By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I’ve never seen an answering service that didn’t have seasonal traffic fluctuations. Most experience an increase in the summer months. This is likely a result of vacations at their clients’ offices and those clients using the answering service more. Or maybe they are on summer hours or more of their […]
Category: Telephone Answering Service
Telephone answering service articles by Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
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How Was Your Holiday?
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD In the United States we celebrated a holiday a few days ago. Though the official date was on Saturday, most businesses closed on Friday to give their staff a three-day weekend. A few tacked on Monday as well, giving their employees even more time off. Telephone answering services (TAS) aren’t […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It used to be that telephone answering services (TAS) could function as a generalist – serving all clients – or specialize in specific niches. I now wonder if a niche strategy might be needed in today’s marketplace. A huge answering service niche is the healthcare industry. Within this focus, there […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Since its beginning, every year brings changes to the telephone answering service (TAS) industry. And the scope of change seems to increase each year. However, not everything changes. Some things stay the same. Though these four keys may fluctuate in importance from year to year, they are always at the […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD A problem faced by telephone answering service owners (like all business owners) is addressing life cycle changes: dealing with shifting priorities as we age. While some people may have both the drive and ability to run a business for the remainder of their lives, most get to a point where […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD A blog is a great way to connect with people online. It also provides fresh content, which makes search engines happy. And happy search engines show your site to more people, giving you a higher position in their listings. If a blog brings more people to your site, it seems […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Most telephone answering services are small businesses with closely held ownerships. Even many larger ones are still privately held, while a few are public companies or part of a public company. Regardless of size and structure, all answering services must plan for the future. Interestingly, their core concerns are essentially […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I’ve been involved in buying over a dozen telephone answering services. While some parts of the transition were fun to plan and easy to handle, the employee aspect was always the hardest. Despite my hard work to successfully integrate new operators into our existing workforce, they often thwarted my best […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Last month I wrote that many TAS owners use a management style called “management by walking around.” The default method of many entrepreneurs and small business owners, this is a simple yet effective way to oversee a single-location business, provided the owner is on-site. However, if the manager isn’t present, […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Many small business owners, including TAS owners, use the simple yet effective management style of “management by walking around.” They manage what they see. However, to be effective the manager must be physically present. If the manager can’t be around on a regular basis, the results are often disastrous, producing […]