Anserphone System: A case study, The

In 1992, the Reed brothers, Baldwin and Rusty, the second-generation owners of one of the largest and most experienced teleprocessing companies in the South, faced a dilemma. Their company, The Anserphone System, founded by their father Charles in suburban New Orleans in 1956, was a prime takeover candidate, but they wanted to maintain control of the family business.

Since opening its doors, the company had achieved considerable success in the telephone answering service field, but they felt this sector was declining due to major advances in PBX and voice mail systems. Their solution was to expand into the telemarketing arena. The rest, as they say, is history.

The decision changed the face and the primary focus of their business. In 1995, approximately 60 percent of their business involves inbound and outbound telemarketing and it's continuing to grow at a heady rate. The other 40 percent involves the "bread and butter" of the first three and a half decades of The Anserphone System's business -- telephone answering services (TAS) and voice mail applications.

Getting Into The Ballgame...A $750,000 Investment

To enter the marketplace required a capital investment of about $750,000. The money was used to purchase a Hewlett-Packard computer featuring RISC technology, which comprises the heart of the data-storage system, and a Mitel 2000 Digital PBX automatic call distributor. To ensure customers would not lose orders because of a system failure, both systems are fully redundant with back up power sources that ensure maximum security and uninterrupted service. Initially, STARTEL software was used but gave way to the EDGE system because it allows greater versatility for inbound and outbound telemarketing. Anserphone also uses T-1 connections and AT&T and MCI as primary carriers, however, the company has the capability to utilize any long-distance carrier. The Reed's see this flexibility as a necessity in their primary mission of customer satisfaction.

Translating TAS Success Into Telemarketing Success

Experience had also taught the Reed's to focus on quality customer service. This emphasis on strong customer service came from their years of experience in telephone answering service. The company already had a history of satisfied, long-term TAS/voice mail customers and they reasoned it was also essential to success in the telemarketing arena.

At the heart of customer service is skilled communicators. The Anserphone System's departmental managers are very selective in the interview process. As many as eight to ten candidates are interviewed before a hire is made. This stringent selection process mirrors the company's history of taking the extra time to find a quality employee and has helped them build a loyal and hard-working workforce. Turnover is low. Most of the employees are six- to eight-year veterans and many average ten or more years. Supervisors average 18 years with the firm. To ensure continuous and consistent quality, customer service agents are monitored continuously and are retrained every 90 days. The business' bottom line has also been helped by the fact that telemarketing labor costs in Louisiana are on average as much as $2 per hour less costly when compared to most other major telemarketing locations nationally.

The sales force also takes a very hands-on approach to business. Account managers work toward long-term relationships with clients, recognizing that repeat business paves the way to consistent profits. When a contract is signed, it typically involves the account manager helping with the creative side of the customer's scripting approach.

From Neckties To Sirloin Tip...A Range Of Satisfied Clients

Since The Anserphone System's 1992 entry into the telemarketing sector, its client list has been impressive. Customers have ranged from Fortune 500 companies like Freeport-McMoRan (minerals/mining) and Entergy (utility), the States of Louisiana and Wisconsin, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Ochsner Hospital, WEMCO (world's largest necktie manufacturer), and the Delta Queen Steamboat Company. The Delta Queen Steamboat Company and Wisconsin proved to be two of the most challenging projects.

Delta Queen operates the only authentic steamboat cruises in the U.S., which were being championed by syndicated radio host Paul Harvey. The State of Wisconsin used The Anserphone System to handle orders for a deer-tag-hunting limited lottery. As a result of the major promotional campaigns for both clients, phones were ringing off the hook. The volume of calls generated was a stern test and fortunately, the architects of The Anserphone System had this in mind when they programmed the software for the routing system for calls.

The Operations network

When all of the 30 primary operators on duty are handling a customer, the system's automatic call distribution (ACD) feature kicks in. In a nanosecond, the caller is automatically transferred to the next available operator. The next available operator could come from the pool of TAS-dedicated operators at the telemarketer's New Orleans area TAS facility. If the available operators there are swamped, the call is automatically transferred and fielded by an operator at a call center in another state. To accomplish this, the Reeds have entered into strategic partnerships with call centers in both Atlanta and Salt Lake City to handle overflow calls. The partnerships proved to be especially valuable when the Paul Harvey promotions for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company cruises generated approximately 4,000 calls a day for several weeks. During peak demand, operators were handling as many as 160 calls simultaneously, averaging two minutes per call. The system proved to be very cost-efficient for the clients who pay on average 98 cents to $1.10 per minute per call for the company's telemarketing services.

A Rifle-Shot Approach To Marketing

As the firm's telemarketing business has grown, so has its marketing strategy. Initially, the company had a broad-based plan to attract customers. Although this scatter-shot approach has been effective and profitable, the Reeds brought on staff strategic marketing professionals in mid-1995 to tailor a more focused rifle-shot approach to attracting new customers. This strategy is aimed at advertising agencies, catalog companies, financial institutions and the top 500 companies in the New Orleans River Region. The marketing department sees its greatest potential in getting ad agencies to recommend The Anserphone System to clients in need of a vendor to handle orders from a client's print and broadcast media placements. This approach is already paying off with the addition of eight new telemarketing clients during the month of August 1995.

The Measure Of Success

What this has added up to for the telemarketer's approximately 1,500 TAS/voice-mail accounts and about 90 telemarketing clients is satisfaction, not to mention profits for the Reed's. It's also resulted in The Anserphone System being recognized as an outstanding leader in the telemarketing industry and leaves it poised for continued growth and success in the next century.

Bill Kappel is the development manager for the MetroVision Economic Development Partnership of New Orleans & the River Region and is a Certified Economic Developer (CED). He is a New Orleans native and has been working in the economic development field for a decade.

Copyright Technology Marketing Corporation Oct 1995
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