Modern technology such as phones (both mobile and landline), computers and laptops, e-mail, video chat, and more allow more options for today’s business employees than ever before. In fact, many employees choose to work customer service jobs or do inbound sales work remotely, even from the privacy of their own homes. A stay at home call center has more advantages to it than a familiar setting; these flexible careers for mothers open up new job opportunities for single parents who can’t easily leave the household for hours on end for work. Work from home technical support, work from home answering phones, and more are all fine options for today’s employee, and it’s not just convenient, but it can be highly profitable, too. What is there to know about an employee who chooses to work from home answering phones? When you work from home answering phones, what are the perks?
Using a Phone
Ever since its invention in the 1870s, the telephone has been a critical means of communicating with other people for both business and pleasure. Even today in the digital age, when e-mail and the Internet and video chat are commonplace, the telephone has not lost its relevance. Many companies will have inbound and outbound sales call centers, where many employees are working their best to provide good customer service and reach out to new clients and customers alike. This means that such an employee must have good communication skills over the phone, and this is an entire topic in itself. Suffice to say, an employee with good phone skills may be a real asset for his or her manager, and this can be highly profitable.
Studies have shown that it’s many times more expensive to bring on board a new customer than keep a new one, so current customers must be treated well or the company may lose profits when that customer quits. Customers are often sensitive about how they are treated, and even one instance of bad phone service may anger them or at least give them a poor impression of the company. Customer retention is key here, and good phone service is how that can be possible. Most companies have phone service as a major component of their sales funnel, and good people skills and persuasive, carefully-delivered verbal advertisements can go a long way. A telemarketer will be friendly and build a rapport with their customer, and also deliver relevant and attention-grabbing information to persuade that customer to make a purchase and become a regular customer in the future. This can certainly be done in an office or a call center, but in those places, a lot of ambient noise is present, and that may interfere with phone call service. Rather, one may opt to work from home answering phones.
Working Remotely
More and more employees are working remotely from home, and for good reason. For one thing, an office or call center may have many phone or in-person conversations taking place at once, and this makes it difficult for either party on the line to hear each other. Bad customer service may be the result when one or both people have to keep asking the other to repeat themselves. Rather, to work from home answering phones is to avoid all that, and a person’s own home will certainly be much quieter and less stressful. Some managers build soundproof phone booths in their offices as an on-site solution to noise pollution, which is a fine idea, but other employees would rather work remotely at home.
Working at home offers other perks, too. A remote worker won’t be exposed to the colds or flu going around the office, and they’re spared the poor air quality found in some offices (airborne particles have been proven to lower cognitive function). Working at home will also completely remove commute time fro the worker’s schedule, freeing up all that time for the work itself. What is more, some single parents need work but can’t easily leave their household for hours on end, so these remote phone or Internet based jobs allow them to have it both ways. A home office affords the worker some privacy from kids or pets, and gives them a low-stress environment for work on any day.