A small business phone system can help a small business to operate more efficiently as well as minimize communication costs. Unfortunately, most phone systems are given little consideration when a business is first starting out. Communication with business clients and customers is essential to any successful business and should be given careful consideration before the final decision is made.There are many different options available to the business owner when looking at a small business telephone system. Most of the time, basic features are needed to conduct business on a day-to-day basis. Things such as call holding, call forwarding, music on hold, and voice mail are all basic features that most businesses use during the course of communicating with customers or clients. For this reason it is important that any system being considered has these options available.Since communication is the core of any business, considerations must be made for how the business operates and which features would be considered most important. As an example, if the business is involved in the delivery of physical products then having a way to communicate with drivers and dispatch deliveries would be important. A small business phone system in this particular case would need to include features that allow the dispatcher to communicate with the drivers as well as sales personnel and other employees scheduling deliveries. This type of system might include a feature that allows extensions to be forwarded to cellular phones so that drivers can be reached simply by calling their extensions.The above scenario is just one of many ways in which having a properly configured small business system can streamline productivity and save the company money. Larger businesses have enjoyed this advanced technology for some time and now many manufacturers are now making these features available to smaller businesses. Technology such as voice over IP and automatic call distribution are now being integrated into small business phone systems.One benefit to small businesses is having an auto attendant to route calls. With this technology in place, there is no need to have someone answering the phone simply to transfer the call to another person. The phone system can route these calls based on the last name of the person they’re trying to reach or entering the extension directly if they happen to know it. If the business does not have an operator, there are ways that the system can be set up to route calls should the caller press zero.Voice over IP technology has become the norm in telecommunications solutions. This technology allows businesses large and small to leverage their existing network for the transmission of voice communication. Phones for small business are now using this technology to allow them to have communication without boundaries. Like their larger counterparts, small businesses are taking advantage of the versatility that voice over IP provides. No longer limited to the office, employees can take their extensions with them so no matter where they’re at, they can conduct business seamlessly. Another advantage to employee mobility is that customers and clients are given one phone number. Giving a client or customer a cell phone number often results in an employee always being available whether actually at work or not. By giving a client an extension on the phone system, they will only be able to reach the employee during normal business hours. The phone system provides a voice mail where the client or customer can leave a message. During times when the employee is at work, the extension can then be forwarded to the cell phone so that the employee can be reached if he or she is out of the office.A large consideration when choosing a small business telephone system is one of supportability. Many smaller businesses do not have internal IT support. For this reason, when purchasing the phone system support should be included in the contract price. However, if the business does have internal IT support they will need to be trained on how to add extensions and provide other basic maintenance that the business needs on a day-to-day basis.Toll fraud can cost a small business lots of money before they realize that it has occurred. Security is of the utmost importance when implementing a small business phone system. Toll fraud occurs when unauthorized calls are made using the phone system and the phone lines attached to it. These calls are often made to overseas locations at the expense of the business. They often don’t realize it until they receive the bill and question the nature of the calls. Most of the time in these cases, the phone company will rarely reversed the charges. This is why it is important that the phone system be set up to minimize this risk. Additionally, a phone system should have the ability to block calls to specific parts of the world or to limit employees to making only local calls if needed.The type of circuit used for phones for small companies is typically what is called a POTS line. POTS, an acronym for “plain old telephone system” is a single phone line identical to what you would see in a typical home setting. The limitation of the POTS line is that it can only handle one phone call at a time. In order for a business to receive more than one call at a time the phone company must bring in multiple POTS lines. They’re then configured in the small business telephone system as a “trunk group”. The phone system then distributes the calls to individual extensions. Due to limitations of standard phone lines, many small businesses are taking advantage of the newer technologies such as voice over IP. Since data circuits can be used for more than just voice traffic, it’s become quite appealing to even the small business owner.A business system is becoming a necessity for many small businesses. In order to compete with larger businesses, the smaller companies must appear bigger than they are. Since many consumers will often go with well-known names, smaller businesses are going to have to work harder to establish Customer confidence. When a customer calls and the call is answered in a professional manner, the customer is more confident about the potential transaction. Having a small business telephone system puts a smaller company on the same playing field as its larger competitors.
