Need feed back on Perceptionist

[Warren Wallace]

I saw them in vegas and wanted to hear some feed back
cost?or is it even helpful

Thanks in advance for any input

 

[John Watson]

We also are interested in hearing from those that have used them. Pro's and con's,

 

[Tahoesteve]

I used them for about 6 months last spring.

Pros:

A live person answers the phone

You only pay them if they book a job (20 bucks)

They can give a semi accurate quote based on the information you give them about your business and your pricing structure.

They have a pretty cool online calendar for scheduling.

You can listen to a recording of any call they answer for you.


Cons:

They only book jobs in two time slots, morning or afternoon.

They aren't real knowledgeable about carpet cleaning...kind of like an answering service

They don't know your area so they always sound like they are somewhere else.

You will miss out on emergency or same day jobs.

They inform you of a scheduled job by email not by phone.

They have many employees that answer calls and they can vary in their demeanor and phone skills.

They charge $20 per booked job regardless of the size of the ticket


I decided it was more professional and personal to forward the calls to my cell, put down the wand and answer the calls myself...at least until I get busy enough to justify hiring someone local and with some basic knowledge of the industry to take my calls.

Feel free to call me anytime to discuss.

Take Care,
Steve

530.416.0844

 

[Warren Wallace]

Thanks for the info steve you answered alot of my questions
Warren

 

[Mark Imbesi]

I thank you, too, Steve. Very informative and in depth.

 

[DannyD]

I tried em about a year ago or so. This is a post of my experience w/ em. It looks like not a lot has changed. Here's my post as it pertains to Perceptionist:



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.

 

[Mikey P]

I would hire a home bound person way before trying that deal.

 

[SCFoxman]

I use them currently.

Although, with a little finagling, you can use them simply for your overflow as I do.

For example:

When our main line is dialed, our phone rings first (also at times forwarded to my cell).
After I don't pick up for 5 rings (this is selectable I believe) it then goes back to them to field the call. All very seamlessly.

Therefore, I'm only paying them to book the jobs that I can't get to (and unless they're a previous client, or have heard you are the best thing since sliced bread, there aren't too many leaving messages and waiting for you to call back)

If you have enough volume to keep a CSR then more power to ya. But if you're a small outfit and trying to do it all yourself, at least you have SOMEONE to answer the phone on your behalf. And again, you're not paying for them to answer unless they book the job.

just my .02

 

[erick herdt]

I was a percussionist in high school.

 

[Jerry]

I currently use them ,for now. It is nice when you are busy to have someone taking the calls.I am not sure if I am going to continue with the service though. It is ok for new customers, but existing customer have a problem with it. My biggest complaint is that they don't schedule specific times , so you still have to call the customer and set up a time. Also if a customer cancells, you do not get a credit for it. Not only is the time slot not filled but now you paid 20.00 . I am going to evaluate how much using them has helped and decide by the end of the year if I am going to continue.

 

[Brian R]

Hiring a college kid for 10 bucks an hour would beat the hell out of that...pay them under the table and it's more for everyone (course, I would never pay under the table).

80 bucks a day. You should get enough work to cover that.

Make sure he or she is cold calling or something...sweep the floor or anything to earn their money.

Just by answering the phone you are giving the image of a pro company even if the answerer is not knowledgable of ccing...which in a week they will know enough.

My business picked up a good amount just by doing this...after awhile you will not be able to run your company without someone.

 

[Guest]

I cancelled them in October for several reasons. On their website they have a 30 day Risk Free Trial, and before I pointed out to them, they used to have a policy that you didn't pay a fee for cancellations, only booked jobs. In October I had 4 cancellations in one week, when the stock market crashed and freaked my clients out. I called to ask how do we handle cancellations. They told me that I do not get that refunded unless it's Perceptionist fault. I told them that it is stated on their website that I don't have to pay for cancellations. They then told me, "ohh" thanks for pointing that out, that's old, we changed our policy at the beginning of the year. I then told them that their services are not worth it to me then. So I cancelled and I was going to keep my opinion about them to myself. Well, now that I cancelled within the 30 days, I asked about my refund for the $99 setup fee. They then told me that is non refundable, and I then asked, where does it say that in the contract or your website? They said, it costs them money to start a new customer. So instead of arguing, I reversed the charge and sent off my proof to my credit card company. Now, I just got a charge from out of the blue for all the calls they answered. I called them this time to ask them to refund that money back. Now I am very disapointed in this company, and just wanted to pass along "Watch Out" for the Bait N Switch "30 Day Risk Free". I'm sure they would work out fine for a really busy company with mostly repeat customers. I personally would hire someone if I was that busy.

1. $99 Set up Fee
2. $25 Monthly Management Fee
3. $20 booked calls (no refund on cancellations)
4. If you cancel within 30 days, be ready for a fight to get your money back
You decide if it's worth it.

 

[DannyD]

I'd hold off on em if I was you. When I was w/ em they charged $20 per appointment. That may/may not have changed. So if your regulars are calling ya, these folks are taking $20 off the top when the people would have booked anyway. Also they didn't seem to be the best people to answer the phones. Couldn't explain the business or anything. A friend of mine called em to check em out & he told me to can em. Plus if someone calls & it's not an appointment, like say a family member or friend, they put in in a voicemail. Getting to that voicemail is a pain. Cant remember exactly but it's a long process, like 5 steps or something.

And there's no way to know if ya have a message w/out checking the voicemail. So ya can check it & no message.

They aren't bad people. It's nothing like that. I just think that ya'd be better off w/ an answering service.

Good luck

 

[Warren Wallace]

Thanks for all the input
Warren