Building a Thriving Business: The Secrets Behind ASD's Success
Media, PA — To retain a competitive advantage, funeral directors must live their jobs 24/7, remaining available at all times to families. The potential value of a single phone call for a funeral director is far greater than for other types of businesses because of the substantial dollar amount of a single sale. In order to capture new business and secure future referrals, it is imperative for funeral professionals to protect their phone lines.
Working with a quarter of funeral homes in America, ASD – Answering Service for Directors assisted with roughly 10 percent of all First Calls reported in the United States in 2010. The company’s experienced team of programmers have designed and custom-built software solutions from the ground up. This allows ASD to retain complete control over their own systems rather than being left at the mercy of an outside vendor with no real stake in their success. Using proprietary software, ASD can update software immediately, run internal diagnostics tests anytime, and carefully monitor their programs to consistently provide the highest caliber of service.
ASD’s systems were built solely to meet the needs of funeral professionals. A majority of the features were created specifically to decrease the possibility of a lost business opportunity. Supervisors oversee calls 24/7 to handle any situation that might fall into a gray area. When one of ASD’s call specialists handle a First Call, an alert will appear on the screen to notify a supervisors if the call is not dispatched within a short time frame. Creating safety mechanisms within ASD’s systems eliminates the possibility of a client ever losing a business opportunity due to an operator’s error. This combination of funeral expertise and state of the art technology offers a level of unmatched oversight for funeral professionals. Statistically, ASD clients will go their entire careers without ever losing a death call while their lines are forwarded.
Unlike many answer services, all of ASD’s messages are dispatched by the same operator who spoke to the caller. Allowing employees to manage and track their own calls means clients receive messages without delay. Unless other instructions are listed on the account, First Calls are always dispatched immediately. Every attempt to reach the on-call person is logged and operators are able to view on their screens when a director is in the voicemail or on another line retrieving the information. ASD’s sophisticated message tracking system automatically generates digital reminders when it is time to reach the next person on call. This prevents an overflow of urgent calls from delaying the dispatch of a First Call–the same operator who talked to the family and understands the importance of the call is responsible for making sure the director receives the message immediately.
Founded in 1972, ASD is believed to be the first answering service to offer recorded messages, promoting a transparent business approach that was largely absent within the telecommunication industry until that point. Since then, the company has worked to expand the options available to funeral professionals when they are unable to answer their phones, creating safety nets within ASD’s system to secure their clients’ critical calls. These internal solutions provide funeral professionals with peace of mind with the knowledge that their calls are protected 24/7.
About ASD
ASD is the leader in answering services and call support for funeral professionals. ASD gives directors and staff of funeral homes the tools they need to offer the highest caliber of service, both at and away from the office. ASD’s innovative technology and call support expertise have made it a national leader in the death care profession. Headquartered in Media, Pennsylvania, this family owned business offers comprehensive answering services for funeral homes and funeral related businesses of all sizes. For more information, visit http://www.myasd.com or call 1-800-868-9950.
