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Nothing can undermine your company's marketing efforts as quickly or as effectively as a poor telephone-answering system. That's particularly true if your business relies heavily on referrals. Chuck Sekeres, for example, runs a national chain of diet centers, Physicians Weight Loss Centers of America Inc., based in Akron. "For every person who enrolls," he says, "we get a number of referrals." He also knows that it takes a certain amount of courage for a prospective client to place the call. "If we don't handle it right, that person may not have the guts to call again for another two or three years."

For that reason, Sekeres has a policy that the phones at the 260-plus centers must be answered in three rings. He calls frequently himself to check that the policy is being followed. When he calls, he often pretends to be an interested client, so that he can evaluate the way employees deliver the prepared script.

"For every 10 calls, we make a minimum of four enrollments, and we're shooting for six," he says. "Our telephone technique is critical to our success."