The venue, The Ashford International Hotel was packed with exhibitors and visitors from across the county and beyond.  A networking breakfast kicked off the event, followed by Gerald Ratner, who delighted guests with a humorous presentation relating to his dramatic rise and fall in business, oh and rise again.  Workshops and a spot of speed networking kept everyone busy throughout the day along with another interesting speaker Sahar Hashemi, the founder of Coffee Rupublic.

We would like to thank everyone that stopped by the Telcare stand; we thoroughly enjoyed talking to you. It was a particular pleasure to meet up with Adrian Kearney of A K Pet Carriers, who we have communicated with via Twitter but had never met.  Thanks Adrian for taking the time to visit us, keep up the wonderful work with animals.

It was refreshing to find so many receptive and intriguing people at the event, we left feeling educated, entertained and hopeful of new collaborations.  Congratulations go to Kent Invicta Chamber for organising another successful event.

Chris Pullman from Buckmore Park (seen here) was the winner of our champagne, cheers to you Chris hope you enjoy the bubbly.

Despite the tired feet, we managed to find our way to the bar and finished the day with a well earned drink and a final networking fling.

The last few months have been hugely exciting. I turned 50 and went all out with the celebrations which I have to say are still ongoing. The highlight had to be the trip to St.Lucia, which was perfect in every way. Many thanks to everyone for their wishes; I really have been overwhelmed and grateful for all the kind words, cards, presents and even flowers.

We had another reason to celebrate here in the office as Tina tied the knot on the 23^rd May.  She looked absolutely gorgeous and glowing with joy as she walked back down the aisle, a pleasure to see. We wish her and Gavin many congratulations and much happiness.

Victoria and Nick hosted our usual stand at the South East Business Show on the 17^th May. They reported a positive event with some encouraging new connections. It’s always very interesting meeting up with both the visitors and the exhibitors.

We are exhibiting again at the Kent Invicta Chamber event, the Kent B2B 2013. The date is Tuesday 11^th June and the venue is the Ashford International Hotel, Ashford.  If you are considering visiting the show we would very much like the opportunity to meet you. The event is a great way to make new connections and learn about each other’s businesses. There will be lots going on including speakers Gerald Ratner & Sahar Hashemi (Founder of Coffee Republic).  We will be on stand 47 looking forward to giving you a warm welcome.

We love sharing news about our business and spreading the Telcare word.  If you enjoy flying the flag for your company have you considered entering for an award?  We recently attended the launch of the Medway Business Awards which is now in it’s 29^th year.  Things have changed a great deal since the awards were originally launched. The aim then was to install confidence in an ailing business environment after the closure of the naval dockyard.  Fast forward to 2013 and the MBA are still supporting local companies.  Businesses are buzzing with innovative ways of competing in this very connected world of ours.  The awards are an opportunity to get your business showcased locally, to let customers know how fabulous your service or product really is. The gala evening is not only a fun night out but it’s a chance to meet with like-minded people and extend your business network.  Who knows you might even win!

Check out www.mbawards.co.uk  the closing date for entries is 31^st July 2013.

Whilst we are on the subject of connecting with more customers, have you considered visiting the South East Business Show?  The event covers a wide range of businesses and is a great way to raise your company profile.  We have exhibited at this event many times now and have found it to be a rewarding experience.  The show will be on the 17^th May 2013 10.00am to 3.00pm at the Millennium Conference Centre, Copthorne Hotel, Effingham, Gatwick.  See www.b2bsoutheast.com

In the meantime should you have any telecom related queries please do email us at helpdesk@telcare.co.uk or call us on 0800 376 8484 we’ll be happy to help.

Here is a quick reminder about call recording and call management options which are available, designed to boost your business in terms of the customer experience, employee training and evaluation, and overall productivity.

We offer a number of solutions that can be tailored to your own individual business needs. As with all our products and services, we’ll assess your systems, your set up and your budget, and recommend a cost-effective solution that can be merged with your existing telephony systems – as well as allow room for expansion in the future.

