The way that your company answers phone calls is vitally important as it is often
the first point of contact between your staff and potential clients. First impressions
last and if the first impression starts off badly you've already got to make some
extra ground to get back on par. Our initial phone conversations need to reaffirm
the professional image that they have formed of SSW. Prospective clients may call
5 or 6 consultancies but only meet with 1 or 2 so we need to stand out. This starts
at the very first phone call.
The benefits of a strong phone manner are such that clients retain positive perceptions
of the service provided by the company and the staff that they interact with. Another
great benefit of a proper phone etiquette is the chance to up sell, promote complimentary
services or promote a better understanding between yourself and your customer. Here's
a series of rules that detail some of the issues involved with maintaining a proper
phone etiquette.
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Can you list the reasons why people call?
First things first. You need to be able to list some of the main reasons why people
may call you. When you know what some of these are it puts you in a better position
to prepare yourself for action or an intelligent and helpful response. For example,
if you're a restaurant you better have your reservation systems close to the phone
and if you're a bank you better be ready for some abuse. At SSW we find that people
call us for only a few reasons:
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Are you prepared for your inbound calls?
When you go to meetings to attract business, you always walk in knowing about what
they want. Why should phone calls be any different?
We use an inbound calls script. Having an inbound script does a couple of great
things for you. It allows you to control the flow of the conversation, it also makes
sure that you're asking them the right questions, and most importantly, you know
when to listen and take notes. At SSW when someone calls we always have an email
open to jot down notes not to mention an solid set of probing questions ready to
ask the prospect.
If the call is regarding consulting these are the kinds of questions we ask:
- Can I get your name, phone number and email?
- How did you find out about SSW?
- Do you have a website? If yes, what is the URL so I can look at it while we speak?
(note the technology from the URL)
- Can I just ask, are you from a technical background?
- Have you given much thought to what you want your system to achieve (for example,
we are currently doing an application that does....) ?
- (Technical clients) Do you have a formal spec?
- (Technical clients) Have you chosen the technology - .NET, Web or Rich Client?
- Have you got an idea when you would like this project completed?
- What's your role in the project and how important is this project to your business?
- Do you have a bit of a ballpark of what you want to spend? (Silence). Are you thinking
of 10k, 50k or 100k (Silence). (If they ask you for a ballpark, say: 'There are
a number of factors involved, so it's too early for me to say at the moment, I will
be in a much better position to work out a price once we've had a chance to meet
and talk about your requirements.)
- Have you spoken to any other IT companies? Do you mind me asking who they were?
- Before we go, let me confirm my understanding of your requirements.
- Can I just explain to you how we move forward. We will have an initial meeting with
a Developer and a Project Manager to get a thorough understanding of your requirements.
At that meeting we will also explain our development methodology and fees.
- Now, would you prefer to meet at our offices in Neutral Bay, or is it easier for
you (First Name) if we come to you? (confirm date and time)
- Is there anyone else from your company who should be at that meeting? I'm just trying
to understand how the decision to work with SSW would be made. (confirm you have
the decision maker).
- Now get full details (Below)
If the call is regarding software these are the kinds of questions we ask:
- Did the installation go ok?
- Are you happy with its functionality?
- Do you have any suggestions for improvements?
- Would you like to speak to one of our product specialists?
- Do you require licensing information?
If the call is regarding events these are the kinds of questions we ask:
- Which event are you interested in? The User Group, Tech Breakfast or Conference?
- Would you like me to register your attendance to the event?
- What event information do you require?
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Do you always get your prospect's full contact details?
How many times has another staff member given you a phone number to call back which
was wrong? This should never happen. I know this sounds like a bit of a no brainer
but as a simple rule we say that you should always get the prospect's full contact
details. These details should then be added to your company database (just in case
that post-it note they wrote it on disappears). Here are some of the important details
that need to be recorded:
- Full name
- Company
- Position
- Phone number (work and mobile)
- Email address
- Company address
- Did you attend one of our tech breakfasts
- How many employees does your company have? (This determines whether we go there
or they come here.)
