Does your firm have a standard protocol in place for answering the phones and/or sending email? If not you are probably losing business. Use this template as a standards guide for answering the phone and responding to email in your business.
It is important in any sound business to have standards in place so your creative firm is acting out of a place of consistency and professionalism.
Use this template as a working model for your business or modify it to suit your particular needs.
Most importantly, implement a version of it so your employee behavior and business goals are congruent.
Telephone protocol
Answering the telephone
We will:
• answer 90% of telephone calls within 15 seconds
• greet the caller in a polite and friendly manner giving the name of the council OR team OR facility AND our name
• if applicable, make notes of the call and address the caller by name if this is appropriate.
• if we transfer the call, tell the caller which service or person or extension they are being transferred to
• when transferring a call, pass on the caller’s name and details of their query; we will not just put the call through to a colleague without announcing it first
• when accepting a transferred call, greet the caller by name and indicate that we know what their call is about
• not transfer a call a second time. If we cannot deal with it ourselves we will arrange for someone to ring the caller back
• when the caller has contacted us in error, give them the correct number to call where possible
• when we leave our desk, divert our telephone to a colleague and ask them to answer our calls or use an answer phone
• if we use an answer phone, we will respond to messages within two working days
Email protocol
Dealing with emails
We will:
• reply within one working day; OR acknowledge emails within one working day and reply in full within ten working days; or for Freedom of Information requests reply in full within twenty working days
• use a friendly, courteous and professional tone
• use a professional layout
(Upper and lower case letters used correctly, structured in paragraphs, with a proper salutation using the sender’s name and a proper ending.)
• use professional language
(No abbreviations such as txtg, no serious grammatical or spelling errors, free of jargon, written in plain, accurate English)
• use standard email font settings and avoid any personalisation such as additional graphics or special effects
• ensure that our name, job title and telephone number are included automatically on every e-mail we send
• activate the out of office message as a matter of routine when we know that we will be absent for more than one day. We will leave a courteous, professional message and give the contact details of a colleague who can be contacted in our absence
None of the above applies to spam messages which should simply be deleted.
Does your firm have a standard protocol in place for answering the phones and/or sending email? If not you are probably losing business. Use these tips as a standards guide for answering the phone and responding to email in your business.
It is important in any sound business to have standards in place so your creative firm is acting out of a place of consistency and professionalism. Use the information below as a working model for your business or modify it to suit your particular needs. Most importantly, implement a version of it so your employee behavior and business goals are congruent.
Telephone protocol – Answering the telephone
We will:
answer 90% of telephone calls within 15 seconds
greet the caller in a polite and friendly manner giving the name of the council OR team OR facility AND our name
if applicable, make notes of the call and address the caller by name if this is appropriate.
if we transfer the call, tell the caller which service or person or extension they are being transferred to
when transferring a call, pass on the caller’s name and details of their query; we will not just put the call through to a colleague without announcing it first
when accepting a transferred call, greet the caller by name and indicate that we know what their call is about
not transfer a call a second time. If we cannot deal with it ourselves we will arrange for someone to ring the caller back
when the caller has contacted us in error, give them the correct number to call where possible
when we leave our desk, divert our telephone to a colleague and ask them to answer our calls or use an answer phone
if we use an answer phone, we will respond to messages within two working days
Email protocol – Dealing with emails
We will:
reply within one working day; OR acknowledge emails within one working day and reply in full within ten working days; or for Freedom of Information requests reply in full within twenty working days
use a friendly, courteous and professional tone
use a professional layout (Upper and lower case letters used correctly, structured in paragraphs, with a proper salutation using the sender’s name and a proper ending.)
use professional language (No abbreviations such as txtg, no serious grammatical or spelling errors, free of jargon, written in plain, accurate English)
use standard email font settings and avoid any personalisation such as additional graphics or special effects
ensure that our name, job title and telephone number are included automatically on every e-mail we send
activate the out of office message as a matter of routine when we know that we will be absent for more than one day. We will leave a courteous, professional message and give the contact details of a colleague who can be contacted in our absence
None of the above applies to spam messages which should simply be deleted.
I totally feel the frustration in this animation. It amazes me how clients act and the abuse designers go through when dealing with clients. The video has some bad language, so watch carefully.
