Two statements that pack a lot of profitable power are ‘You never get a second chance at a first impression’ and ‘Last impressions linger’ and probably the most important time to remember them is when you and your team are dealing with people over the phone. You see, because people can’t see you and your body language, you have to employ extra special tactics to create the right impression.
So here are 8 key points to remember when people call your business:
1. Always answer the phone on the third or fourth ring (decide which and then everyone sticks to it religiously).
2. Make sure all team members always smile when they pick up the phone and speak with real, genuine enthusiasm.
3. Ensure that everybody in your organisation answers the phone the same way, using the same greeting preferably with something a little different to the dull stereotype answer most companies give. We’ve found that “Welcome to Ajax Accounting, this is Tammy” works really well.
4. When talking to someone new the first time it’s preferable to address them by their courtesy title… Mr. or Ms… unless otherwise specified. Although it may be perceived as an old fashioned notion, it’s over-familiar to refer to a new caller by their first name if you’ve never spoken to them before.
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5. Decide what’s going to happen when you place a caller on hold. Are they going to hear music they may find disagreeable, a radio station which may be advertising your competitors, self serving information about your products and services or information of real interest, value and assistance to them?
6. Make sure that the phone is answered after hours in a manner that encourages the caller to leave a message and creates the right impression about you. That means no hard-to-hear, scratchy answering machine messages or voice mails, or bored, couldn’t care less answering services.
7. Return calls promptly and guarantee calls will be returned within a certain time period (and give them some recompense, like dinner for two on you, if you fail to deliver on that guarantee). This is not only good business but it also makes them say “Wow!”
8. Ensure that your organisation has enough phone lines to handle the volume of phone calls. Assess this by monitoring the number of phone calls your system is handling to see that there is always at least one or two lines free. In a small business a good rule is that no one should ring out if it means that it won’t leave an inward line free.
These rules are pretty simple and they make sense. Make sure your business creates the right phone impression every time!
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