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Do you introduce yourself correctly?
Ever wondered why 007 always introduced himself as "Bond, James Bond"? Well, If
he introduced himself as just James everywhere he went you wouldn't think very much
of this international man of espionage and danger would you? By using your full
name it instantly gives you authority. It's also useful in situations where your
name is common like Peter, John or Jane.
Just remember that first impressions last so you need to make sure you're kind and
courteous when you answer the phone and introduce yourself. An example of a good
and positive welcome could be:
Stephen: SSW Stephen Bennett speaking
Notice the use of your full name. When you pick up the phone from someone who was
on hold you start with:
Stephen: Stephen Bennett speaking
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Are you communicating effectively?
I've had many sales calls from people who should really reassess their day jobs.
When you speak to a sales person and they're like UM...AH...ER it doesn't instil
a great deal of confidence in the offering. Phone conversations where people are
mumbling and stumbling don't create a very positive impression. You should always
aim to communicate your ideas and answer any questions that callers have promptly,
clearly and effectively. If you speak with confidence, it will always inspire confidence
in you and your company. Here are some general rules of thumb to follow for effective
communication:
- Speak clearly, don't mumble
- Don't talk too quickly
- Don't eat or drink whilst on the phone - there's nothing worse than the sound of
someone eating an apple on the other end
- Know how to vary your voice
- When you are talking about products and services you should be able to slow down
and emphasize the important points
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Do you give informative messages?
Subject: Phone message from John Smith
Adam,
John Smith called today at 11:20am
RE: Database consultation
Contact Number: 03 9922 1100
Rebecca
|
Giving your fellow employees informative messages is important. Follow these steps
to make sure you are providing people with all the information they need to action
the message.
- Type the message directly into an email not a piece of paper even if it means putting
the caller on hold for 15 seconds
- Ask for what it is with regard to.
- Ask for the number.
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Do you ask prospects high-gain questions?
Getting the right information from prospects helps you prioritize potential leads
and projects and won't have you running around unnecessarily after hot air.
High-gain questions allow you to get information that otherwise won't necessarily
be provided. Important information isn't often volunteered by smart prospective
clients.
First of all, you've got to ask because if you don't ask, you don't get. For example,
"if everything in the proposal was ok, what date were you thinking of starting the
project?" Such a simple question like that avoids spending priority time on clients
who weren't thinking of starting the project until the next year!
If a client is reluctant to answer simple questions, a good way of eliciting a response
is to provide options for them to choose. For example "if everything in the proposal
was ok, would you kick this project off next week, or next month, or later on the
year?", or "ok, so you don't have a set budget but what kind of ballpark were you
thinking of, $25k, $150k or $300k?"
If you ask a prospect a question, you should patiently wait for the answer. If you
jump in with an answer before they do you've saved them from having to answer the
question themselves.
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Do you know how to transfer a call quickly?
How often has the connection dropped out while a call centre operator was trying
to transfer you, or perhaps you get put straight through to someone's voice mail,
meaning you need to hang up and call again. You should have a simple method for
transferring calls that ensures the caller doesn't go around in circles or is left
waiting for ages, wondering what is going on.
At SSW we use Instant Messenger. e.g.
- When a caller asks to be transferred say "Just putting you through" (Instead of
"Hang on" which doesn't give the caller any indication of what is going on).
- IM e.g. Stephen: "Stephen, Colin from Microsoft Events, Line 1."
- Stephen responds "OK", and then pick up the call, following the rule above
- If Stephen doesn't respond or messages "Busy", Stephen is with a client
or away from his desk. Then ask is there anything I can help you with? Take
a message or try and assist the caller yourself
More Rules to Better Instant Messenger
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Do you up-sell your most valuable product/service?
Nine times out of ten prospects come to your organization to seek a solution to
a problem or need. By doing so, they place a certain amount of trust in you and
your judgments. They trust that you can alleviate their problems, address their
needs and sometimes suggest an alternative plan of action.
