Startup Founders Should Answer the Phone
At the start of a new business, it is hugely beneficial for startup founders to answer the phone when it rings.
I’ve written before about our use of Ringcentral to handle incoming calls. Ringcentral automatically routes incoming calls to the appropriate cell phones in the organization. This provides maximum flexibility for us.
Ringcentral has a killer feature for startups: It will append the extension number to the end of the customer’s incoming caller ID.
If you dial our number and select sales, we will know before answering the phone that: 1) you dialed extension #1 (our sales extension), and 2) you are coming from Ringcentral because your caller ID is one-digit longer than normal.
As a startup, it is important to wear many hats well and to present a polished presentation to customers, despite not being able to afford unique people for each hat. The reason this feature is awesome for startups is that it lets people wear many hats. In the beginning, all incoming calls would come to my cell phone: sales, technical support, and the “0” operator line. Depending on the extension that showed up in my caller ID, I would know how to respond initially to the call.
Here are some reasons why startup founders should answer the phone when it rings (at least initially): 1) startup founders tend to care more and do really well on the phone, 2) startup founders tend to answer the phone whenever it rings (irrespective of the conventional daytime calling hours), 3) startup founders can make on-the-fly decisions to really service a customer rather than sticking it to someone because of an arbitrary rule system, and 4) startup founders need that customer connection to ground their ideas and trajectory.
How do you handle your startup’s phone system?