5 Key Contributors to Answering Service Success By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Over the years I’ve seen some answering services get larger, while others didn’t. Before we attribute the difference to bad timing, being in the wrong place, or poor luck, let’s consider some characteristics that can contribute to answering service success. This isn’t a […]
Category: Telephone Answering Service
Telephone answering service articles by Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
Receiving Independent, Third-Party Feedback Is the Most Valuable Information You Can Get By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD As a writer, I’m a big fan of constructive feedback. Sometimes it’s affirming and other times it’s discouraging, but when it comes from a credible source it’s always beneficial. The same applies to the answering service industry. Receiving […]
Categories
The Power of No
Learning to Say No Opens the Door to Yes By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD By nature, I like to help people. I enjoy diving into exciting projects. And I relish variety. As a result, I tend to say “yes” to opportunities that come my way. And the more I say “yes,” the busier I get. […]
When Historical Data Can’t Predict Call Traffic, We Need to Guess By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Last week we celebrated Independence Day in the United States. With it happening on a Wednesday, it threw a lot of people off. I included. When July Fourth occurs on a weekend, there’s little impact on normal business activity. […]
Categories
Welcome to Summer
Be Intentional to Make the Most Out of the Summer Season By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Even though summer hasn’t officially begun, for most of us in the United States it effectively started after Memorial Day. It feels like summer, and I, for one, act like it’s summer. Though it’s been a while, here’s what […]
Mishandling Leads Will Result in Lost Sales By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Over a decade ago, in my article “I Want To Buy Some Shoes,” I used my experience buying a pair of sneakers to talk about the TAS industry. Now, I’ll do it again. With my wife serving as my accomplice, she guided me […]
Though serving clients is the goal, what we call ourselves does matter By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Asking if you’re an answering service or a call center isn’t a matter of semantics, it’s a matter of perception. And since perceptions drive behaviors, this is an important discussion to have. First, let’s cover some definitions to […]
Effective leaders take time to get input from their employees By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD One of my goals when I ran an answering service was to provide the best possible headsets for my staff. After all, they spend all day on the phone, so voice quality, ease-of-use, and comfort are critical. To pursue this, […]
Having Multiple Business Identities for Your TAS May Be Strategic or Happenstance By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Not that I expect many readers to notice, but did you see I made a small tweak to my byline? Instead of Peter L DeHaan, it has become Peter Lyle DeHaan. There’s a reason for this. Let me […]
If you plan for nothing, that’s likely what you’ll achieve. By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I’m a big advocate of planning. I have a plan for each day and a plan for the week. I have a plan for the month and for each quarter. I also have a plan for the year. It’s not […]