Take Action For Success In Your Home Based Business
To realise your dreams and success in your Home Based Business is a journey and a process, not a happening, you can only be successful if you understand this journey. We must learn the principles from other businesses and apply it to our own Home Based Businesses in order to reach our destination.The starting point of any journey is to have the end in mind and to stay focussed and motivated to reach that end you set for yourself. Where do you want to be, go or what do you want to achieve? The end of the journey can be seen as your dream. That goal or dream must be worthwhile, reachable and realistic. When you achieve it, it must make you happier, give you more pleasure than your present situation, or solve a problem that you have now, whatever it might be. You must be willing to sacrifice on this journey to reach the destination. This sacrifice must be less than the “pleasure” or fulfillment that you will realise as part of the dream you set for yourself. A very important factor to remember when starting your new venture or Home Based Business is that you must feel personally fulfilled with what you will be doing on a day-to-day basis. It should not become just another “job” you’re doing, but rather an enjoyment to improve or change your current and future circumstances.With a Home Based Business, many people have achieved their dreams of financial independence and/or having a lifestyle that they prefer and earn a sustainable income stream. Others have done it, you can too. You must have a clear dream and believe in your dream and you must take the following issues into consideration in the planning of this journey. If you follow these guidelines, you will be able to achieve your goal on your journey as a Home Based Business owner.The question is: What in your present situation is not acceptable? We want to assist you on the journey to achieve your dream. Let us guide you in planning your journey. The destination of the journey is worth a sacrifice to achieve it. Have a passion to live your dream as part of your journey and believe in yourself.To have a dream, without a destination or goal, and without being willing to take action will be futile.I do believe that you have your dreams.
I am convinced that the goal you set yourself is worthwhile to achieve.
I do believe you want to or need to change and improve your present situation.Then it is time to make a decision and take action. Without action, you will not achieve your dream. This journey must start with action and must be action orientated.Critical Planning for the Home Based Business JourneyHow to start:Start with yourself. What is your passion? What do you care about in life? Make a list.
Take a few minutes to do a personal inventory of your dreams, goals and the problems that will be solved once you have reached your destination.
Define the resources you have: money, knowledge, experience, equipment and your own time. Make a list.
Decide how much time you are willing to spend every day, week or month on your new venture. What are you willing to sacrifice in the process? Maybe spending less time with friends and family, whatever it might be. How much of the other resources are you going to make available? Make this decision in advance.Innovate:Develop new ideas on how to do things, or develop better products or processes. If you do not have new ideas, just start with what you have on a small scale.
Ask yourself: “What is my advantage or area of excellence that differentiates me from my competitors?”
Think of your product, service or the online business you want to promote or sell and work those thoughts into your business plan that you set up for yourself to start a home business.
Test your ideas with friends, family or acquaintances and apply their feedback with your marketing strategy you had in mind.Experimentation:You will make mistakes, so take small steps. If you do make mistakes, make sure that the cost is not too high. You cannot afford to lose too much time or money in this learning process.Action:Now, put your ideas and experimentation into action to get customers and make some sales!
Market your product or service to publicize your business by internet, marketing, advertising, promotions, referrals, and word of mouth.Failure:We all set high expectations for what we want to achieve, but when failure occurs are you mentally ready to deal with it and put your strength back into what you have started?
The only way you will learn is by doing things, taking action and making mistakes. Learn from that and move forward with the next baby step.
Eliminate any negativity that might cause you to fail and keep those positive thoughts and the outcome of your journey in mind.Believe In Your Home Based Business JourneyI am a great believer in the principle of spending time to study many possible Home Based Businesses, instead of jumping to the first because the big salesman has promised me a jackpot. Later you will find that there is no gold in that pot.I will give you reviews on different Home Based Business possibilities or programmes with the pros and cons in order for you to make a decision on what will suit your requirements best. Dreaming of owning your own business and the excitement it is much different from actually putting it all into action.With your excitement, your motivation and the experience and knowledge of the group of experts that I am associated with, we will show you how to stay motivated and assist you with each step to reach your dream.You can dream-it-plan-it-do-it and achieve your goals. Join our community to receive more information on how to become financially independent and finding the right solution.
