How Small Business Owners Can Manage Their Time

Time management: we all seem to have a love/hate relationship with it. On the one hand, we know it’s something we need to find ways to improve. On the other, we don’t ever have the time to do it. We’ve compiled some simple ways for you as a small business owner or employee to manage your time more effectively.

• Fill out a time log for at least a week.

We know–it will seem like a pain in the you-know-where, but this exercise proves invaluable in helping you see where all those precious minutes and hours are going. You may not have realized that unimportant activities like browsing your newsfeeds take up as much time in your daily schedule as they do. You may also find activities you can do simultaneously to free up extra time.

• Don’t be afraid to delegate.  

It’s easy to want to hang on to control of every aspect of your business. And in the early days you have to. But as your business grows, learn to let go and let your employees take over tasks that don’t absolutely require your management. After all, that’s what you hired them for.

• Learn to set boundaries.

If you find yourself distracted because employees or coworkers drop in to your office nonstop, learn to set times when staff know your door will be shut or that you won’t be answering email. Doing so will free up time for you to accomplish important tasks that require your full concentration.

• Get someone to answer your phones.

Productivity doesn’t happen when your phone rings off the hook. Find a reliable receptionist or an answering service like Nationwide Inbound to answer your phones, especially during peak hours.

• Plan time to relax.

It seems counterintuitive, right? But scheduling time to relax, even if it’s just half an hour or an hour before you fall asleep at night will help your brain decompress and in the long run become more productive.

Conclusion

Adding a few simple time management tricks to your routine won’t give you more time, but it will help you use your time more productively.

What helps you become more productive?

Schedule More Appointments with Rock Star Booking Agents

We’re sure this scenario has happened to you: you’re busy providing an essential service to one of your customers, like repairing the A/C in 90 degree temperatures with 100% humidity, and your cell rings. It’s another potential customer who needs their A/C unit fixed as soon as possible, too. Unfortunately, you don’t know this because your hands are full with the current customer. This is where Nationwide Inbound comes in. We do more than just answer your calls: we can book appointments for you when you’re not available. Here’s what our appointment scheduling service can do for you:

Rock Your Customer Service with Quality Control Calls

Quality control can be difficult, especially if, like many of our clients, you’re in the home service industry and your technicians regularly visit the homes of customers to repair or replace appliances or replace parts. Short of a camera attached to their uniforms, ensuring they are delivering the service you expect of them can be difficult. Nationwide Inbound to the rescue! We offer quality control calls. Our customer care representatives call your customers to make sure their experience was beneficial and served it’s purpose. Here’s what we think is so awesome about these quality control calls:

Expand Your Audience with Outbound Lead Calls

Growing your business through sales calls can be one of the most financially productive ways to grow. But those super-fruitful sales calls can take up inordinate amounts of your time. Or worse, other projects fill up your schedule so growing your sales just doesn’t happen. Nationwide Inbound may be an inbound call center, but we’ve gotten pretty good at outbound sales as well, and we think it’s an integral part of our customer care solutions. Here’s what our outbound lead calls can do for you:

Experience Rock Star Customer Service with the the Nationwide Inbound Online Customer Portal

For the next several weeks, we’re going to focus on how Nationwide Inbound’s customer care solutions can catapult you to rock star status with your customers. One of our favorite features is our online customer portal. Here’s why we think it’s such an important part of your customer service:

How to Manage a Small Team

Managing a small team is no small job. At times, it’s probably more difficult than managing a large one. Even though the team at Nationwide Inbound is decent sized, we’re broken down into smaller groups, so our team leaders have to learn how to lead a small team well. Here’s what we’ve learned through the years about small team management.

How to Provide Great Customer Service Through Email

Nationwide Inbound is primarily a customer care call center, meaning we answer customer calls for clients and make sure they receive the highest quality of customer service. But, in the customer service industry, email is a medium too large to ignore. Our customer care rep’s primary communication with customers is through phones, yet sometimes they have to communicate via email. Here’s how they continue providing a great experience for the customer through email.

The Costs of a Bad Hire

Here at Nationwide Inbound, we are in a hiring boom. We’re always excited to bring in new customer care representatives who add a new energy to our already energetic team. But there’s always that lingering fear that we’ll hire the wrong fit. So to help you avoid the same mistake, and to remind ourselves, we’ve put together some information on the cost of a bad hire and what you can do to avoid one.

How to Calm an Irate Customer

It’s bound to happen in the customer service industry: an irate customer calls and blames all the problems in the world on you. What’s a customer service agent to do? Here’s what we’ve found helps our customer care team at Nationwide Inbound:

How a Customer Care Center Can Save You Money

Most business owners would probably agree that customer service is important to their business; yet as they juggle meetings, managing staff, and appointments with clients, sometimes customer service slips to last place. Customer care call centers can handle customer service efficiently for your business, all while saving you money and increasing your revenue.