LV's best phone receptionist treats callers like family

Calling a lawyer's office can be an unpleasant experience -- unless you call the right one.

That's what Philipp's Communications Co. discovered with its first annual Golden Phone Award, presented to the local individual providing the best telephone customer service for his or her business.

The award's first recipient is Maria "Lulu" Rigon from the law office of Eric H. Woods.

Rigon thought her colleagues were teasing her when the call came telling her she had won. She was pleasantly surprised to find out the award was real.

She will receive a $100 gift certificate and other prizes.

Philipp's sent out more than 3,000 nomination forms to its customers and other businesses on its mailing list asking them to describe briefly who they loved to call and why. Some 300 companies responded.

Philipp's marketing director then chose the winner based on the comments on the nomination forms.

Philipp's Vice President Susan Philipp said the company deals with a lot of receptionists and encounters a lot of variation in phone behavior. She explained some of her larger clients had complained people in Las Vegas were not very helpful.

Consequently the company decided to establish the contest to promote a service that is most often noticed when it is done poorly.

The contest's results revealed that Las Vegas residents can still expect good service when they pick up the phone.

After looking over the nominations, Philipp's decided to send out 10 additional certificates of recognition.

The winner's advice to other professionals who spend a lot of time on the phone is simple, but often overlooked: Be patient and treat clients like members of your family.

"Would you be rude to your mom?" Rigon asked.

In her experience, treating people like close friends helps them to be more understanding.

Rigon, who speaks both English and Spanish, says the two biggest challenges she faces are the volume of calls and the clients who demand to speak to their attorney immediately.

In order to keep the proper attitude on the phone she recommends, "Always pretend that this is your first day at your first job and give [the customer] a warm greeting. People are always willing to wait longer if they are greeted politely."

Philipp said her company plans to make this an annual award.

"As it grows in popularity, we are hoping to build better telephone customer service. Telephones are our business and no business can survive without one," she said.

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