Who answers the telephone in your company? This is one of those things that is often overlooked and the reality is that it's one of the most important positions in your company. It's the front line, your potential customers first encounter with your business. Here are 5 things to avoid when talking to customers on the telephone.
- Who answers the telephone? I have to ask this because if you are a small one-man plumbing company, it my be you that answers the telephone. This is the hardest one to fix. If you stink on the telephone you could be killing your business without even realizing it. I have listened to many plumbing companies answer the phone, and 9 times out of 10 when it's the owner that is answering his own phone, it's a really bad situation. If you know you stink on the phone then fix this problem ASAP. If you don't think you're bad start recording your calls and listen to them. Fix this problem fast. If you are bad on the phone and you know it and are not interested in fixing it, then shut your doors. Because in times like these people want to talk to someone they feel they can trust and appreciate their hard earned dollar.
- Hire someone to answer your telephone in-house. This is an expense of doing business, but for the cost of this person it will pay off over and over if they are pleasant and educated about your company. Make sure they are engaging, they are GREAT listeners, nothing is more annoying when the person answering your telephone asks a potential customer a question they already answered.
- Hire an answering service. If you just don't have the budget for a full-time person then hire an answering service. It's best to try and find one that caters to the Plumbing industry, but if you can't find one look for the best. Don't go with the cheapest service, the cheapest one usually offers the worst service. When you do hire an answering service, do quality checks often, make sure they are answering the phones professionally. I've heard some great ones and I've heard some that are just awful.
- Don't have a voice mail to answer your phone. In the plumbing industry, a lot of your calls are from people that need immediate assistance, and people will never leave a voicemail for emergency situations.
- Don't put up roadblocks. In other words don't prejudge people, I've heard many calls where the plumbing company said " We have a $75.00 trip charge for an estimate, can you afford that"? That's so insulting to the customer. I really hate the trip charge fee, yeah I understand the price of gas and time, but isn't that the cost of doing business? I think it would be better to get all the info on the telephone give them a ballpark price and explain that there may be other things going on that we don't know until we get in and look around. People understand this. But right off the bat saying there is a trip charge; is a recipe for disaster. Yes, you are going to lose some time but overall you will end up booking more jobs without the roadblock of a trip fee. People expect that they are paying for a service, not your gas.
Answering the telephone in your business is the key to your success, there is a reason people say first impressions are everything.
