How the humble phone will build your business
So, we are headed for tough times! Because? Because if we are told something often enough – by opposition politicians, bankers, debt collection agencies, economists, your next door neighbor, taxi drivers, stock analysts and journalists – we will believe it, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Well, whatever the economic outlook, real or imagined, over the next year, maybe it’s time to take stock of how you’re currently winning business, what you’ll need to do to keep it going and growing even when everyone around you is yelling ‘hard’. times’ and they are discounting madly, eliminating services, cutting costs and ‘downsizing’ (one of my most hated words straight from the 80’s).
No matter what the market is doing, what are you doing?
Take a close look at how you use your phone.
There are three key areas that senior managers in any organization simply need to keep in mind when considering the incredible power of the phone:
- How can everyone in the organization use the phone as a customer service tool, not just an inconvenient interruption to their work?
- How can we make our customer service department more responsive instead of reactive?
- How can we be more proactive in the use of the telephone and communicate with our customers in a planned and systematic way?
Let me be frank. The telephone is a more dynamic resource than any e-commerce, direct mail, advertising, or promotional strategy you’ve ever used. At the very least, it’s equal to any one of them (at best, the phone and the people who use it) can power each of the campaigns mentioned above and add 20-50% more revenue to your bottom line.
Used effectively, the telephone is a primary tool in building customer relationships and loyalty.
Let’s look at the first two areas, mentioned above:
Everyone in your organization becomes a ‘Manager of First Impressions’
The atom split in 1944 and has since become either a totally destructive force or a device that has helped create better life (physics and energy are examples). This is exactly the potential of a ringing phone for your organization: destruction or harmony. Everyone in your organization has a responsibility to use the phone in a professional manner every time they answer, transfer calls, put people on hold, and receive messages.
answering
A calm and courteous tone of voice helps. People don’t like harsh tones, the sounds of chewed food, or being told to “wait.” Speed of response counts, and answering coworkers’ extensions counts, too—anything to make life easier for the caller.
Consistency is the key, for everyone.
transfer ring
Take a little time with your callers; find out what they really want and who they need to talk to. Then connect both parties instead of getting rid of the caller the quickest way. I call this ‘slam’ – ‘can I speak to the accounts department…’ – ‘CLUNK!’
The other thing customers really hate is being put through to the wrong person or department and then sent to the ‘random transfer’ where they’re given the privilege of listening to music/a sales pitch/nothing at all or their employee tells them ‘not my department, I’ll transfer you’ – to the next extension and to the next indifferent employee.
On hold
don’t do it Don’t put callers on hold for more than 20 seconds. Give them options, take personal responsibility, get their number and call them within an agreed time frame.
Customers really hate waiting. They will pay a little more if they know they will get fast service; part of that equation is not held in abeyance.
message taking
A lot of business is lost because people don’t get the right messages or don’t deliver them.
This is not rocket science here; however, a significant number of the company’s employees do not correctly take the messages. This causes lost time, lost productivity, and lost business, for the sake of a few more questions to confirm the correct details.
Is the above happening in your company? Do you phone every once in a while to see how the phone is being used, as a business builder or business destroyer?
Everyone within your organization has a responsibility to be an effective First Impressions Manager, using the power of the phone in customer service (and sales) and becoming more responsive to customers, rather than reactive.
Be proactive – This was the third area, mentioned above, for better results and gains from good phone usage.
If you’re not seriously considering developing and building a strong outbound calling program within your company, you could be in trouble in the coming months, especially if your competitors are moving in this direction.
Here are the steps to a powerful, productive, and profitable telemarketing program:
Step 1. Persuade your field sales force that their primary focus is taking care of their ‘A’ customers and ‘A’ leads.
Move all other accounts to a telephone sales and service program. Offer them the benefits of regular and scheduled contact, competitive pricing, excellent service, instant response if they need to call (you don’t get that from salespeople on the road), and whatever else they were getting when a sales rep was visiting. .
Except now they’re getting faster, more efficient service, just over the phone instead of a personal visit.
I have seen this professional approach to managing ‘B’ and ‘C’ clients work extremely well in a variety of industries. Your clients are happy and you are happy – you are providing a quality, cost-effective service that gives you RESULTS.
Combine this with a cross-sell/up-sell program and you’ll be way ahead in terms of productivity and profit.
Step 2. Select the right people for the role of sales and telephone service.
Not everyone will take advantage of the opportunity! However, training, motivation, planning and leadership will go a long way in ensuring that you are 100% successful in starting a telemarketing operation.
Most likely, the people you select have the knowledge; you provide them with the skills and they will develop the necessary sales attributes (training and coaching will help too!).
Select the right technology, such as a customer relationship management (CRM) package.
Step 3. Select the campaign. You have many options – choose from any or all of the following:
- Account management clients, ‘B’ and ‘C’ can be contacted on a scheduled and regular basis. They get improved and more regular service – you earn more sales and profits.
- Account reactivation, there has never been a better time to recover lost customers. A well planned telemarketing campaign can do this.
- Acquisition of accounts, you can go out nationally and internationally, by telephone, backed by a good direct marketing strategy.
- Marketing campaigns and short-term business creation Market studies and customer satisfaction surveys.
Stage 4. Collect data, build and manage your contact management system and be sure to provide call/sales reports.
Telemarketing is not an ad hoc ‘just pick up the phone and sell something’. It’s a strategic process, with built-in tools, that can bring you fantastic returns.
The phone will make all the difference if times are good or bad. However, its impact is felt most deeply when times tend to get a little tougher. You need good people, obviously, who are willing and willing to learn new skills (there are no ‘natural’ telemarketers, for example, just like there are no natural plumbers or auto mechanics). You need a customer relationship management system powered by the best, and most of all, you need leadership—the kind of dynamic, visionary people who can bring new dimensions to a company’s culture. A culture that, perhaps, implies: things have been good for the last ten years, why do we have to go in a different direction?
