Every team member answering the phone in your business is part of your marketing team. Having an awesome marketing campaign is not enough. If the first contact your new leads (or current customers) have is with an untrained staff member, your marketing dollars are being lost and reports generated from your campaign will be skewed. 

Back to Basics: Before you begin any marketing campaign test your staff. From the basic questions of how to get to your business, scheduling, services, procedures and contact information; this information should flow off the tongue easily. Is this person inviting to the caller or does it sound as if they are being bothered by the caller? How many rings does it take before your phone is answered? When the call is answered does the caller hear “can you please hold?” Are callers left on permahold while your staff member retrieves the information? What does the caller hear while they are on hold? 

We have all experienced this type of call. Does it give you the warm and fuzzies? In a world that seems to be losing the war on customer service your company can outshine your competition with small adjustments to your inbound call procedures. Show your callers a little love and they sing your praises for all to hear. Remember the old saying, “take care of your customers and they will take care of you.”

TIP: Set-up call recording on your phone system. It is an inexpensive way to really know how new leads are being treated by your staff and it will give you a true picture of how your current customers are being handled. If this small investment earned you one extra client a day would it be worth it? Call your business as a test, put yourself in the shoes of the caller, how does your staff measure up?

Training your staff on phone etiquette will set you apart from your competition. Having Superstars answering your phone will have everyone coming into contact with your company referring new customers. Spreading positive, helpful information with gratitude not only increases revenue – you are “giving back” to society. 

First thing Monday morning start the process of learning how inbound calls are handled by your staff, start WOWING your customers!

[signoff]