OEO 2.0 Association
Member Spotlight
Susie Etzel
Owner, Billie Clarke's Answering Service
Billie Clarke's Answering Service
4 Locations: CA, FL, MN, OR
Website: www.bcanswering.com
Services: Virtual Receptionist, 24/7 Live Answering Services, After Hours, Appointment Scheduling, Bilingual Services
Servicing all markets.
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Susie Etzel
Owner, communicator and cheerleader for her management team.
Mother of 3 teenagers!
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Resides in Minnesota.
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Years in Partnership with OnviSource: 1
Interview with Susie Etzel
When did Susie get started in the Telephone Answering Service business and how did it come about?
Susie's father, industry veteran Dan L’Heureux, operated an answering service business throughout her growing up. She had no interest in the business at that time. It wasn't until her husband Andy, who was working as a bathtub refinisher early in their marriage, wanted to find a different business opportunity that Susie got involved with TAS again. They decided an answering service would be a good fit and eventually acquired Billie Clarke’s Answering Service.
Small World Fun Fact!
Susie and her sister both worked for the family answering service as teens. Susie did alpha pages and hated it, but her sister loved the answering service and worked there many years.
After college, her sister attended law school in California and looked for a part-time job while in school. With all her TAS experience, she applied for a job with Billie Clarke's Answering Service but because she could not work a full-time schedule, they did not hire her.
(Imagine turning down that experience in today's world!)
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Low and behold, years later, Susie and Andy would own that very same business!
What brings you the most satisfaction about what you do?
"My favorite part of my job is working with my employees. It is satisfying to provide a good job for someone, get to know them and watch them grow and succeed. I want our offices to be a place others want to be part of."
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Future Business Plans
Susie is focused on and has faith that her business will grow. She wants her answering service "to be known as the nicest answering service.” Implementing Intellecta TeleServ automated quality assurance was part of her plan to help her achieve that goal.
What has been the biggest change in TAS and your operation since you started?
“I still feel new in the business. Keeping up with market changes has been a challenge in the way clients want TAS to handle and deliver messages. Callers old and young are more needy and often irritable, and they require more hand-holding so calls take longer to complete than they did in years past. Our agents must be more compassionate, and their soft skills are critical to our clients' satisfaction."
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What has been the biggest challenge for your operation since Covid?
"Environmental challenges have been a very real factor. We’ve had hurricanes in Florida, wildfires in Oregon and now torrential rain in California. We have been able to mitigate these issues because we are multi-site and operate with remote agents. This gives us a lot of flexibility when one location is burdened in some way."
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What would you consider your greatest business achievement?
My biggest challenge and biggest achievement come from owning multiple sites that operate as one. I had the foresight to see and understand that the separate locations want to operate as part of a single team, and I have been able to bring them together.
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If you knew then what you know now, what would you do different?
"Nothing – Ignorance is bliss!"
What do you like to do outside of work?
"I like to do DIY projects at home like painting and decorating. I stay active, like to cook and mostly enjoy hanging out with my three kids (ages 19, 16 and 14)."
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OEO 2.0 Membership
What do you look forward to most from your OEO 2.0 Association membership?
"I look very forward to connecting with other members to learn from their experiences such as what works for them and how they trouble shoot both technical and operational issues as well as offering up my own successes, failures and ideas for the industry."