Values-Based Hiring: One Bad Apple CAN Spoil the Bunch

Prior to my relocation to Greenville, SC, I worked in retail banking for about six years.  During that time I worked in seven different branch locations. Over the years, one thing that became abundantly clear is that hiring the right employees, although it can be incredibly challenging, is also integral to the success of any business.  

You’ve probably heard the expression that “one bad apple can spoil the bunch.” Trust me, this is SO true! If one employee out of 25 has a poor attitude or negative outlook, he or she will not hesitate to spread “poison” throughout the organization and sour the attitude of even your star employees. So what’s a manager to do?  Well, let’s start with the basics, and go from there...

Myriad factors that go in to what makes a good employee and most jobs require certain skills in terms of education, technical capabilities, and past experience. But don’t be fooled, these things are only one piece of the puzzle.  If you hire based solely on a checklist of technical and/or educational requirements – you will likely be grossly “underwhelmed” once that employee comes onboard. 

True Story: With a theatre degree, my first manager “took a chance” and hired me as a banking management trainee – a position requiring a business degree. She looked beyond my education, which caused some of her colleagues to think she was little crazy.  But she had the last laugh. I ended up being one of the most successful employees among my hiring class.  Why?  Not because I took accounting, management, or finance - but because I was hungry for knowledge, a quick learner, determined, and driven to prove those wrong who didn’t believe a theatre major could cut it in the banking world! 

Positive attitude, optimism, determination, desire to learn, and work ethic are all desirable attributes. So, what if the person you’d like to hire doesn’t have a required skill like QuickBooks or a degree in the desired field?  Don’t rule them out! 

Fact: it is relatively easy to hire an employee. Unfortunately, many times it is extremely complicated to remove that individual from your organization.  It hurts team morale, can cause distrust or fear among those who remain, and sometimes it can become a legal nightmare! So, when you need to find a replacement “yesterday,” take a step back and remember how essential it is to be patient. It may stretch your remaining office staff in the short run, but choosing correctly is worth the strain. 

Overall, you can teach someone an industry, software, or how to perform specific tasks like opening a checking account, managing website content, or even advising clients on financial decisions.  What you CANNOT teach are fundamental personality traits like loyalty, hard work, positivity, and determination. 

At Phoneworx, we’ve got a great team of employees with varied background experiences – bringing different perspectives to the world of Business Phone Systems sales and service.  We may not all live and breathe business phones like our technicians, but we are all driven to succeed, eager to learn, and committed to delivering unbeatable customer service.  So when it’s time to hire that next employee, if there’s even one thing that seems awry in terms of attitude, or you foresee potential personality conflicts between a candidate and your current employee team, you must look elsewhere. 

Hire smart. Hire for attitude. Hire based on values.

Until next time –

Megan

Options are not optional

By reading our blog, you know that we work pretty darn hard to keep ourselves abreast of trends in the marketplace. We make every effort to share this knowledge with you - our friends and clients! Here’s a tidbit of knowledge that we recently gained through listening to our customers and prospects. 

If your small business provides a service or a product, it is exceptionally important that you provide your customers with options. If you cannot provide multiple options, you cease to be the central resource or the “one-stop” shop that can help them with their needs. In Phoneworx’ case, if we can’t offer a “good, better, best” set of options, we no longer hold the place of “business phone systems expert” in the mind of the customer. In order to retain the position we’ve worked so hard to achieve – being the best or only option to help with business phone system needs – we must provide options!  

The power of three

With so many choices available to customers, combined with the information-saturated World Wide Web, offering options isn’t a new idea. However, one must be careful not to overwhelm consumers either. I recently found an article from 2001 on Snipsmag.com. The author shares:

Several recent studies of consumer buying habits show that the majority of customers will choose the middle-priced option; when two choices are offered, 50% of customers chose the lower-priced option. When three choices were offered, 57% chose the middle option.

Indicating three options is just right. Overall, customers like choices – so make sure you are providing them!   

At Phoneworx, we’ve discovered, albeit the hard way, that options were the key in achieving our goal of giving the customer everything they need and nothing they don’t. Although a business owner may initially gravitate to the lowest priced option, it may not provide all the features that he needs for his business. Conversely, a different business owner might want the “really cool” more expensive option, but realize that she simply doesn’t need all the features and can get by with the less expensive option. Either way, by truly listening to customers’ needs and demands, we are improving as an organization and better positioned to “win” within our market.

Are you doing the same for your business?

Until next time,

Megan   

The Dirty Lowdown of Hosted Phone Systems

It’s the latest buzz in telecom… a “hosted phone system.” So, what is it and why should you want it? First, I’ll explain what it is, then you can decide if you want it or not. A traditional business phone system consists of desk phones and a server (a black box about the size of your DVR at home). This is known as a PBX system, and it comes with all the right stuff like voice mail boxes, auto attendant, caller ID, voicemail-to-email, and music-on-hold. You buy this “bundled” system and you own it. Period.

A hosted phone system has all these features but you only need to buy the phones, not the server. Your host owns the server. Here’s what a hosted system provides:

1.       Lower upfront costs

2.       Easy as 1,2,3 process

3.       Same phone features that you would get if you purchased your own system

Soooo, why wouldn’t you go with this? Read on.   

With a hosted solution, you spend money up front for new phones. Two items you don’t pay for are installation and the server. Here’s a scenario that happens more often than not:

Sue’s company decides to go with a hosted phone plan. They purchase 5 phones for around $600. It’s a great price. Then they decide that they want voice mail boxes, an auto attendant, caller ID, voicemail-to-email, and music-on-hold. Ok, great… that’s going to cost, on average, an additional $5 per month for each feature on top of each user’s fee of around $20 per month.