Whenever I come across an Upsizing PRO! customer that is still having problems with
upsizing to SQL Server, they probably need some help beyond what our program can
provide. So I always tell them about how SSW has upsized smoothly for many clients
and that we can help them. Though this example may not come across as an up-sell,
little suggestions like these could bring you more consulting but it shows that
you're on the ball and looking out for your customers needs. Customers normally
appreciate this sentiment. You need to remember that prospects don't always know
exactly what they want or need and that's exactly why they've gone to the experts
- YOU.
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Do you finish the conversation with something to action?
Having a nice chat with clients is great but you should always finish the conversation
with something to action. For example if they wanted their requirements changed
you should send them a confirmation email, if they wanted to schedule a meeting
you should send them an Outlook appointment. Here are some more examples of typical
things you action after a call:
- Add contact details to company database
- Pass the call to someone else
- Start work
- Remind yourself to follow up with another phone call
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Do you make complaints a positive experience?
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Figure: Conference in another person to solve the problem - it's a lot easier than
it used to be
When a client complains I have a choice: solve the problem or ignore it. I prefer
the first option. Here's how you do it:
- Stay relaxed, listen carefully and acknowledge the concerns
- Isolate the issues.
e.g. invoicing ("I don't want to pay this bill") or development quality ("my application
is down")
- Conference in the appropriate resources.
e.g the account manager or project manager
- Follow up the proposed solution in writing
e.g. "John, as per our conversation, David K will be on-site 9am tomorrow morning"
- When the problem is finally solved, confirm so in writing, including the cause of
the problem and what was done to fix it
e.g. "John, Iim glad David K was able to restore your application last night after
the cleaners accidently bumped the power cord on the server. David K just plugged
the power cable back in and fixed the error log. As discussed it would be a good
idea to lock the server room"
Remember, someone will complain about what you do no matter how 'perfect' you are.
That doesn't matter. It's how you deal with the complaint that matters. Everyone
should leave the experience of your business with a great taste in their mouth.
Remember it is Important to Resolve a Clients Complaint because studies have shown
that:
- For every customer that complains, there may be 26 others that will not tell you
they are dissatisfied
- Of this 26:
- Up to 19 will not come back
- Most will tell nine to ten others
- At least three will tell more than 20 people
- For every dissatisfied customer whose complaint you handle well:
- Ninety-Five percent will become loyal
- They will recommend you to five others
- Thus, resolving a complaint efficiently and fairly, you will retain the customer's
loyalty and potentially gain five new customers.
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Do you use a headset?
When we're speaking on the phone and taking down notes on your computer life is
just a hell of a lot easier when you've got both of your hands free so you can type
away as you please. There's a simple solution - use headsets. With these not only
can you type furiously with both hands but they're supposed to be a lot more ergonomically
friendly.
USB headsets are preferred over direct audio input/output as they can be plugged
into any machine and work without requiring drivers to be installed. Despite USB
having a higher initial overhead than unplugging the audio line ins/outs to get
the equivalent of speaker mode, by conferencing calls you don't explicitly require
people to gather in the one location, and background noise is reduced.
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Do you avoid putting your phone calls on hold?
I absolutely hate being put on hold. When I call someone up to buy something and
I get put on hold so that they can pick up another call, it amazes me how they are
willing to jeopardize a hot prospect for an anonymous phone call. I think that when
you have the momentum of the conversation going, the last thing you should do is
put someone on hold to answer another call.
Of course, if you are the only one in the office, you should always pick up the
other phone.
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Do you use on hold music or an on hold message?
Being on hold is often a frustrating experience for most customers (yours truly
included), so it's a really good idea to employ tactics so that time can fly by
a bit quicker. A good way to do this is to keep the caller distracted with music
or a message that they can listen to.
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Do you screen unwanted sales calls?
Everyday businesses get hounded by sales calls; recruiters, cleaners, printer cartridges
- the list goes on. When you receive a call for 'the manager' or 'for Tim', that
sounds suspicious, ask the caller to provide the full name of the person they are
seeking. If they can't, or don't provide a believable context, screen the call.