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Cheap Seeds Bring Cheap Birds: Weigh Price and Value to Achieve a Better Return on Investment

Business Etiquette

March 10, 2020

By Donna West, President, Focus Answering Service

I am an avid backyard bird watcher.

In the garden surrounding my deck there are several feeders, serving up a feast for different kinds of birds, served in the way they prefer to be served.

A tall tube provides Niger seed for the finches, a flat open tray filled with black-oil sunflower seeds pleases the cardinals. Woodpeckers enjoy the nut and seed combo in their special feeder. The blue birds, buntings, and a myriad of other wonderful birds have a mixture of seeds and dried berries in standard feeders. Of course, I add sugar water in the summer for the swarms of hummingbirds who know their glass bottles will be clean and fresh.

Recently, a friend and I were enjoying the avian spectacle when she said, “I don’t know how you get all these fantastic birds to come to your feeders, I just get a lot of little brown birds!” To which I replied, “When you serve cheap food, you get cheap birds.” In other words, I pay a little more for specialized seeds, but in return I have the birds I want to watch.

I could discuss my birds all day, but you may be wondering, “What does feeding birds have to do with business?” A LOT, actually. It’s an excellent analogy. As with most things in life, we have to weigh Price and Value to receive the Return on Investment we are looking for.

Focus Telecommunications provides customized answering solutions for our clients spanning various price ranges and configurations. The unique ability to take messages using their own company software attracts our sophisticated business clients, while others are drawn to receiving messages – and replying to them – on their smartphones.

Having our agents provide first level troubleshooting helps some, while others are looking for data and reports to use in their business. Some clients want to be connected directly to callers under special circumstances, while others NEVER want to speak to their callers, so we become their “employee.”

We have texting and chatbots for our tech-centric clients, and we offer basic telephone answering for our sweet little brown birds. Each has its own value. All have a place at our table.

In any situation, when we’re asked about price, there are no easy answers. Therefore, we ask questions. For instance, what birds are you trying to attract? How would you like to serve them? If you are looking at price, Millet is one of the least expensive options. It doesn’t attract the more interesting birds, but it is a basic option. Other seeds, or types of feeders, make it easier to provide value to the specific birds you want to attract thus helping you achieve a better Return on Investment.

Focus Telecommunications’ services will help attract the birds you want, and it will keep them coming back. Price vs. Value – ROI.  Better seed and customized feeders bring more colorful birds; better options bring a better Return on Investment. Options may cost a little more but if their value brings more business, it’s worth it.

Contact us today to find out how we can help you attract “the best birds” for your business.