Anyone using "The perseptionist" service?
- Thread starter -JB-
- Start date
Ken Snow
RIP
Just got an e-mail about it John, but not sure of how they work. My suggestion would be to call them and ask for 2-3 clients in our industry that they have somewhere in the US and then call them pretending to be a customer and see how you feel they can handle it.
Our experience in the past was that answering service personell are typically very low paid and we got that caliber. This seems to be a different spin in that they can actually book things or answer questions vs just pass on a call to a cell, pager or next morning. If someone has this down pat it could really revolutionize the way calls are handle not only for owner ops, but also for multi truck companies, potentially saving office space, reducing phone service and equipment overhead and training.
We have a staff to answer live 8a-6p mon-sat and 12-5 on Sunday and now have our phone system process calls after hours. Clients can A) leave a general message, B) Get emergency spill/stain response or C) get emergency water or fire damage response. Based on the selection the system will call out to the appropriate parties or just take a message to be retrieved the next morning.
This method had some fixed start up costs, but 0 ongoing cost so may be worth looking into if you want to keep control over it yourself.
Ken
Our experience in the past was that answering service personell are typically very low paid and we got that caliber. This seems to be a different spin in that they can actually book things or answer questions vs just pass on a call to a cell, pager or next morning. If someone has this down pat it could really revolutionize the way calls are handle not only for owner ops, but also for multi truck companies, potentially saving office space, reducing phone service and equipment overhead and training.
We have a staff to answer live 8a-6p mon-sat and 12-5 on Sunday and now have our phone system process calls after hours. Clients can A) leave a general message, B) Get emergency spill/stain response or C) get emergency water or fire damage response. Based on the selection the system will call out to the appropriate parties or just take a message to be retrieved the next morning.
This method had some fixed start up costs, but 0 ongoing cost so may be worth looking into if you want to keep control over it yourself.
Ken
I got the email and called them. When they called back I was kinda busy so I didn't get all the details I wanted. Basically you give them the info about your company benefits,price lists, etc and when someone calls you if you don't answer by the fourth ring it goes straight to perceptionist instead of voicemail. What makes these guys different from other answering services is they only get paid if they book a job on resi or an estimate on commercial. The cost is $20 per job or estimate booked. If someone calls back and cancels they said they will give you credit.
I tried em & they didn't work out at all. From another board, my post & then a post from someone who called em to book a job w/ my company.
My post:
I'm having challenges w/ Perceptionist. Nice people but maybe not the right fit for me. Someone calls & they get voice prompted to press "1" for a live person or "2" to leave a message. If they leave a message, I'm not notified by email or anything. I knew people had left messages (like friends who called back & said they left one) & didn't understand why I wasn't notified.
I found out that they only email ya for booked jobs. That to retrieve my messages I had to
1) dial 1-866-278-3826
2) hit pound
3) dial 8706
4) pound again
5) enter my 6 digit password followed by pound.
LOL!!! yeesh!!! All that & I might not have any messages.
Even the pressing 1 for the live person, as I mentioned in another post I could swear I pressed 1 but got prompted to the message thingee. Someone else did the same.
Add to that one of the people I talked to later on told me "your phone system is weird." I told her about it being an answering service & she said it was iffy if she'd have waited to leave a message had she not known me.
I've found that maybe I can talk to people better than I thought. It helps to have my process written down. I'm not getting the prices I was hoping for but by not having Perceptionist I can take $20 off anyway. So I'm doing a whole house for $150. I can live w/ that for now.
So anyway, what do you do about answering your phone? I'm thinking of an answering service. I could forward to my cell but don't want to be getting calls when I'm working. That's kind of not fair to the customer who should have my undivided attention. If I had a helper & someone was still working that would be a lil different maybe.
Thanx in advance,
Danny
ps: If anyone wants to see what Perceptionist is about call my # 810-584-0376 in the next day or so. I'm gettin rid of em. I'll keep em for another day or so, so if anyone on this board wants to look into it, check it out. I'm not bashing them, just sayin it's not quite for me. It might be a good fit for ya.
A post from someone who called my company, w/ Perceptionist answering:
Danny, I called your number, pressed 1, was on hold for 3 minutes, someone answered, put me on hold for another minute. I asked him about cleaning 3 bdrms and a living room and what that would cost. He wanted my zip code so I told him I was calling for some family and that I was out of state. He couldn't give me a price. I asked how you guys cleaned and he couldn't tell me if it was HWE or with a buffer/op machine. He said that he was the only receptionist in their and that he would have someone call me.. I said goodbye!