How Important Is the Fundraising Auctioneer to the Success of Your Event?
I want you to think about the term “Fundraising Auction”.
A “Fundraising Auction” is an event where items of value are gathered, and then sold in a competitive bidding situation, either in a Silent Auction format, or in a Live Auction format by a Live Auctioneer. And since typically the best items are saved for the Live Auction, arguably it is the Live Auction that should generate a significant portion of the proceeds in any Fundraising Auction.
So why do so many non-profit groups consider the Fundraising Auctioneer to be the least valuable component in a Fundraising Auction?
The Hosting Facility gets paid.
The Printer gets paid.
The Caterer gets paid.
The Liquor Store gets paid.
The DJ gets paid.
The Florist gets paid.
But the Auctioneer … the individual who is expected to raise the lion’s share of the event’s proceeds… is expected to work for Free. And is usually under-appreciated for the professional services he/she provides.
I’m not trying to underscore the value of the invitations & programs, food, booze, music, and decorations. All are important in their own way. But each of these are “Expenses”. It is the Auctioneer who is going to bring “Revenue”… and thus, the “Profits”… into any event. Which is the ultimate objective of any Fundraising Auction.
Here is a real-life example of how under-appreciated the Auctioneer can be. In two comparable events we worked last year, during the dinner portion of the event one non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) at a table with the DJ, the Interns, the Volunteer Staff, and other event “Help”. The 2nd non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) directly next to the CEO of their organization, where we chatted about how important the pending revenue would be to their organization. Which group do you think valued the services of the Fundraising Auctioneer more?
Don’t ever under-estimate the value that a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can bring to your event. The Auctioneer adds value as a pre-event consultant. And the Auctioneer can change an event from a moderate to a huge success.
A Case Study Once I was scheduled to call an Auction for a major local non-profit group. They represented a very good cause and they had a strong and dedicated following. Their event was sold out, quality Live & Silent Auction items had been solicited, and the Special Pledge Appeal had been choreographed and was ready to go. The facility was first class, the appropriate caterer was booked, and the food was ready to cook.
But quite unexpectedly, some unseasonably inclement weather forced the event’s cancellation. Despite all of the committee’s hard work, cancelling the event was the proper decision considering the circumstances.
So the Event Committee scrambled to re-schedule the event for the following weekend.
They confirmed with the Hosting Facility.
They confirmed with the Caterer.
They confirmed with the Liquor Store.
They confirmed with the DJ.
They confirmed with the Florist.
Since they already had the Mailing List of those scheduled to attend, no new invitations had to be printed as all were contacted by email or telephone. So with everything in place, the group went ahead and re-scheduled the event for the following weekend.
But guess who they failed to confirm? You got it… the Professional Auctioneer. They thought so little of the Auctioneer’s contribution that they “assumed” that the Auctioneer would be available and at their beck and call.
But the Auctioneer already had another Fundraising Auction booked for that date with another non-profit group. It was only hour away from the re-scheduled event, and things could have been easily worked out. All Group #1 had to do was start their event one hour earlier, or one hour later, than the Group #2, and the Auctioneer could have helped both groups on the same day.
But because Group #1 failed to anticipate a possible Auctioneer conflict, because they failed to confirm with the Auctioneer before re-scheduling their event, their preferred Auctioneer had to bow out and they had to scramble to locate substitute “Volunteer” Auctioneer only days before their event.
And it cost them.
Learning Points
The Live Auction is usually where the profits are made at any Fundraising Auction.
A Professional Fundraising Auctioneer can be vital to the success of any Fundraising Auction.
The better Fundraising Auctioneers usually get booked quickly.
You need to recognize the important contributions that a good Auctioneer can make to your event.
Michael Ivankovich is a Bucks County Fundraising Auctioneer based in Doylestown PA, and serves the Great Philadelphia PA area. He has been a professionally licensed and bonded Auctioneer in Pennsylvania for nearly 20 years, has been named Pennsylvania’s Auctioneer of the Year, and has considerable experience in conducting Fundraising Auctions. Michael loves helping groups raise needed funds for good causes and one of his specialties is the “Special Pledge Appeal” or “Fund-A-Cause Appeal” which usually enables clients to double their revenue in a single evening.