Have You Called You Lately
By Maurice Dixon
The telephone has been around since 1876. Answering machines were in their early stages back in 1951.....
We see and hear ads on TV, radio and in newspapers and magazines from a multitude of services, telling us how great their telephone product/service is. One is quicker, one is more clear one is less expensive and on and on. Other ads scare us to death, because we may not have enough phone lines. Our customers can't get through, our loved ones need help but can't be reached. If we don't have a cellular phone, our competition is sure to get to our customers quicker and take away all of our business. The ads are great and surely most of you get the message. You order more phone lines, you buy cellular phones, you change long distance carriers, “We are just a phone call away.” Well, back up a little bit. Are you sure you are ready for this flood of calls coming into your place of business?
Testing for Full Picture
I spend a fair amount of time on the phone, calling around the U.S. and Canada while in the process of conducting my business. Most of my calls are made to businesses which have switchboards. I usually know the person I am calling, and in many cases, that person is the manager or the owner of the business. You would be surprised how many times I must say to myself, “If these people knew how their phones were being answered, they would not be very happy.” Sometimes I tell my contacts about their problem, but it must be very bad before I raise the issue. First of all, it is a very negative issue, so who wants that getting in the way of our main topic? Second, do I want to criticize the person I am calling? If may even cause someone to lose a job. So, maybe it's best left unsaid. I know you're saying, “Please, tell me these things. I need to know so I can fix them.” The point is, however, most callers do not want to discuss this problem, for many of the reasons noted.
So, you don't know. When the owners/managers call their own businesses, they are probably given the VIP treatment. Again, you don't get the full picture. Try it! Run a little test. Ask a friend to call you and give an honest report. Ask to test the person to be transferred to another department. Lat out a little script, develop some pertinent questions or ask for some product advice and see what happens.
Voice Mail vs. Live Contact
Voice mail, which has some great advantages if used correctly, can be the kiss of death for a customer or prospect if not used properly. There are times, it seems, there is no way to reach the correct party with voice mail in effect. The little voice tells you to touch “0” if you want to talk to someone. You do, and that someone puts you right back onto your party's voice mail.
Recently, when I touched “0” in order to speak to a live person, the live voice on the other end answered, “Yeah?”
On another occasion, when trying to reach the sales vice president, I touched “0” when directed to do and, ask the live voice for my party by name and the question asked of me was, “You don't want to place and order, do you?” Ouch! Think about this: a distributor has a given number of salespeople making personal sales calls each day. Pick an average number, multiply by the number of salespeople you have and that's the number of personal impressions made upon your customers daily. In comparison, login the number of incoming phone calls each day, then add the number of times a call is transferred to another department. Each time your phone is answered initially, or when the call is being transferred, there is an impression of your company given to your customer or prospect. I'll bet the number of impressions by telephone far outnumber those “in-person” contacts. You spend much time and effort talking to your salespeople about first impressions and ongoing customer rapport. How much time do you spend improving your staff's telephone etiquette?
Friendly Phone Matters
Do you have a set and well thought out, friendly and enthusiastic way of answering your phone? How about when a call is transferred to another department? It is handles pleasantly and quickly? Consider how long someone should be put on hold before a friendly person comes back and lets the waiting party know it hasn't been forgotten with a, “That line is still busy. May I take a message?” or some other well thought out way to let the party know it is not being ignored, and you are very interested in being of service.
Your local telephone company has information in printed form, and in come cases, will conduct an “in-service” outlining suggestions for you telephone people to use. Give it a call, see what it has to offer. Most businesses spend much time, effort and money building a solid reputation, so a little time spent on reviewing and improving telephone communications (where needed) will pay long-term dividends.
While on the subject of telephone communications, a couple of other thoughts come to my mind. I use a telephone answering machine, which I call several times per day when recalling, to retrieve my messages. From time to time, someone leaves a message for me with his/her name, then leaves a phone numbers spoken so fast and so run together, there is no way I can retrieve it; or the caller will give me a greeting and then say “Give me a call,” as if I carry several phone books with me. Please, when leaving a message on voice mail or an answering machine, say your number slowly, including the area code, and maybe even say it a couple of times. It is very helpful in getting your messages returned to your promptly.
Clarity on Paper & Screening Calls
Also, in my travels, I collect many business cards. More often then you may believe, I really must search out the correct phone number on the card when trying to call my party. Some cards have a local phone number, and 800 number, a fax number, a home number and a cellular number. Now, I even see a voice mail number added. Believe it or not, sometimes there is no area code!
I also find company literature, sales brochures and other advertising pieces have the same problem. The phone number is printed very small or there are multiple numbers of branches, 800 numbers fax numbers, etc., which does not make the literature very “user-friendly”.
Take a look at your material. Is it easy for people to call you? When they do, what impressions do they get about your company? Would you be pleased, impressed or discouraged if you were a customer or prospect calling you? Do you have your calls screened? If so, is it done in a friendly way? I recently called someone and was asked who was calling (I had given my name when I first called); I repeated my name. I was then asked for my company name. The “screener” then went away for awhile came back and said my party wasn't in. I wasn't sure if I was being avoided or the party actually was not in. The person answering the phone didn't know if I was the company's best customer or some “used car salesman” trying to unload one of his choicest pieces of inventory. If you screen your calls, there's certainly a businesslike way of doing it and again, this should be well thought out. So, have you called you lately? Go ahead and try it. Give a listen, take a look at your literature, see what you think.