While space does not permit a full description of what each product does, here is a taster …

Call Management

From having the ability to add important information to a recorded customer call that can be delivered in a report, to sophisticated call logging systems, these services will give you an in depth understanding of what your customers need and want.

How may it help your business?

This will enable you to streamline processes and see any “gaps” that may need to be filled in terms of staff training and business communications (such as information on your website, within brochures etc).

Digital Recording – including mobile phone calls

The service provides tamper proof telephone call recording across a number of PBX brands and telephony conventions. Recording can be made over a combination of digital, analogue or IP phones and can be set up to interface with almost any combination of recording inputs and media output requirements. Mobile phone calls can be archived along with voicemails and text messages too.

How may it help your business?

Call recording may be mandatory to comply with government regulations in some industries (such as personal finance) and which will help you achieve your compliance and risk management objectives.

Recording calls can save you time if there is a dispute over “who said what” – as well as being a very useful staff training and development tool.

PC Screen Recording and Performance Management

PC screen and voice recording work simultaneously to see how accurately information is keyed in while an employee is dealing with a telephone call. Performance management packages offer a number of ways in which the handling of calls are monitored – without the need for you to sit in silently on a live call.

How may it help your business?

These services enable you to effectively monitor employee performance, as well as customer satisfaction, helping with training and evaluation. Good customer service helps retain customers while training staff increases productivity.

Speech Analytics

This is an audio search engine which can phonetically search for and retrieve individual recordings to assist with your business needs.

How may it help your business?

Speech analytic software is designed to increase operational efficiency, improve productivity, and aid a rapid response to market conditions. It provides real time access to valuable intelligence about clients and staff.

Call Handling

Designed for contact centres, there are two solutions, offering inbound call-handling and queuing services, providing auto-attendant functionality and increasing outbound call services.

How may it help your business?

These systems can reduce employee idle time by speeding up the outbound calling process as well as call progress analysis and call scripting.

So, if you are looking to improve all or any of the following – customer service, staff performance, capability, and competency – and from proven technology, then why not get in touch today? We’d be very happy to tell you more.

The red carpeted walkway led us to a champagne welcome, where a little time was put aside for some excited networking, before taking our seats for the gala dinner and awards.

We had a particular reason for being amongst the ever so glamorous and that was to support our nominee Talita Wigg of Kent Detox & Wellbeing. Talita has been known to us for sometime now and we have watched with awe as her new business went from strength to strength. Talita’s passion is evident in everything she does, so when we heard about the awards we immediately thought of her.

After a scrumptious dinner the awards got under way, there was a mixture of excitement and nervous energy in the room. Given the height of some of the heels, one of the main concerns must have been, will they make it to the stage without falling over?

At last, the moment came for the Health & Beauty section to be announced. With fingers crossed under the table, we held our breath and waited. No surprise really when Talita’s name was read out and no surprise to the applause that erupted from the audience. It was quite a proud moment! Our congratulations go to Talita, great recognition for all the hard work she’s put in since starting her business. Well done.

Talita Wigg winner of Kent Women in Business Award 2013 in the Health & Beauty Category

The evening proved to be a very enjoyable event; we met some really interesting people and received a copy of the very first Kent Women in Business magazine.
For more information please go to
http://www.kentdetox.co.uk or http://kwibawards.co.uk/kwib-magazine

After a spot of red nose wearing and hilarity in the office, we folded up the tickets and asked Matt to draw the winner.

The prize of our Thornton’s Chocolate Hamper went to ticket number 11 purchased by Alan Wiltcher. Congratulations to you, we hope that the copious amounts of chocolate will limber you up nicely for Easter.

A huge thank you to everyone for participating, your generosity is most appreciated.

Those extra touches are often not difficult to do or costly but make for a great customer experience, one that we want to tell our friends about. I call this Magic Marketing. As a result of my visit to the store that day I have told countless friends about the experience, I have tweeted about it, written a blog and my friend has become a customer. All it cost Schuh was £10, I’d say that was a smart move!

