Calling a business for the first time is a lot like going on a blind date. You base a lot on first impressions, and you look for specific traits to determine if you might want to pursue a long-term relationship. One wrong move, and you’re back to looking for other fish in the sea.

Our partner Shoretel Sky recently shared on their blog some very helpful tips for making the most of your business phone system and a flow chart for setting up business phone system greetings and other recordings. Check them out here.

Just like your wardrobe, it’s a very smart idea to refresh your business phone system for the long hot days of summer. Season-focused greetings and on-hold messages can not only provide valuable, up-to-date information for your callers, they can fuel additional sales during these notoriously slow months.

The following ideas can help you liven up your phone system messages and make them summer-ready.

Our partner ShoreTel Sky has a unique blog that features businesses that are achieving success through modern approaches to work. On the site, they share stories of businesses that have uniquely incorporated some “Modern Musts” for achieving success including agility, 24/7 availability, a distributed workforce, decisions driven by data, mobility, collaboration, and sociability.

The weather is finally warming up and the flowers are in bloom. With spring officially here, it’s the perfect time for some spring cleaning. Sure, a little cleanup is great around the house, but could your business use some sprucing up too?

It may be time to clean house so to speak when it comes to advertising efforts that aren’t creating ROI. Perhaps, you’ve been putting off refreshing your social media channels? Do you simply need to catch up on articles that you’ve bookmarked? Sometimes, blocking off a little extra time for catching up on administrative and marketing efforts can breathe new life into your business.

In honor of the season, here are seven strategies for de-cluttering and revamping your business to help your business bloom this season:

What does your business telephone on-hold messaging say about your brand? We really hope you don’t fall into any of our five bad examples of on-hold business telephone messages below. If so, you’ll need to pay a visit to SnapRecordings so we can help you brand the voice of your company to success.

Give your loved one (or yourself) the gift of success with professional telephone greetings and more from Snap Recordings! We're offering a special Valentine’s Day promo that's a sure gift for the win this Valentines' Day. You can purchase any professional voice recording for your business at 15% off! As an added value, we’ll throw in a message on-hold pack featuring two different greetings accompanied by music.

It seems like everyday there is a new social media network or photo-sharing app that you need to get on board with for your brand. Keeping up with the latest social media trends, not to mention adding your company’s profile to the highest ranked social media networks can be very overwhelming; especially if you’re a small business or start-up that does not have a dedicated marketing department. Like most small businesses, you probably have one person handling the many social media tasks that need to be completed to create a successful social campaign. That’s perfectly fine as a start.

In wake of Hurricane Sandy and the many communities and businesses it devastated, ensuring the security of your clients continuous business is key. When a natural disaster strikes, panic hits families, friends and business owners. As vital as it is to promote safety for your family and friends, business owners also need to alert their clients that their business is in safe hands. Whether you can’t reach your office to carry out your daily client relationships, or your business storefront is closed until it’s safe — the quickest and most effective way to keep your clients informed is through having a professional telephone greeting ready-to-go.