www.spectrumcomm.com
Industry: Call center and telephone answering services
Number of employees: 50
Family: Mari (wife), Kelli (daughter), Traci (daughter), Chad (son), Samuel (grandson) and Lauren (granddaughter)
What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year?
“As an award-winning call center and answering service, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our service to our clients and their callers. This year we decided to go back to the basics and revamp our operator-training program from the ground up. We now have a team of trainers who are dedicated to conducting one-on-one and group training sessions. Their responsibility is to provide in-depth and comprehensive education customized to each of our clients’ individual needs. We are also expanding the tools and resources available to our staff, such as building a wiki knowledge base that can be accessed at any time.”
What’s new at your company?
“Due to the current economic climate and in response to our clients’ requests, we have experienced a greater demand for expanded virtual receptionist services. As a result, we have developed additional options to assist with the challenges facing our clients. This allows our clients to utilize Spectrum as their full time or overflow receptionist, answering and transferring callers as needed, providing customer service support, and handling frequently asked questions. This frees up their in-house staff to focus on the tasks involved in growing their business and saving payroll dollars in the process.”
Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in the next year?
“Spectrum is very unique in our industry – with an average retention of over five years, we have very low turnover. We are constantly monitoring our call volume and clients’ needs and generally add several staff on a permanent basis each year. As a high-technology company, one of our ongoing challenges is to keep abreast of the technology changes in our industry. We are continually investing in the latest updates and enhancements to expand our service offerings to our clients.”
What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?
“Congress is considering increasing the tax on each phone number up to $2 per month. With an inventory of 2,000 phone numbers used by our clients, that would be a tax increase for Spectrum of $48,000 virtually overnight. Call centers, colleges, hospitals, hotels and major corporations are trying to educate members of Congress on the tremendous impact this could have on our industries.”
What’s the hottest trend in your industry?
“VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). It’s a cost effective method for our national clients to have their calls brought into Spectrum. It also provides Spectrum and our clients with additional disaster recovery options not available through the public telephone network.”
Do you have a business mantra?
“In our 26 years in business, one core value has remained consistent from the start when making corporate decisions … fair. It must be fair to our clients, to our staff and to Spectrum. In other words, we are always striving for a win-win-win solution to any challenge.”
From a business standpoint, who do you look up to?
“When I was in high school, my first ‘big time’ part-time job was working in a retail men’s clothing store. Mr. Rovang, the store owner, gave me an education that has impacted every day of my working life. He taught me that no matter the size of the sale, no matter the appearance of the customer, no matter a first time or repeat customer, each moment with the customer was an opportunity to build a relationship that could pay dividends for a lifetime. I have tried to instill that within my staff and all aspects of my life.”
