Don't worry, you haven't stumbled upon a blog devoted to 'How to react if you are being attacked by a bear'.
This blog will give an overview as to how Hosted VoIP phone services can benefit smaller companies and sole traders.
One of the initial challenges to overcome when working for yourself is how best to manage your image. It is tricky to set up a company, win over customers, do all the necessary admin, and balance your books. It can be a bit like spinning plates, only there are far more than you actually handle!
Well SureVoIP® can at least help with one aspect – Presentation.
It is a sad but true fact that we judge on appearances, before anything else. Psychologists tell us that we judge the personality of someone we have just met within a quarter of a second.
Don't feel guilty – it's not just you, and it's not really your fault. The human brain is used to processing millions, if not billions of pieces of data every day. It does this by pattern matching, and it does this by making guesses. The brain basically takes a rough overview, assumes this pattern repeats itself, and fills in any gaps in its perceptions with these guesses.
This how optical illusions work. The brain has created lots of short cuts in order to process the vast amount of data which surrounds it, and optical illusions use this. The famous Muller-Lyer illusion pictured is a good example.
We can use this trick of the brain to work in favour of the smaller business.
The Muller-Lyer illusion relies on mental shortcuts to fool your brain
The alternative is also true. If a company's service meets or exceeds your expectations, then you will be far more likely to buy from them.
This is the key point of this article, and this is how VoIP can help the smaller business.
By working on your presentation, you can greatly improve how customers perceive you.
Customers and potential customers make assumptions, or ;guesses', to refer to our potted psychology summary given above.
We can use this mental trait to our advantage. Giving a level of service associated with a larger company will create this mental image in the customer's mind.
Therefore, making use of a phone system which creates an appropriate image will work to enhance customer's perception of your company. People have fewer reservations about dealing with a larger company, so appearing as larger will result in a better image, and more successful dealings with callers.
This can be achieved by using many of the features and functions of a VoIP service. This kind of phone service adapts well to people working from differing locations, so you don't need a physical office. You can transfer calls between users as if you were all located in the same place. Callers will always experience the same phone set up, no matter which employee they dial. Music on Hold, coupled with a menu auto-attendant, gives the re-assurance of being in contact with a larger company. It also means that all your users have a cohesive 'brand identity' to callers.
Conference calling opens the door to more in-depth meetings, without having to physically travel to meet.
All your callers can get in touch using your company advertised number, and reach any of your staff members.
All a big improvement to just handing out your mobile number and hoping for the best!
We even offer a paired down service for Sole Traders. Our Single User service gives a useful range of functions, and is designed specifically for the single person working on their own.
For more info on our Hosted services
To see details of our Single User service
More info on the Muller-Lyer Illusion