Discover more profit through personalized human interaction
“Your call is very important to us.”
How many times have you waited on a call listening to that recorded sentence dozens of times as you formed in your mind an image of a company that simply offers lip service to that claim?
While technology has greatly leveraged our time and resources, it hasn’t yet replaced a friendly and knowledgable human being, has it?
I’m not suggesting that you replace your automated attendant with people picking up the phones. I am suggesting that you pay more attention to the way your front line sells, greets, and serves new and existing customers.
Consider the direction and training you provide your phone support personnel. Are they expected to rigidly recite a script and follow the prompts? Or are they encouraged to listen closely to the person on the other end and respond using a combination of prepared guidance and their best judgement?
When your customer service representatives are called, do they know the caller’s contact and product/service information and history? According to a Microsoft survey, over 70% of people believe they should. They also discovered that nearly 60% of people stop doing business with a brand due to a poor customers service experience.
How much do people believe customer service is important?
We all know that our customers value service, but perhaps the chart below helps drive home just how important it is. The report from which this came ranked customer service just a little under the importance of price. Are your people delivering to the expectations of your customers?
- Important
- Neither important nor unimportant
- Unimportant
How I can help
I’ve trained hundreds of people to communicate on the phone, and have the skill to impart to your sales and service people how to empathize and build rapport with the people they talk to.
Exactly how well your people can be trained and how effective they can be with your customers will depend on who you hire. I can help you better tune your search for people and your interview process in determining the people best suited for the job and your corporate culture.