Woman_on_phoneFor a while I ran a bed and breakfast in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We were in the hills above the main town, and we rarely got any drive-by traffic, even in summer season when people drove through town instead of booking a ski vacation in advance.

As general manager, I made it my rule that every single phone call would be answered by a live person. The previous manager had taken breaks and put the phone to the answering machine. I kept the phone strapped to my hip from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. and my (now ex-) husband would carry it until 10.

It’s not really about customer service. It’s about the idea that your potential customer is probably sitting there with a list of three or four people or places he could contact that would meet his needs. If you don’t answer, he’s not likely to leave a message and wait for you to call back. He is in the mood to solve this issue he has, and if you aren’t there to help, others are.

I’ve set up my home phone to ring four times then to flip to my cell, which is forever attached to my side. With this setup, I’ll rarely miss a call.