Conversational

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a general IT services agency. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Conversational?

Since I was my company’s only employee, I had to take care of several tasks, but there was a limit to what I could do. I needed someone that could handle my calls during periods of growth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Conversational handled my inbound calls, routing calls as needed. They answered my customers promptly, which was very important in our industry.

What is the team composition?

I worked with an account manager and some of their receptionists.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent more than $1,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January 2015–September 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Conversational’s services were exactly what I needed. They were very professional, and my calls were handled very smoothly. I landed good clients and stayed on top of my customers simply because a live person took my calls instead of a machine recording. Thanks to Conversational, I scaled my business without breaking the bank.

How did Conversational perform from a project management standpoint?

Conversational was very prompt in routing calls to me whenever a customer had a specific request or there was something that needed my attention. If they couldn’t reach me, they would immediately send me a text or email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Conversational was very reliable — they had a very polished, professional, and effective service. They were a financially feasible way to scale my business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ensure that someone — more than one person, if possible — is available to take over in case a caller needs to reach you directly. This could vary by industry, but if a caller has a technical issue, the call can route directly to a technician. Conversational is great at taking calls and routing them, but you should have a point person to handle routed calls. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of a business advisory organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Conversational?

We needed a human answering service for our business to have a professional first encounter with our potential clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Conversational is providing answering services for our business. It’s a bilingual team that helps us receive our clients and works as a firewall between our potential customers and us to avoid scammers by not giving our phone numbers.

How did you come to work with Conversational?

I found them through a Google search. We interviewed other providers in our area, but we chose Conversational because they were prepared to receive the kind of calls we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We invest $129 with them every month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2017, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They’ve been providing a professional human voice that we wanted, which is important to us because it allows us to look like a large company — they give us the exact image we needed, and we haven’t had a single complaint from our clients.

How did Conversational perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s been a seamless process; they also speak French, and that’s great for us as well.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They’re a polite and patient team. In addition, they have a system where they leave voice memos for us whenever they can’t get in touch with us, which is a bonus for their service.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They can be mindful of their communication availability.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a managing partner at NerdService.Net, an IT services company. We repair and sell computers, printers, and televisions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Conversational?

We had been using another voice services provider until a few years ago, but our customers weren’t really happy with how they were dealt with. Another challenge that we were trying to overcome was that we were wasting a lot of time sorting through calls and trying to filter out paying customers from people trying to get free IT advice.

We needed a receptionist who could answer calls, get appropriate information from our customers — such as their names, numbers, and the reason they’re reaching out to us — and send over to us the ones who actually need our services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Conversational provides receptionist services for us. We employ an internal system called Service Me, which involves having the receptionist get information from callers to determine whether or not we need to talk to them through a call. We do this to determine if a caller could end up being a paying customer without us having to spend 20–30 minutes on the phone with them.

Aside from that, their team also provides a service wherein they send us an email for every person that calls our line. The emails contain information about the calls, which allows me to reach out to the callers if needed.

They've also implemented an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) into our system, which filters customers based on their problems so that the receptionist can easily determine which customers would generate income on our end. We don’t want to waste time on callers who are trying to get free advice.

We don’t use an interface or a computer portal for their services — our phone numbers are sent over to Conversational’s team and everything, including maintenance, is done on their end.

What is the team composition?

I primarily communicate with Tanya (President), who is leading the project, and Stephanie (Billing & Accounts Manager).

How did you come to work with Conversational?

I found Conversational through an online search. They have a very clever marketing approach — they compare themselves to their competitors to emphasize how they stand out. I chose them because I think they provide the best value for my money.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $10,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2016, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Ever since Conversational and I started working together, I never have to worry about the phone anymore. I remember a few years ago, I was on the road to meet a VIP client, and I was missing business because I couldn’t answer the calls that were coming in. Conversational fills that gap; they deliver customer information directly to me and I can access that information easily through any device. 

The quality of the voice recording that they recorded is also very high quality. If you listen to it, you would think that we’re a huge company and not just one teammate sitting at a desk. That’s really made a difference for us.

How did Conversational perform from a project management standpoint?

Conversational has done very well — they set expectations at the beginning and have so far exceeded them.

We primarily communicate through email and phone calls. I usually call them when I need something from them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciate that Conversational seems to care a lot about my business. They don’t just answer calls — they represent themselves as if they’re a part of our company.

I was also impressed with the IVR that they set up for our system, which they didn’t charge us extra money for. I told them about the problem that I was having, and they then set up something that keeps us from paying them more money. That’s the kind of top-notch services that they provide, and it has saved us a lot of stress.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re not perfect — no company is. We have encountered a few hiccups in the past, but I think they’re insignificant because we were able to get through them quickly.

However, I do think that it would be great if they could develop a portal where I can access call recordings because right now, the only way to access them is to request them. This is not a deal-breaker though, because they usually send recordings to me within a few minutes after requesting for them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just work with them and answer all of their questions. They have a great list of specific questions to get to know your company and get a feel of what they need to do to provide the best possible solutions for your business needs. It might take a little bit of time, but it will be worth it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the president and founder of a non-profit organization. We provide access to highly qualified experienced lawyer mediator to mediate any civil dispute at substantially reduced rates.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Conversational, and what were your goals??

We requested call answering service to take messages and forward the messages to email. Our goal was to have all inquiries for our services responded to by a live person and to get the correct information so we could call the client back.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I was pleased in my negotiations with Conversational; they offered a fair price within our budget; I did a review of other answering services but preferred Conversational because they designed a service to meet our budget.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package, including any calling tools used.

Answer incoming calls, ask for contact information and what the inquiry is about, then send message to us with this client contact information.

Who did you work with and what was the feedback process like?

I don't remember.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the service?

The answering service is working well; we have not had any complaints from clients or anyone at MCLA. The information they send to us must be accurate and prompt, and they have met that goal.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their most impressive part is the reliability and promptness of services provided consistently.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No