Here is my suggestions if you don't mind.
1. Get rid of their services. In my eyes, they made your company look like you didn't know what you were doing (I obviously don't think that personally), but if I was a true customer, I wouldn't have been impressed.
2. You are just starting out. Answer the phone yourself. It really isn't a big issue having it ring in front of a customer. Just say "Excuse me on minute", take the call, get name an phone number and call them right back when you go out to your vehicle.
3. Get rid of this answering service!!!
4. First part if 1 and all of 3
Others might have had good experiences w/ em, that pretty much sums up mine though.
Take care,
Danny
My post:
I'm having challenges w/ Perceptionist. Nice people but maybe not the right fit for me. Someone calls & they get voice prompted to press "1" for a live person or "2" to leave a message. If they leave a message, I'm not notified by email or anything. I knew people had left messages (like friends who called back & said they left one) & didn't understand why I wasn't notified.
I found out that they only email ya for booked jobs. That to retrieve my messages I had to
1) dial 1-866-278-3826
2) hit pound
3) dial 8706
4) pound again
5) enter my 6 digit password followed by pound.
LOL!!! yeesh!!! All that & I might not have any messages.
Even the pressing 1 for the live person, as I mentioned in another post I could swear I pressed 1 but got prompted to the message thingee. Someone else did the same.
Add to that one of the people I talked to later on told me "your phone system is weird." I told her about it being an answering service & she said it was iffy if she'd have waited to leave a message had she not known me.
I've found that maybe I can talk to people better than I thought. It helps to have my process written down. I'm not getting the prices I was hoping for but by not having Perceptionist I can take $20 off anyway. So I'm doing a whole house for $150. I can live w/ that for now.
So anyway, what do you do about answering your phone? I'm thinking of an answering service. I could forward to my cell but don't want to be getting calls when I'm working. That's kind of not fair to the customer who should have my undivided attention. If I had a helper & someone was still working that would be a lil different maybe.
Thanx in advance,
Danny
ps: If anyone wants to see what Perceptionist is about call my # 810-584-0376 in the next day or so. I'm gettin rid of em. I'll keep em for another day or so, so if anyone on this board wants to look into it, check it out. I'm not bashing them, just sayin it's not quite for me. It might be a good fit for ya.
A post from someone who called my company, w/ Perceptionist answering:
Danny, I called your number, pressed 1, was on hold for 3 minutes, someone answered, put me on hold for another minute. I asked him about cleaning 3 bdrms and a living room and what that would cost. He wanted my zip code so I told him I was calling for some family and that I was out of state. He couldn't give me a price. I asked how you guys cleaned and he couldn't tell me if it was HWE or with a buffer/op machine. He said that he was the only receptionist in their and that he would have someone call me.. I said goodbye!
Here is my suggestions if you don't mind.
1. Get rid of their services. In my eyes, they made your company look like you didn't know what you were doing (I obviously don't think that personally), but if I was a true customer, I wouldn't have been impressed.
2. You are just starting out. Answer the phone yourself. It really isn't a big issue having it ring in front of a customer. Just say "Excuse me on minute", take the call, get name an phone number and call them right back when you go out to your vehicle.
3. Get rid of this answering service!!!
4. First part if 1 and all of 3
Others might have had good experiences w/ em, that pretty much sums up mine though.
Take care,
Danny
We tried them but it didn't work for us. Nice people, good to work with but it didn't work.
1. We have someone in the office most of the time during business hours.
2. Most of our business is repeat and referral.
So when a ten year customer called on Sunday expecting and willing to leave a message, they booked the job and of course charged for it.
The profit from the new business we picked up because of having the phone answered 24/7 didn't offset the cost of them booking long time customers/referrals.
Having said that, I think everyone should look into their service to see if it fits for them.
1. We have someone in the office most of the time during business hours.
2. Most of our business is repeat and referral.
So when a ten year customer called on Sunday expecting and willing to leave a message, they booked the job and of course charged for it.
The profit from the new business we picked up because of having the phone answered 24/7 didn't offset the cost of them booking long time customers/referrals.
Having said that, I think everyone should look into their service to see if it fits for them.
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