them – and you may find out that they are not working in the way that you had hoped!

Are you constantly searching for an email address?
Cannot tell at a glance if your projects are on track?
Are you unsure of your cash flow situation?

We suggest that you make a list of where you think the problems are, and keep a diary for a week detailing how you are spending your time. At the end of the week, look over it and see what percentage of your time is being spent on these tasks. Could this be time better spent on income generating tasks or market research? Could some of these tasks be delegated?

So, what can you do about it?

We can set up user friendly systems for you, or we can completely re-organise your existing systems. Together, we can help to create a system tailored for your needs. Making things simpler, efficient and effortless for you – we could even help you to create a paperless office!

For further information or to discuss your requirements, please get in touch via email to enquiries@callteam.co.uk or telephoning 0845 544 0681 .

This article ‘My home office hell: Long Lie-in, daytime TV and freedom from the boss?  Dream on…’  really hit home for me as it is one of the most difficult things to do – work at home!  The problems of managing everyone’s expectations when you work from home is simply exhausting (and that’s before you’ve even managed to turn on the PC and attempted to battle through the barrage of emails from jealous office-dwelling colleagues).  Add kids into the equation and it can be Home Office Hell.

Personally I hate the title Work-At-Home-Mums so let’s not get into a debate about the gender divide and refer to them as either WAHMs or WAHDs.  All parents regardless of whether they juggle home, kids, other-halves and a paid job or even their own businesses from home WORK HARD even when they’re not doing paid work.  OK, I admit there are a few who ‘let the side down’, but on the whole, parents are hard-wired to take care of everything (and then some!)

If you take business calls whilst you have your kids bickering or howling with laughter within ear-shot your professional credibility floats out of the window.  It matters not a jot that you’re the best at what you do, that simple sound-bite reduces the perception of respect in the mind of the receiver (if they tell you it doesn’t matter, they’re being kind – It does matter!).  Couple that with next door’s “Its only meeeeee” as they waltz through the back door waving a packet of Digestives removes all doubt.

Putting in place routines for yourself and strict rules for family, friends and neighbours to adhere to is key here as well as getting your calls answered by a professional call handling team.  For me this was a crucial tool that helped protect my professional credibility at times when I needed to buckle down and concentrate on something or when I knew background noise was going to be a problem or for when I was engaged on another call.  Even before I had a full bank of clients I made sure my phones were diverted to a call handling team.  I now have a successful business and happy home life.  It took time, but here are my top 5 tips to working successfully from home whether you’re a WAHM or WAHD or not:

1. Draw up a Friends & Family Charter where you explain what times you’re not available and the reasons why your work time is valuable to you and ultimately the family.  They will forget, but repeating it helps until they learn your routines.  We’ve set up a Family Google Calendar and plan family time so everyone knows when it’s a good or bad time to speak to me.  So everyone’s happy (well, most of the time LOL!)
2. Work from an area where you can close the door.  If you don’t have the luxury of a separate room, make sure you can screen off that area of the room to keep it separate from home stuff.  Doing this means you’re less likely to be tempted to tackle the Tesco Online shop when you should be really concentrating on a client’s spreadsheet or presentation…
3. Get active!  Start the day with some exercise.  It might seem insane that you should take time out of a busy day when you could be cracking on with stuff, but even 20 minutes will help boost your energy and concentration levels.
4. Get showered and dressed.  I’m not saying get all suited n booted!  Working in your jammies with last night’s sleep crust in your eyes isn’t conducive to having an ‘up and at ‘em’ approach to work.  Get a routine going.  Doing something for 21 days becomes an effortless habit so start now.
5. Get a separate business line.   VOIP lines are a low cost and inexpensive way to establish a division between your home and business life and are easy to set up diverts and many have excellent in-built voicemail options too. Let your home answering machine catch all the home stuff and sort out a Call Handling service for those times when you’re on the phone, concentrating on work or even when you’re engaged on another call.  Having your calls answered doesn’t cost the earth but shows that you mean business.  If you mean business, people will respect both you and your time.  If you need assistance with setting up a VOIP phone, please get in touch.

What are your coping strategies for being a WAHM or a WAHD?

Let me know any tips or tricks that show others that you Mean Business without being a Mean Businessman/woman!