Testing for Full Picture
I spend a fair amount of time on the phone, calling around the U.S. and Canada while in the process of conducting my business. Most of my calls are made to businesses which have switchboards. I usually know the person I am calling, and in many cases, that person is the manager or the owner of the business. You would be surprised how many times I must say to myself, “If these people knew how their phones were being answered, they would not be very happy.” Sometimes I tell my contacts about their problem, but it must be very bad before I raise the issue. First of all, it is a very negative issue, so who wants that getting in the way of our main topic? Second, do I want to criticize the person I am calling? If may even cause someone to lose a job. So, maybe it's best left unsaid. I know you're saying, “Please, tell me these things. I need to know so I can fix them.” The point is, however, most callers do not want to discuss this problem, for many of the reasons noted.
So, you don't know. When the owners/managers call their own businesses, they are probably given the VIP treatment. Again, you don't get the full picture. Try it! Run a little test. Ask a friend to call you and give an honest report. Ask to test the person to be transferred to another department. Lat out a little script, develop some pertinent questions or ask for some product advice and see what happens.
Voice Mail vs. Live Contact
Voice mail, which has some great advantages if used correctly, can be the kiss of death for a customer or prospect if not used properly. There are times, it seems, there is no way to reach the correct party with voice mail in effect. The little voice tells you to touch “0” if you want to talk to someone. You do, and that someone puts you right back onto your party's voice mail.
Recently, when I touched “0” in order to speak to a live person, the live voice on the other end answered, “Yeah?”
On another occasion, when trying to reach the sales vice president, I touched “0” when directed to do and, ask the live voice for my party by name and the question asked of me was, “You don't want to place and order, do you?” Ouch! Think about this: a distributor has a given number of salespeople making personal sales calls each day. Pick an average number, multiply by the number of salespeople you have and that's the number of personal impressions made upon your customers daily. In comparison, login the number of incoming phone calls each day, then add the number of times a call is transferred to another department. Each time your phone is answered initially, or when the call is being transferred, there is an impression of your company given to your customer or prospect. I'll bet the number of impressions by telephone far outnumber those “in-person” contacts. You spend much time and effort talking to your salespeople about first impressions and ongoing customer rapport. How much time do you spend improving your staff's telephone etiquette?
Friendly Phone Matters
Do you have a set and well thought out, friendly and enthusiastic way of answering your phone? How about when a call is transferred to another department? It is handles pleasantly and quickly? Consider how long someone should be put on hold before a friendly person comes back and lets the waiting party know it hasn't been forgotten with a, “That line is still busy. May I take a message?” or some other well thought out way to let the party know it is not being ignored, and you are very interested in being of service.
Your local telephone company has information in printed form, and in come cases, will conduct an “in-service” outlining suggestions for you telephone people to use. Give it a call, see what it has to offer. Most businesses spend much time, effort and money building a solid reputation, so a little time spent on reviewing and improving telephone communications (where needed) will pay long-term dividends.
While on the subject of telephone communications, a couple of other thoughts come to my mind. I use a telephone answering machine, which I call several times per day when recalling, to retrieve my messages. From time to time, someone leaves a message for me with his/her name, then leaves a phone numbers spoken so fast and so run together, there is no way I can retrieve it; or the caller will give me a greeting and then say “Give me a call,” as if I carry several phone books with me. Please, when leaving a message on voice mail or an answering machine, say your number slowly, including the area code, and maybe even say it a couple of times. It is very helpful in getting your messages returned to your promptly.
Clarity on Paper & Screening Calls
Also, in my travels, I collect many business cards. More often then you may believe, I really must search out the correct phone number on the card when trying to call my party. Some cards have a local phone number, and 800 number, a fax number, a home number and a cellular number. Now, I even see a voice mail number added. Believe it or not, sometimes there is no area code!
I also find company literature, sales brochures and other advertising pieces have the same problem. The phone number is printed very small or there are multiple numbers of branches, 800 numbers fax numbers, etc., which does not make the literature very “user-friendly”.
Take a look at your material. Is it easy for people to call you? When they do, what impressions do they get about your company? Would you be pleased, impressed or discouraged if you were a customer or prospect calling you? Do you have your calls screened? If so, is it done in a friendly way? I recently called someone and was asked who was calling (I had given my name when I first called); I repeated my name. I was then asked for my company name. The “screener” then went away for awhile came back and said my party wasn't in. I wasn't sure if I was being avoided or the party actually was not in. The person answering the phone didn't know if I was the company's best customer or some “used car salesman” trying to unload one of his choicest pieces of inventory. If you screen your calls, there's certainly a businesslike way of doing it and again, this should be well thought out. So, have you called you lately? Go ahead and try it. Give a listen, take a look at your literature, see what you think.
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