Quick Tip: Answer the Phone - it helps.

You've spent $10,000.00 advertising your business, so why don't you answer the phone? Voice mail and message machines just don't cut it. Disagree? Watch your caller ID, or 800 bill for dropped calls.

What do we mean by this? Quite simply maximizing your ROI on an advertisement requires you to promptly answer the phone, preferably with a live person. When someone gets a personal referral, they might leave a message and wait for a call back, but if their scanning a web directory, the yellowpages, or Adword results, they can move to the next phone number or two, until they get a live person on the phone, and the instant gratification they are looking for. Further many people don't know how urgent their need actually maybe, and tend to believe immediate action is necessary, even when it isn't.

So enhance your investment by having someone answer the phones, or forward all calls to your cell phone when you're out of the office. With caller ID you can still avoid the nagging clients, while answering all new or unknown numbers, which will increase your bottom line. (some nagging clients will figure this out, but it's the cost of being successful)

So, remember, getting calls is good, but answering them is better!