Doing the math our total is $100 + $25 per month. Not too bad. Keep reading…

Next, most folks don’t know this, but companies that provide hosted solutions often charge you extra for minutes - outgoing AND incoming- at around 2.9 cents per minute. Sue’s company uses around 3,000 minutes per month, adding an additional $90.

Again, the math says $125 + 90 = $215/month. Are you seeing a trend?

Still not too bad… right? Well, Sue receives that “box of phones” via U.S. mail. She stares at it for a moment and wonders “what do I do now?” She calls her hosting company; they tell her how to plug the phones in. She does… they don’t work. The service rep (from who-knows-where) tells her “Well, it sounds like you need a new router;  yours isn’t big enough to handle more than one call.” Great… Sue drives to an electronic store, talks to the tech geeks, and discovers she needs a $500 router. “What?!” Exasperated and knowing she’s tied into this hosted system, she buys it. After four hours of fruitless attempts struggling to get the network set up, she finally calls an IT guy to come out and help. They charge $125/hour. It takes them two hours.

Now her total is $600 (phones) + $500 (router) + $250 (IT guy) = $1,350 in upfront costs. Add in the $215/month, every month for phone use and she’s at $2,580/year – how did that happen?

Her first year total is $3,930; the second year it “goes down” to $2,580…

Now, let’s compare to the traditional PBX system. Of course, in this scenario, Sue decides to work with Phoneworx. Hey it’s my blog and I’m a Phoneworx’er J

She visits the Phoneworx showroom and plays around with the phones – seeing how they feel, look, and sound – and picks the one she wants. She loves the look and feel of the Cisco system and she is ready to go!  Four to seven days later our technicians visit her office and handle the entire installation.

They set up the phones and internet with voicemail boxes, an auto attendant, caller ID, voicemail-to-email, and music-on-hold all at no extra cost – it’s included! The next day a Phoneworx representative visits Sue’s office and provides training to all the employees.

Sue is excited because she never had to stop working or be involved in the installation or networking… there is a reason why IT networking people exist. It is not easy to do it all yourself.  The coolest part?

There are no added fees for incoming or outgoing calls, no long distance charges, and no additional monthly fees. For a five-phone system Sue spent $2,900.00 once, that’s it!

Her first year total = $2,900.00; the second year = $0…

So, what’s the moral to Sue’s story? If you spend a little more money upfront you can spare yourself frustration and stress in the long term. Plus you can save A LOT of money over time. Even better – Phoneworx is right here in Greenville to help you and your employees if anything ever goes wrong.

So there you have it, the dirty lowdown of hosted phone systems.

-          Sabrina –

“Your phone system expert”

Differentiation: Being a PURPLE Cow!

Earlier this week, my boss told me that we needed to continue to position and brand Phoneworx as a “purple cow” within our industry. Seeing my confusion, he painted the following picture: “Imagine this – as you drive down the road, you pass by a field filled with cows.  Most of them are black or brown, but one catches your eye. Why, because he is so dramatically different – he’s bright purple!  Strange? Yes. But he definitely got your attention!” With so many small businesses competing for customers, differentiation and proper image have never been more important. 

We live in a world of commodities. There are hundreds of banks, dentists, website designers, realtors, landscapers, and the list goes on and on!  In almost every way, these companies offer the same or very similar products and/or services. So how does one choose?  Let me give you a great example.

As a new resident in the Greenville area, I needed a new dentist.  So, the first thing I did was ask a coworker for a referral. He suggested I go see Dr. Brian Derrick at Falls Park Dentistry, located right downtown.  His personal referral carried a lot of weight, but didn’t seal the deal.  I had to be happy with the service if I was going to stick with this dentist. I called the office, was greeted kindly, and was able to set an appointment at the desired time on short notice – off to a good start. When I arrived (only having to walk a few blocks from the Phoneworx office), their office was really cool, clean, up to date, and the staff was responsive and friendly – still lookin’ good!

But, here’s what did seal the deal… Prior to beginning the actual examination and cleaning, I was offered a warm neck pillow, a paraffin hand treatment, and my own personal HD television to watch. Further impressing me was that the dentist used all the latest gadgets in the dental world. To top it off, Dr. Derrick was kind, funny, and willing to answer any questions and concerns that I had – I felt like I had been his client for years and it was only my first visit. The only thing missing was music-on-hold for the phone system. Phoneworx took care of that right away. J

WOW! Now, that’s what I call a “purple cow.” 

Similarly, at Phoneworx, we work hard at being purple. We want to be much more to our clients than simply a company that services and installs business phone systems. For example:

1.       We don’t ask clients to pick a business phone system out of a catalog! We have a state-of-the art showroom where you can touch, see, and hear our products prior to purchase. 

2.       We’re located in beautiful downtown Greenville, not an industrial park or some garage. Clients can stop by anytime to visit, to ask questions, or simply to enjoy the balcony overlooking Main Street.

3.       Our salespeople are non-commission, your assurance that you’ll never be “up-sold”. Suggestions are based solely on your needs – nothing else.

At Phoneworx, we are not content to sit on our hands or “ride the wave.” We are committed to continually being on the cutting edge in our industry, and sharing that knowledge and information with our clients. Above all, we are committed to helping small businesses to differentiate themselves!

What color is your cow? 

Megan