What extras do you offer your customers that make them say “wow”? By building these touches into your service you will stand out from the crowd and keep your customers coming back for more.

One of the questions he asked me was “Can you give an example of when this particular staff member went that extra mile for their customer in order to maintain a positive relationship with them?”

It was at this point when I realised how lucky we are to have such fabulous staff. I could actually come up with lots of examples.

I recalled when Bekki had made sure a customer would receive an urgent order, despite it being late in the day and the courier had already collected from us. She went out of her way to drive over to the courier’s depot on her way home from work. It resulted in the parcel arriving with the customer the very next morning.

I also remembered when Jamie was particularly foxed when a customer’s system was suffering a very unusual intermittent fault. After doing everything he could remotely, Jamie knew the next stage would be an engineer’s visit to replace equipment. As the customer was local, instead of passing to the next available engineer, Jamie jumped in his car and visited the customer site during his lunch break. He was so keen to get this fault fixed once and for all, which of course he did. I’m not sure who was the most delighted him or the customer.

During a very busy period recently, Victoria received a call from a former customer who no longer had their system covered for maintenance. They were desperate as they had no phones at all. Our priority is of course to systems that are covered for maintenance so we could only send an engineer when all maintained jobs had been completed. A bit of a problem given that our engineers had full workloads. Victoria noticed that this particular customer’s premises was in fact on one of the engineer’s route and so she arranged for that engineer to start earlier the next day in order to help out.

Having systems and procedures are extremely valuable to us, they help us to get the job done in a professional and efficient way. Our team have always been encouraged to demonstrate goodwill. However, naturally going that extra mile is often above and beyond a procedure, it reflects the individual’s positive attitude and their genuine desire to help. It is a privilege to have such people in our team and I’m grateful to our NVQ Assessor for reminding me just how wonderful they are.

Although an exciting prospect, the actual process of getting from A to B can be a trying time. The secret to a successful move always lies in the preparation.

With so much to think about it can be easy to overlook some areas and find yourself moving into your new office lacking a key element such as broadband or not having enough lines.

Assigning a ‘moving team’ with precise responsibilities is a great way to get started. Taking an organised approach will prevent things being overlooked and enable a smooth transition.

Telecoms are an important aspect for any business as communication is key to their success. A desirable outcome will include as little disruption as possible and that’s why expertise here is always recommended.

We have been part of the’ moving team’ for many businesses over the years. Surveying the new office, ordering the lines, transferring the numbers, installing the cables and sockets, setting up the telephone system and much more.

Here are a few telephone related factors for you to consider before you embark on your office move.

• When are you moving? Tip: Allow plenty of time to liaise with providers to make sure everything falls into place.
• What is your budget? Tip: Get quotes for everything and draw up a budget accordingly.
• Decide how many lines you will need? Tip: Ordering new lines should be given early consideration as this can be the most time consuming.
• Can you keep your current phone number? Tip: If you have non- geographical numbers these can be used anywhere within the UK.
• How many sockets and handsets will you need? Tip: Allow for growth at this stage, it will be more cost effective.
• Will you move your existing system or buy a new one? Tip: Relocation is a logical time to upgrade especially if your current system is ageing and running the risk of becoming obsolete
• What new technology could improve efficiency in your business? Tip: Ask your telephony supplier about the latest solutions available.
• Decide how you will let your customers know about the move. Tip: To avoid missing calls, an announcement or divert can be put on your old number if you can’t move it.

Here’s what a satisfied customer said after their office relocation ………

“I am just sending this email to say a ‘Big Thank You’… for setting up the phone system in Unit 8b. I really appreciated all your hard work and effort for making a difficult job seem easy. Thanks again.”
Nick Biglowe – Protocol Skills

Moving to a new office should be an exciting time, be organised and enjoy!