Are you tired of wasting time and money marketing your freelance design business — with little or no results?
Are you exhausted by trying to constantly “shout louder” than other designers to get your marketing messages heard — and responded to?
Does it make you mad to see other “so-called designers” who do bad work and don’t have any real talent or skill, make more money than you?
If you know that you can and should be making more mon*ey in your freelance design business, things can be different for you.
How?
6-figure freelance graphic designer and website designer, Jeanna Pool, is sharing her secrets for marketing your freelance design business successfully so you can make the “executive level” I.N.C.O.M.E you deserve.
Seeing that there was a need to help freelance designers market their services successfully, Jeanna founded the Freelance Design Marketing Association.
The association is the FIRST and ONLY association of its kind…dedicated to teaching freelance graphic designers and web designers how to market their services successfully, attract more clients consistently and build the business and I.N.C.O.M.E of their dreams.
Find out all of the details here
Are you tired of wasting time and money marketing your freelance design business — with little or no results?
Are you exhausted by trying to constantly “shout louder” than other designers to get your marketing messages heard — and responded to?
Does it make you mad to see other “so-called designers” who do bad work and don’t have any real talent or skill, make more money than you?
If you know that you can and should be making more money in your freelance design business, things can be different for you.
How?
6-figure freelance graphic designer and website designer, Jeanna Pool, is sharing her secrets for marketing your freelance design business successfully so you can make the “executive level” I.N.C.O.M.E you deserve.
The association is the FIRST and ONLY association of its kind…dedicated to teaching freelance graphic designers and web designers how to market their services successfully, attract more clients consistently and build the business and I.N.C.O.M.E of their dreams.
Here’s a powerful persuasion technique that will guarantee your design business more sales once you start integrating it into your sales presentations and talk tracks.
This technique is, of course, nothing new and has been recently highlighted in Kevin Hogan’s fine book, The Science of Influence.
It involves your potential clients view of time. Simply said, By changing ones relationship to time you help them make different decisions.
As Hogan says, “Time plays a big role in people’s decision-making process. There are three fundamental ways people experience time: past, present and future.”
Now the trick is to get your clients viewpoint out of the past and present and into a rosy future.
Some examples:
Client: “The last time we worked with a design firm we were not happy at all with how the deliverable dates were communicated”
Design Firm: “I understand. If we can create communication plan with a simple and clear set of deliverable dates in the future would you be interested?”
Client #2: ” I’m not sure if we need a brand re-haul. We tried this 5 years ago and felt it did not make a measurable bottom-line difference”
Design Firm #2: “When you look out into the future 1 year from now do you see how your firm can be THE leader in the industry by distinguishing your firm with a smart, cohesive brand strategy as we have successfully accomplished for many of our clients?”
Give it a try. Use the law of time to your advantage.
Here’s a powerful persuasion technique that will guarantee your design business more sales once you start integrating it into your sales presentations and talk tracks.
This technique is, of course, nothing new and has been recently highlighted in Kevin Hogan’s fine book, The Science of Influence.
It involves your potential clients view of time. Simply said, By changing ones relationship to time you help them make different decisions.
As Hogan says, “Time plays a big role in people’s decision-making process. There are three fundamental ways people experience time: past, present and future.”
Now the trick is to get your clients viewpoint out of the past and present and into a rosy future.
Some examples:
Client #1: “The last time we worked with a design firm we were not happy at all with how the deliverable dates were communicated”
Design Firm: “I understand. If we can create communication plan with a simple and clear set of deliverable dates in the future would you be interested?”
Client #2: ” I’m not sure if we need a brand re-haul. We tried this 5 years ago and felt it did not make a measurable bottom-line difference”
Design Firm: “When you look out into the future 1 year from now do you see how your firm can be THE leader in the industry by distinguishing your firm with a smart, cohesive brand strategy as we have successfully accomplished for many of our clients?”
Give it a try. Use the law of time to your advantage.
Adobe Systems will lay off 680 staff, or 9 percent of its workforce, in its latest move to cut costs, the company confirmed Tuesday.
The job cuts will be made worldwide and are designed to bring Adobe’s costs in line with its 2010 budget and “the realities of the business environment,” the company said.
