What is a typical Paperclip client?
Client journey is at the heart of Paperclip’s work and one of the most rewarding aspects of Paperclip’s work is that we work with organisations across a wide range of sectors: estate agents to law firms; allied healthcare professionals to IT support; charities to local government…and more besides.
As you might expect, given the diversity of our client base, there is no ‘typical’ Paperclip client. There are, however, two traits that are common to many of our clients.
The Golden Rule
Firstly, many of our clients share a similar customer service philosophy. This philosophy is best described by the Golden Rule, the principle of treating customers as you yourself would want to be treated when a customer. It means translating good intentions into actions; answering all calls; answering all calls within three rings; giving the customer a voice; resolving customer problems quickly and effectively…and more.
I am sure we’ve all got suppliers and retailers we feel comfortable with, reassured by; suppliers and retailers with whom it is a pleasure to work and buy from. This is a characteristic of many Paperclip clients.
A Paperclip client journey
A second trait of Paperclip’s longstanding clients is that they have typically gone on a journey with Paperclip. The services they use have changed over time as their trust and confidence in Paperclip has grown. I have outlined below six journey ‘stages’. A client journey is rarely linear – from stage one to stage six – but jumps and switches in line with a client’s specific requirements at any one time. For example, most healthcare clients start their Paperclip journey at ‘Stage 3 – Reception Desk’, whilst there are a few clients for which we simply provide Live Chat (Stage 4).
I have grouped the six ‘Paperclip journey’ sections into two broad categories: communications and admin/operations:
Communications
Stage 1 – Call answering
Often referred to as telephone answering, virtual call answering or third-party call answering, call answering is the simplest communication service provided by Paperclip. In essence, it is simply answering a call, transferring it, or taking a message and passing it on to the client.
Case study
When considering the client journey of Sole traders, for example, business coaches may use Paperclip to answer their calls whilst they are in meetings or require ‘quiet time’ to complete a piece of work. As soon as they are free, they respond to their messages.
Paperclip can reduce the burden by answering basic questions for callers – FAQs. Over time, working with the client, the ‘library’ of FAQs builds to such an extent that the number of messages taken, or calls transferred, diminishes considerably. When the client receives a message, or a call is transferred, they know it is important.
It almost goes without saying that Paperclip filters out sales and nuisance calls for the client in line with the instructions provided.
Stage 2 – Extended call answering
After a while, there comes a point where a client asks themselves the question: ‘This is going well. I wonder if there is anything else Paperclip can help us with?’
The first ‘upgrade’ is typically to extend the range of call answering services provided by Paperclip. Depending on the nature of the client’s business, this could involve taking payments over the phone, entering data directly into a client’s CRM system, making outbound customer care calls and more. Effectively we are minimising the ‘noise’ and ‘disruption’ caused by phone calls within the client’s business.
Case study
Paperclip has many clients in financial services. For one equity release client, when a prospective customer rings in we capture the basic information they need to undertake their initial research before they respond to the customer’s requirements. This info could include the address of the property; value of any outstanding mortgage; and reasons for considering equity release. The Paperclip team then uses specific websites to obtain an estimate of the current market value of the property in question. All this data is entered into the client’s database, and they can then speak to their customer from a position of strength.
Stage 3 – Reception desk
The line between ‘extended call answering’ and ‘reception desk’ services is blurred. At Paperclip, ‘reception desk’ infers a greater degree of integration within a client’s business processes (particularly when working with allied healthcare professionals), as well as being the virtual ‘front of house’ for a client.
With allied healthcare professionals – such as physiotherapists, osteopaths, podiatrists, dietitians and similar – Paperclip often manages the practice’s appointment diary: making appointments, cancelling appointments, rescheduling appointments. This will typically mean entering appointment data directly into the practice management software program e.g. Cliniko, Jane, TMS and more.
It is a similar situation when taking bookings and reservations for clients in the leisure sector such as restaurants, hotels, and escape rooms.
