In this article, we will look at the city of Branson, Missouri, due to its unique tourism environment in which many businesses, restaurants, and hotels close their doors for January and February until they reopen in March to prepare for the tourist rush. Companies who rely on phone reservations understand the importance of never missing a call. A missed call is a missed opportunity, and the potential customer may move on to the next option. In today’s competitive market, you can’t afford poor communication, not returning voice mail calls for days or just letting the phone ring.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Hello?

Branson is the hub of travel and tourism in southwest Missouri, offering entertainment for couples, families, and seniors alike.  While some are visiting for the famed attractions like Silver Dollar City, Titanic Museum, The Track Family Fun Parks, or Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, others enjoy eating and shopping at The Branson Landing or Tanger Outlet Mall. It would be irresponsible if I didn’t mention the limitless shows and comedy acts that this town has to offer and their appeal to senior bus tours and families alike.  This broad appeal to all ages and demographics is why Branson Tourism Center reports over 7.2 million visitors each year visit the area.  The one thing in common with these vacationers is they need a hotel to stay in, tickets to attractions or shows, and dinner reservations.  If they call your business at the beginning of the year, will I be able to reach someone?

I’m ready for a vacation.  Are you?

Although we have snow on the ground here in Springfield, Illinois, we have already discussed the family vacations we will be going on for 2020.  The upcoming end of the year trip to Pigeon Forge planned months ago, but the talk has already transitioned to our annual summer trips to Branson and Florida.  With time off during the holidays, we will firm up details and book our reservations before February. New Voice Media reports The #1 reason people dislike calling companies: not being able to speak to a real person right away.  

VOIP for the SOLUTION!

Voice over IP phone solutions has become hugely popular over the last five years.  Two of the most common are SIP Trunks and Hosted PBX. SIP Trunks are simply phone lines that work over the Internet instead of your local telephone providers’ analog lines.  With SIP Trunks, you still have a local PBX or phone system at your local that provides you with your voicemail and dialing features. On the other hand, a Hosted PBX system is a virtual phone system in the cloud, thus giving you all the administration online.

Here are four ways you can set yourself up to never miss a phone call in the offseason:

1. Forward your primary phone number with SIP Trunks - call or email your SIP Trunk provider and ask them to forward your main number to your cell phone.  Call forwarding is extremely helpful for our hotel owners and managers who, due to seasonal hours, don’t always stay open or have a desk person in January and February.  Now when someone calls your property, your cell phone will ring, and no one will know you are not at your desk. Many of our SIP Trunk providers, such as net2phone, allow you to schedule the days and times your schedule will change.

2. Redirect your extension to your cell phone or set up the follow-me feature - with a hosted PBX solution, you can set your extension to ring any place you want regardless if its a cell phone, a desk phone, your home phone, or even a softphone app on your computer.  Then when someone calls your work number or extension, it directly sends it to the spot you have designated. Never a missed call while maintaining a high level of professionalism to your customers calling in.  They don’t know you’re in your pajamas sitting on the couch or out buying that last-minute gift for your husband and as long as you are taking care of their needs by answering their calls. Providers such as Vonage, RingCentral, and Kerauno all have web-based control panels that allow you to do this online in about 2 minutes.

3. Softphone apps are a must for our businesses who need to stay in touch - although I have to say I am one who did not use the softphone app until about a year ago, I now understand why it is a must for businesses.  When you call my desk phone, both my desk phone and my cell phone ring, so no matter if I’m in or out of the office, I still get the call, here is the part that I like even better, I can call you from my softphone app on my cell phone or computer. Your caller id shows it’s me calling you from my company Motion VOIP.  I don’t have to give you my cell phone; you don’t have to guess who’s number is calling you because you already have my business in your contacts displaying it’s me. I can answer every call and get more responses when I call people back.

4. Voicemail that reduces callback time - I am not a fan of voicemail, but it is a part of doing business as sometimes you are on a phone call with someone else, in a meeting, or doing your sales calls.  When your truly busy calls will go to voicemail, and it's just the way it has to be, the real problem with voicemail is not that I have to leave one but the long delays sometimes in them getting back to me.  Let’s say a salesperson is traveling on Friday back to his home state, so he will not be in the office until Monday. Monday morning comes around, and he joins the company huddle meeting, catches up on some emails, checks his CRM for sales leads, looks at his email box, makes a couple of calls to catch up on his project, and THEN checks his voicemail.  I left a message on Friday before lunch; he returned it Tuesday morning. The voicemail that is part of my Hosted PBX VOIP solution takes your voicemail, turns it into a digital file, and sends it to me in email with your callback number attached. I now get your voicemail on my layover between flights on Friday and can click your phone number and call you back.  Just saved four days delay and provided you with outstanding service. Voicemail to email is a have to have for today’s business professionals.