Wednesday, March 2, 2016

How to Conduct Effective Meetings

I came across this article in a publication that was sent to me. 
 I think it's a great read and want to share it! Enjoy.





Thursday, January 7, 2016

40 years and counting!


Dreams do come true! While working evening shift for a telephone company in Atlanta, Sandra Black dreamed of offering answering service in her local hometown.  She knew an answering service would assure businesses they wouldn't miss important calls, but she also knew she could provide them a low cost alternative to hiring a secretary. She partnered with Jacque Waters, who offered secretarial/typing services to the same customer base. Before today’s luxury of home computers & printers, there was a demand for typing services!   Thus, A Superior Answering & Secretarial Service, Inc. was born.  Sandra and Jacque took personal interest in in helping their clients grow their business and save money.  

In 1976, Sandra answered her first call at A Superior in Conyers GA.  She had 4 clients.  She started with individual phones for each client. Soon, she had so many phones the telephone man added a blinking light so she would know which one was ringing!  Due to the fast growth, we purchased 4 switchboards.  At the early days, our hours were 8am to 6pm.  In 1979, we meet our clients needs by offering  services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.   Jacque soon started her own business, and Sandra continued her answering service in that Conyers office. The early 1980’s brought about telecommunication changes that allowed her to offer answering service to all of Metro Atlanta and not just her local area.  We were still handwriting messages and contacting customers by Digital pagers. By the late 1980’s computerized systems were a must have.  Sandra knew the importance of keeping up with the newest technology, so we installed a computerized answering system. As computer technology took over, things changed quickly. Alphanumeric pagers took replaced most of the digital pagers and soon email would become the new way to communicate. The 1990’s would introduce cell phones and the 2000’s would bring text messaging.  Technology moves fast and our clients would now have their caller’s information immediately.

In 2009, we made a location move. We upgraded our communications systems and moved to a larger location in Madison GA. Sandra’s daughters, Shelly & Tammy, began working full time managing the business.  Sandra retired, but still remains an integral part of business decisions.So here we are today, we’ve handled millions of calls since that November day in 1976 and we have helped thousands of businesses grow and serve their customers. We now service the entire US, not just Metro Atlanta.  And, our goal continues to be to save our clients money and help grow their business.  


Sandra’s dream became a wonderful reality and flourished into a thriving family business that we are proud to be

a part of today, 40 years later!


Original office in Conyers














Switchboards
Upgrade to "the wheel"

Sandra at her desk

New Madison office being built















1st day "live" in new office




Friday, January 1, 2016

Small Business Resolutions for 2016

Small Business Resolutions for 2016

As I was doing some reading this week, I found an article from Huffington Post for New Years' Resolutions for Small Businesses.  I found their suggestions to be very helpful.  Click Here to read the article.