Getting to Know Office Administrator Rose Strong

Our office administrator, Rose Strong, has been with Furia Rubel for four years. In observance of that anniversary, we sat down and asked her a few questions to find out how she keeps our office functioning smoothly, lessons she’s learned in the workplace, and – most importantly – what's top on her phone’s playlist.

What role do you play in the Furia Rubel team? 

I am told that I’m the glue that holds it all together here. Not sure if that’s really it, but I’m the go-to-gal for most non-client questions such as, “Do we have any more yellow ink cartridges?” or “Did you know the half and half is sour?” or “Did the mail come?” Not only do I perform the office support role, but I also keep calendars, answer phones, proofread much of the content written in-house, share content on our social media, and write up our monthly newsletter content. I’m the one who keeps tabs on everyone else, which helps to feed my curious nature by knowing what’s going on all around me.

What is the most annoying phone call you’ve received?

Me: Good morning, Furia Rubel, this is Rose.
Caller: Hi. Uhhhhh. I’m wondering if you can help me out with promoting my business.
Me: Well, first, can I get your name?
Caller: I’d rather not tell you that right now.
Me: Okay. Can you tell me what the business is that you need help with?
Caller: Ummmm, I’m not sure it’s the right time to tell you that.

After about 15 minutes of trying to wrestle some basic information such as a phone number (Caller: I only have a throw-away phone) or email (Caller: I have a gmail address, but don’t use it much), the caller then proceeded to share with me a barrage of thoughts that had little to do with PR or marketing.

What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on?

We recently created a book for a client that works with an elderly population, to showcase the award-winning senior art programs the client runs. As a freelance reporter for a local weekly newspaper for the past dozen years, I was asked to interview some of the seniors who participated in the art projects, in order to get quotes and information for the book. The folks I interviewed were forthcoming with their thoughts, absolutely delightful to talk to, and enlightening. The project is still in the works, but I look forward to seeing it completed.

Can you describe a challenge you’ve faced in the workplace and share what you’ve learned from it? 

I used to work at a large, national health insurance company, answering phones. The company trained their employees for three months on customer service procedures and their systems, the insurance industry, health care policy, insurance plans and even medical terminology. Then they put you on the phones and expected you to answer 80 to 100 calls per day.

Mixing health care and money can be extremely volatile, and calls could be tremendously difficult on all of us. It was brutal some days, and morale was often low. After several years, I became good enough at the job to be what they called a senior customer service professional. I took the tough calls from my colleagues when things got out of hand and a caller asked for a supervisor. I also helped to train people. It was all that and the glamour, too!

I’m a lover of the Christmas holidays and started sending out an email to my colleagues with a trivia question about holiday TV shows. People had fun seeing who could give the right answer first. The first year, it was just to create a little fun. The second year, I named my effort The 12 Days of Christmas Trivia and went to the dollar store, bought a dozen crazy prizes and went for it! The team loved it. It was the highlight of the days leading up to Christmas. I even threw in a few Hanukkah questions to give our non-Christmas celebrants the chance to win, as well.

Every day, I would send out the question at a random time and wait for folks to answer. They were so excited to see what the prizes were. My email filled up fast. I handed out things like Vienna sausages, a tiny ratchet set, a dollar-store pregnancy test, plastic dog bowls, anything you can think of from a dollar store! It was a hoot, and to celebrate at the end, we had a food day.

It takes so little, sometimes, to bring up morale in a workplace and make it fun. In this case, it wasn’t my job to do it – I wasn’t really a supervisor or manager or team lead – but just to get out of the rut we all felt we were in, it helped bring smiles and laughter and a sense of bonding between people all trying to do the same difficult job.

Do you have any favorite quotes?

I have three:

“A human mind, once stretched to a new idea, never returns to its former dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Act like you have all day to do something and it will take you 15 minutes, act like you have 15 minutes and it will take you all day.” – Monty Roberts, from The Man Who Listens To Horses

"Everything you do with or for a client today gives them incentive to remember or forget you tomorrow." – Me

What is something you’ve learned in the past week?

A new way to manage client media clips to make my job more efficient.

Is there something at your desk that represents you very well?

My pencil sharpener. Not only do I like having sharp pencils, but I like keeping a sharp mind. Doesn’t always work, but I always make the effort.

What are your favorite applications on your phone?

Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and shopping sites are by far my favorite time-users. However, I’m a news junkie and listen to NPR via the app, Tune-In Radio. And I enjoy the NYTimes and CNN apps.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?

I was an art major in college, as was my wife, so we both enjoy spending our time doing most anything creative, from cooking and gardening to photography, writing, and making or viewing art. Making something can help refresh my spirit. I also enjoy spending time with my four-legged and feathered family of animals.

What is the most played song on your phone/iPod?

Probably the Indigo Girls’ Closer to Fine.

Smile: They Can Hear You!

by Rose Strong

Furia Rubel Communications is all about getting a message out.  In our efforts to do this we use a combination of integrated marketing strategies and tactics including social media, website optimization, video sharing, public relations, business development and many electronic methods for getting a client’s point across to the right audience. However, the telephone is often the first line of interaction we or any business may have with their clients, prospects and partners.
 
Before the term arborist came into fashion, my father was a tree surgeon. While I was growing up, he had his own business. During my formative years we lived in a home where we had two telephones, a house line and a business line. This was before there were multiline phones for home use. Each phone had a different ring and to make sure answering was speedy, we had one of each on the two floors of our home and a business phone line in our barn.

From a very young age, I was taught proper phone etiquette and how to professionally answer a call. It was drilled into my sister and me that we were the gatekeepers for our father’s business, so there was no tolerance for being anything other than pleasant and courteous on the telephone. In drafting this post, I found a resource from Lehigh University’s Library & Technology Services which is a great reference and includes many of the same things I learned from my parents regarding proper phone etiquette . The resource also details proper decorum when using voice mail.

With an upbringing like this, I have little patience for someone at the other end of the phone to sound anything other than polite and interested. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need chipper or grossly over-the-top, sickeningly cheerful, but keep the monotone sound, sighing and irritation as if I’m a huge bother  for another time, perhaps when the boss calls.

This early training provided needed skills when I entered the ranks of the employed as a teenager and worked in a flower shop while studying floriculture and horticulture in high school. It was retail sales and just as this blog explains: every customer was your best customer, so make them feel that way.

In a career change about 15 years ago, I began working for a national health insurance company as a customer service professional. Notice the title doesn’t say representative. We were, of course representing the company whose phones we were answering, but they wanted us to see ourselves as professionals. The “we”’ I speak of is the class of 19 who participated in a three-month training program together before being set loose in the tank with the piranhas. Besides learning the details of health insurance, the company’s computer systems and how to actually work the telephones, our class was taught how to answer the phones properly.

Of course we had a script, but one of the things they strongly impressed upon us was to smile while talking, it could be heard by the caller and the simple act could make an otherwise difficult call turn into a pleasant experience. Dealing with health issues and money is volatile, so any trick to tame a dragon was worth it. And after seven years at the job, it was true. I’m not advocating a full-on open-face grin, but just upturned lips can help you sound happy, interested and helpful, which is what the person on the other end wants to hear after often going through a circle of automated menus. Knowing they’ve reached someone who cares often soothes the savage beast.

Marketing and communications often starts with the ring of a telephone. A company can market with all sorts of online promotions today with sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, website and branding campaigns and email marketing, but if you don’t give that old-fashioned customer service during the first few moments of that initial phone call, you’ve lost them. So, put a smile in your voice, callers can hear it and it really does make all the difference.