Posted by Cloud Net on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 @ 07:00 AM
You never get a second chance to make a first impression – so Cloud Net’s mystery shopper service checks first impressions when a caller rings your business
Walsall, 12 July 2010. Cloud Net, the business phone systems company, today launched www.phonegrader.co.uk, a free service that helps small businesses evaluate the way their phones are answered by their employees.
In a recent survey of small businesses, Cloud Net discovered that while more than half[1] of the businesses surveyed did answer test calls professionally, giving their company name and a greeting, nearly a third[2] failed to do so.
Following the survey, Cloud Net launched www.phonegrader.co.ukhttp://www.phonegrader.co.uk to help managers and business owners understand whether their company phones are answered rapidly, pleasantly, informatively and professionally.
Phonegrader.co.uk ranks companies with a grade from 1 to 14 depending on how well the mystery shopper calls are handled. To score 1 companies need to answer rapidly and professionally. Whereas other grades include: a voicemail set up without the ability to leave a message, permanently engaged lines without being diverted to another employee or a voicemail, or phones being picked up with a simple hello and no indication of company name.
Now is the time when responsiveness to enquiries becomes a key differentiator to increasing sales or customers and to customer retention. Handling calls professionally is something every business should be doing: www.phonegrader.co.uk is a simple, free and objective way of assessing that,says David Hill Chairman of Cloud Net.
Phonegrader.co.uk does not record the calls, nor is any named or identifiable information shared with anyone else. It is genuinely free.
[1] 54% of companies surveyed
[2] 29% of companies surveyed
For further information, please visit www.phonegrader.co.uk.For further information on Cloud Net, please visit www.cloudnetuk.com, call
01922 21 33 33 or email solutions@cloudnetuk.com
-ENDS-
About Cloud Net
Cloud Net supplies business phone systems to SMEs and start ups with the advantage of no capital expenditure necessary to run a professional PBX and dramatically lower running costs. Cloud Net has developed a dedicated voice over IP (VoIP) network providing free calls within the network The company has a happy and growing customer base. Cloud Net is privately financed and started trading in March 2009.
Contact for media information
For more information, to review Cloud Net services or for case studies, please contact Ranbir Sahota of Vitis PR, on 0121 242 8048, ranbir@vitispr.com
Posted by Cloud Net on Thu, Jun 24, 2010 @ 03:59 AM
www.phonegrader.co.uk launched to help companies check how their staff pick up the phone
24 June 2010. A telephone survey conducted in May 2010, by business phone systems company, Cloud Net found that almost a third of small businesses are not picking up the phone.
The survey has prompted Cloud Net to launch www.phonegrader.co.uk, a free website which helps companies to understand how their phones are answered. Once a company has entered their phone number, it is called during office hours and given a grading.
Cloud Net's survey consisted of calling 200 randomly selected businesses (with fewer than 250 employees).
Commenting, David Hill, Chairman, Cloud Net said, "The 2009 recession proved to be a devastating year for many small businesses with many it seems left without sufficient resources to man telephone lines to potential customers and business opportunities.
While 2010 is showing signs of economic promise, it is hard to believe that our telephone survey of 200 small businesses showed that 29% of businesses had no professional way of answering a business phone call. Now is the time when responsiveness to enquiries becomes a key differentiator to increasing sales or customers and to customer retention."
"In some cases, phones kept ringing without being forwarded to a voicemail system, in other cases, 5% of calls were greeted by a simple hello, without any indication of the company name. Companies cannot afford to let this business area slip", he continued.
Other results from the survey showed that 54% of companies did pick up the phone with a professional person, company name and greeting. The average number of rings was 2.39 seconds. 15% of SMEs also used a professional voicemail.
Presteen, a private investigation and legal support firm, is a company that wants to capture every call. Mark Gill, MD of Presteen, commented, "With such a competitive telecoms market currently, business should have no problems finding a professional business phone system. We use Cloud Net's business VoIP service and are considering its CLASS live telephone answering service as a back up when we are really busy and want someone to answer the phone on our behalf.
Cloud Net's tips on smarter ways of answering the phone, include:
• Agree on company policy on picking up the phone - such as a simple, "Good morning, company name, how can I help?"
• Ensure that there is a professional voicemail
• Set up a call divert system
• Have an answering service, with a professional message
• Answer within three rings
For further information, please visit, www.cloudnetuk.com, www.phonegrader.co.uk, call 01922 21 33 33 or email solutions@cloudnetuk.com
-ENDS-
About Cloud Net
Cloud Net supplies business phone systems to SMEs and start ups with the advantage of no capital expenditure necessary to run a professional PBX and dramatically lower running costs. Cloud Net has developed a dedicated small business VoIP network providing free calls within the network. The company has a happy and growing customer base. Cloud Net is privately financed and started trading in March 2009.