Improve Customer Service with Nextiva Phone System

How to Provide Exceptional Customer Service? Be Reliable!

One of the nightmares a business can have is being disconnected from its customers.

Can it get worse? Yes, if you don’t know who to turn to!

Or if the business phone system you’ve been using for a decade can’t help you solve the problem.

Even if a business wanted to be reliable and responsible to their customers as much as possible, the customers could still blame the company if any of the suppliers is not doing the part.

Here’s a story about Stanley Steemer and how they solved their problems and improve customer service with a new Nextiva phone system. Here’s our Nextiva review.

About Stanley Steemer

It all began in 1947 when Jack Bates invested $2,300 and started as a one-man carpet cleaning business in Ohio. They developed the prototype steam cleaning machine called Stanley I, which reminded them of steam-powered automobiles, Stanley Steamers when operated.

Upon naming the company Stanley Steamers, the vehicle that carried out operational tasks adapted the orange color. They launched more products over the years, including the famous truck-mounted dual wand cleaning machine and many other services such as air duct cleaning services and tile and grout cleaning services.

In 1984, the company grew up with 215 franchises and 14 branches across 38 states. Wesley Bates, son of founder Jack Bates, assumed the role of president and CEO.

Stanley Steemer never stopped innovating through the years. They launched their first public website in 1997, introduced the phone line 1-800-STEEMER that routes customers at any point in the US to the nearest Stanely Steemer operation.

Currently, Stanley Steemer is best known for carpet cleaning, tile and grout cleaning, and upholstery cleaning, to name a few. It continued to be a family business with Justin Bates taking over, son of Wesley Bates taking over the leadership.

In 2017, they celebrated their 70^th anniversary with approximately 300 operations over 49 states.

Major Dilemma of Stanley Steemer with their Business Phone System

Jeff Bratschie is the Director of Operations at two Stanely Steemer franchise locations in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Bernalillo, New Mexico. Overseeing everyday operations is one of the many responsibilities he is juggling. He is also responsible for assisting training technicians and Customer Service Advisors or CSAs.

With 25,000 customers in these locations, they can’t afford to have any hiccups in their business phone system. One problem can damage a reputation they’ve built for years.

However, his locations were using Avaya phones with a PBX for a decade. A PBX or Private Branch Exchange is a private telephone network that is used within an organization. It lets users communicate internally and externally.

The major dilemma for Jeff Bratschie was that whenever there is a problem such as poor call quality, dropped call, or a sudden system outage, it was hard to point out if it was because of the carrier, internet, or the equipment provider.

“It was a helpless situation – calling many people to find the fastest solution. It was even more frustrating when no one could answer or explain why the issue was happening.”

These issues became so repetitive that made Jeff decide to find alternative solutions to his problem. He needed to research various communication systems and find one that would work best for the company.

One of the essential considerations upon selecting the most suitable business phone system was finding someone that could enable easy transfer between his branches and the corporate call centers.

If in case, all the CSAs are not available, the call must go to one of their three national call centers. Having a call-directing phone system will lessen the customers’ waiting time. This is one of the ways to ensure the company continues to provide exceptional customer service.

They will need the best small business phone system smart enough to handle the call-directing between New Mexico and North Carolina branches and the corporate call centers.

Unfortunately, other providers were unable to get two locations transfer to a call center. Jeff finally came across the Nextiva VoIP system. Upon checking their services, he found all of his needs ticked off the list.

It did not take long for Stanley Steemer to switch. In March 2017, after reviewing all the features and capabilities, along with call transferring, they finally said yes.

Reliable Phone System for Business – A Nextiva Review

Getting Reading to Switch to Nextiva VOIP

Jeff Bratschie has always wanted a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). It is a proven and tested technology that allows anyone with an internet connection to place phone calls.

The rise of broadband all over the world made VOIP be the preferred choice for phone service. Even consumers prefer to make a phone call through the internet. Small businesses must also adapt.

A VOIP offers a lot more capabilities compared to the traditional and standard phone service. There are many more valuable features of the Nextiva VOIP phone system, from auto attendants, caller ID to call recording.

As long as you have an internet connection, you can take calls and work from anywhere.

Jeff highlighted how the company wanted to go to the cloud. They prefer interacting with one person, knowing that any problem would either be because of the internet or the provider. There is no need to involve the equipment side too, which means a lot of efficiency for the company.

As Stanley Steemer prepared to switch to Nextiva, they were ready to bid goodbye to the frustrations that haunted them for years.

Switching to Best Small Business Phone System

There was an issue when they were in the process of porting over numbers. Unexpectedly, their PBX went down.

Stanley Steemer tried to find a PBX that they could use temporarily until the switch was completed, but it would be expensive.

Panic-stricken, the company, called Nextiva then, offered a solution. Nextiva was able to switch the phone system immediately, so there was no downtime. Temporary numbers were given to the company, and it rolled in seamlessly.

What made Nextiva VoIP the best business small business phone system? Let us break it down for you:

Unparalleled Customer Support

In the world of automation, it can be challenging to reach out to a human being. Sometimes, we would come across with speaking to an automated response system.

What these businesses don’t understand is for you to ensure that you continue to provide exceptional customer service. Being reliable means having someone with a personal touch who can tend to a company’s needs as promptly as possible.

That’s what Nextiva is all about. They offered unparalleled customer support. Nextiva understands what a company needs by being responsive and clearly communicating what needed to be done.

All the North Carolina and New Mexico employees have been using 20 and 10 phones, respectively, in various ways depending on their roles.

Call Recordings and Analytics

Having call recordings is everything.

That’s why when Stanley Steemer was considering options, one of the features must include call recording and analytics.

Recording Customer Service Advisors and listening to their conversations to see if any further coaching is needed are necessary for improvement.

If there is an upset customer, Jeff Bratschie can also listen to the original call to double-check the issue, which would eventually help him discuss the situation and solve the customer’s problem.

If, for example, a client questions anything about the invoice or the bill, the staff can easily pull it up and respond to the queries.

Another reason for reviewing analytics is to improve employee’s performance. Looking at the volume CSAs received, the company could track how many jobs were booked out of these calls, indicating the close ratio of each CSA.

Valuable Features of Nextiva VOIP

Another great feature of Nextiva’s VOIP is the voicemail-to-email and call transferring. It increases efficiency for everyone in the office. Sometimes, one of the franchise locations in Gastonia would receive calls if no one is available. The customers would be transferred to the correct place.

If, for instance, there is something urgent and the staff is not available in the office, the calls can be forwarded directly to their mobile phones. This way, it is almost impossible to miss an important call, and any problems can be solved right away.

Another much-appreciated feature of Nextiva is the user-friendly cloud-based system, making it convenient for everyone. You don’t even need to be tech-savvy!

All these features helped Stanley Steemer to increase its productivity. Finding solutions for their customers quickly resulted in satisfied customers.

Key Takeaways

Nextiva made a lot of difference in the company’s daily operations. Jeff Bratschie emphasized that he never had to make the same call twice anymore because Nextiva gets the problem and the solution right the first time.

In a service-focused company like Stanley Steemer, a service-focused business phone system is essential, and Nextiva exceeded all that.

So how do you provide exceptional customer service? Be reliable. And for a business to be reliable – they have to find reliable partners.

Call Flow Solutions is a proud partner of Nextiva. Like Nextiva, reliable is our last name too. Let’s discuss and know more about the best phone system for your company. Or why not read more of our case studies here.