Case study
For an osteopathy practice with four practitioners, all inbound calls are directed via Paperclip. Paperclip manages the appointment diary. This can include moving certain appointments, with the agreement of the patients, by 15 or 30 minutes or so such that Paperclip ensures the osteopath is able to deliver in as many fee-earning consultations as possible during their day.
Paperclip is particularly valuable to the osteopathy practice when one of the therapists is ill. Once informed, we call all patients affected by the therapist’s absence and rearrange their appointments.
Stage 4 – Live chat and social media comms
The ways in which prospective customers communicate with suppliers is changing and becoming more diverse.
Over 50% of Paperclip’s search traffic now comes from searches on mobile devices; phones and tablets. This is true for many of Paperclip’s clients too. The user may be looking at the website at work and may not be able to phone. For them, live chat may be the best communication option.
Paperclip provides live chat support for many of its clients. As mentioned earlier, we build up banks of FAQs for each client so we are exceptionally well-informed and able to answer most live chat questions. Where this is not possible, we are still able to capture the details of the person making the enquiry and pass it on to the client.
Social media is another communication channel that can be important in certain sectors. For example, for clients promoting B2C services via Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. Paperclip monitors the client’s social media feeds and advises the client when a response or other action is required.
Case study
During the pandemic, certain sectors experienced a huge surge in demand for their products and services. One such sector was garden buildings, structures, and furniture.
Paperclip provided live chat (and call answering) support for one of Britain’s leading suppliers of garden buildings. Demand was so ‘hot’ that a key aspect of our service was to handle enquiries from prospective customers frustrated by the long lead times. Taking the pressure off the supplier’s operations team enables it to focus on manufacturing, dispatching, and service.
Administration and Operations
Stage 5 – Admin support
Some clients use Paperclip on a regular basis to undertake admin tasks; others take advantage of this option on an ad-hoc basis.
Since we were founded fifteen years ago, Paperclip has delivered a huge array of admin support tasks for clients. Examples have included: chasing aged debtors; providing job estimates for the customers of trade clients; planning delivery routes; cleansing customer contact databases (outbound call to ensure contact data is updated and correct); mail fulfilment; outbound customer care calls; outbound calls to encourage Google/TripAdvisor reviews; email filtering; diary management…and more.
If you want to know whether we can help you with an admin support task – just ask!
Case Study
For a chimney sweep client, as well as handling incoming calls, Paperclip manages their diary and plans their daily ‘sweep’ route to minimise travel time.
For a trade association, Paperclip undertook a telephone survey of their 1500 member companies and updated their contact database at the same time.
Stage 6 – Operations and service delivery
Paperclip’s relationship with some clients has evolved to the point where we handle key aspects of their operations and service delivery as well as answering calls and completing business admin tasks.
This aspect of Paperclip’s service offer is best described through case studies as it is so wide and varied:
Case studies
Paperclip works with a supplier of a high-value consumable domestic product. Paperclip handles all incoming calls, accesses real-time stock data to advise callers of stock availability, takes orders and payments, and communicates with the warehouse/despatch facility. The focus of Paperclip’s client – its core value-adding skills – is on procurement, marketing, and range development. We handle the rest.
At one time Paperclip worked with a retired gentleman who had built up a collection of classic cars. He loved chauffeuring couples to and from their weddings – but had no particular interest in any other aspect of service delivery. Paperclip handled enquiries, calls, pricing, availability. We handled all payments. Six months before the wedding we called the prospective bride and groom to ensure everything was running to plan and followed this up with another call the week before. The scene was set for the chauffeur and his classic car to be part of the couple’s special day.
Professional, tailored, affordable, agile
Writing this article has reinforced for me that one of Paperclip’s core strengths is our agility and adaptability. We pride ourselves on delivering a professional, tailored, and affordable service, but this is underpinned by our willingness and capacity to flex the services we provide to match the specific needs of each client.
If you would like to start your journey with Paperclip, simply contact me on 01246 418181, email me at anne@paperclip.co.uk, or visit www.paperclip.co.uk where you will be able to find our quotation generator.
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