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Jennifer McCord called her husband
at work, "Phil, you are never going to believe the call
I just got. The real-estate agent just called and she has three more
offers on the house!"
"What do you mean they have three
more offers? They've already accepted ours." replied Phil.
"I know but these offers are higher than ours, and the real-estate agent
says that we need to have everything ready to close in the next seven
days or the
seller will be free to take the higher offers," explained Jennifer.
"Well that's not going to be a
problem. The appraisal is done and our loan is approved. What are you so
worried about?"
Jennifer scowled as
she replied, "I
know all of that. I'm the one who's been doing it all!" She said
frostily, "Our offer was accepted on Monday. It is now Thursday. I have
left two messages a day for Tim every day this week. I get nothing but
his answering machine, and he never calls me back!" If we don't have
insurance by Monday, we can lose the house!"
Now, Phil scowled into the phone.
"Jen, things are going to work out. Okay? I know how much work you've done
to get this house. We aren't going to lose it. I'll make a few calls
and see what I can do. I'll call you back."
He called his insurance agent, Tim.
Just as Jennifer said, the answering machine picked up. He didn't leave
a message. Instead, he picked up the phone book. Phil called several
branches of the same insurance company and got the same sterile
greetings. Answering machines. "Where are they at, a convention?" Phil
questioned.
Then Phil tried a branch office in a nearby community. To his surprise, his call was
answered brightly. "I need to talk to someone about home owners insurance," Phil explained, "and I need to have it by the end of
the week."
The friendly receptionist asked
Phil about his situation and the new house. Then, she said, "Mr. McCord, our
operators
are receiving disaster property and casualty training this week, so I
don't have anyone available for you right now." Phil's
spirits dropped; he thought
he had finally made some progress. He looked at his watch. It was 4
P.M. "However," she continued "I understand how important this is for you
and will personally contact Norleen. She will call you back as soon as possible."
Phil hung up the phone and waited.
He tried to concentrate on his work, but failed. Within an hour, the
phone rang. It was Norleen Hall, the insurance agent. Using the
information that Phil had provided to the receptionist, Norleen had a
quote prepared for the McCords. Phil was both relieved and pleasantly
surprised. By 10 o'clock the following morning, the insurance would be
in place, and the house would be theirs.
As they wrapped up their
conversation, Phil told Norleen how difficult it had been to find an
agent that would return his calls. "If your secretary hadn't been there,
I don't know what we would have done!" Phil said.
Norleen looked around her small
office. One desk, one chair, two file cabinets, and no secretary. She
knew that hers was the smallest and newest branch office in the area,
but she had managed to outperform Phil's regular agent because she had
an answering service to back her up. "We do what we
can," she said, smiling.
Learn more about telephone
answering services and discover how they might be able to help you.
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