Losing Customers Over Phone Calls? How To Increase Customer Rate
By Space Coast Daily // August 17, 2017
answering the phone correctly is key
Are you having a rough time in the market, losing a lot of potential customers without knowing why? The answer might be right under your nose, as a lot of customers are lost due to inadequate methods of answering the phone.
Not many small businesses pay that much attention to the way they respond to the phone and that proves to be a fatal mistake. It’s not just about having the best equipment like the best VoIP USB headsets or Plantronics Voyager 8200 but also about knowing how you have to answer the phone as a business representative.
Let’s go over the possible mistakes that you’re making so that we may identify the culprit that’s ruining your sales projections.
Are you polite and upbeat?
This is very important. The way you sound when you’re on a call says a lot about your business. If a person calls in and they hear a sad voice that looks like they hate their job sincerely, they will immediately think lower of your business and the services it can provide.
To those customers, it won’t matter that you were just having a bad day and they happened to catch you in a bad mood. You must adapt your attitude so that you always sound welcoming and upbeat on the phone. Try smiling before you pick up the phone as it translates well in how you sound on the other end of the line.
Do you have a business related opening line?
Many companies rely on an opening line for when they receive business phone calls. When somebody calls your business, it’s important to have an opening line which will let them know that you mean business and are as professional as you can be.
You’ve undoubtedly called a big company yourself and were greeted by a voice saying something like “hello, this is [fill in the blanks], how can we help you?”
The same kind of formality must also be present in your business approach but beware of overdoing it. If you have a pompous opening line when you answer the phone but your business is far from formal, the discrepancy will resonate negatively with potential customers.
Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that the person answering the phone should introduce themselves. There are many companies that just stick to a shorter version where the person answering the phone only introduced the company, followed by asking how they can be of service.
This approach is wrong because they are not the company, but a human being with their own identity. Being more personal also helps bring in customers as those who will buy from you want to do business with people, not corporations.
So instead of saying “Molly’s Milkshakes, how can I help you?”, the person answering the phone should say something like “ Molly’s Milkshakes, this is Susan speaking, how can I help you?”
Of course, this is just one of the many variations that your company can play with in order to get the perfect answering line.
Are you paying attention to the customer?
The worst thing that you could do when on a call is let yourself be distracted by other things. If you’re on a call, you should try and focus on the customer on the other end instead of checking your emails or have a conversation on social media.
People pick up easily on these things, and the customer will be able to figure out the fact that you’re not giving them your full attention. That is not only disrespectful but it also sends a strong message about your company, and it’s not a positive one.
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