By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD For all my adult life writing was something I did, but it meant nothing more. Then about eight years ago I began to take writing more seriously, wondering if it might be my next career. (It is, but it’s a part-time career. No worries, I will continue to publish TAS […]
Category: Telephone Answering Service
Telephone answering service articles by Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Since I work at home, I don’t do much driving. I sometimes wonder if I really need a car. Couple this with my preference to invest in a product and use it as long as I can. As a result, my higher-end car was nineteen years old and pushing a […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD This month I’m not going to write about the telephone answering service industry or customer service or any of the things I typically address in TAS Trader. Instead, I have a seasonal thought—sort of. In considering our society as a whole, the past several months have been rough: divisive news, […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Long ago, perhaps in graduate school, I read a management guru who advocated that a company’s highest-paid employee should ethically make no more than seven times the lowest-paid employee. Of course, I can’t find that source now, but I remember it well. For a telephone answering service, the two people […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I recently read a fiction book set in the late nineties. In a small but pivotal part of the story stood a telephone answering service. The author was mostly accurate in describing how an answering service functions, though his depiction of the industry highlighted several negative stereotypes as the norm. […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD As I talk with owners and operators in the telephone answering service industry, some have concerns and others share the excitement. I understand those who are pessimistic. After all, there is much to worry about. I also understand those who are optimistic. They see ongoing changes to the industry, as […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Having bought more than a dozen answering services in my day, I understand the allure of chasing the sale, negotiating fair terms, closing the deal, and taking control of the acquisition. Yet the real value comes after the sale when the acquired accounts are optimized. Yes, you inevitably lose some, […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD A couple of years ago I started offering freelance commercial writing services. Not surprisingly, much of the work I do is in the answering service industry: commercial marketing, blog posts, website content, and marketing materials. As I research and write for my clients in the TAS industry, one theme reoccurs. […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Many years ago in another industry, my boss shared his grand suggestion to save money and boost productivity. It was insightful but had a critical flaw that would render it unworkable. He was enough removed from the day-to-day workings of our operation that he was unaware of the hole in […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It seems that subscription services surround us: from Dollar Shave Club to HP Instant Ink, to Microsoft 365. For the record, I’ve passed on all three, though I recently questioned that decision as I made another trip to the office supply store to purchase printer ink. Nonprofits also embrace this […]