What are you saying to customers when answering your phones?
The biggest message that your customers or potential customers might get when your business phone isn’t answered is that they are not important.
It’s easy to forget when you are very busy and you’ve not answered your phone all day, turned it off, or not bothered to check voicemail – that in business it’s not all about ‘you’, it’s about your ‘customer’.
There’s a saying that the customer is always right. I don’t entirely agree with that however in broad terms it’s true. If you don’t answer your phone because it’s not a priority for you, you are forgetting that it is a priority for the person calling, otherwise, they wouldn’t be spending their precious time calling you. So you're not being available, again and again, and again is a huge red flag for them.
Your customer, whether they are established or they are new, wants to feel important and one of the ways of making them feel so is to answer their calls. And if you are too busy to answer any calls, or you get so many calls that it takes up a huge amount of your time, outsource to a company like ours. We will be your voice and we will ensure that your customer is treated with care and professionalism. We will also follow up with you to ensure you’ve followed up with them in a timely manner.
Also, another thing to consider is ‘how’ you answer the phone. Are you polite? Do you listen? Do you speak over them? Do you get irritated if the call is taking too long? If so, that’s another reason to outsource.
The tone of voice is a hugely strong communication tool, do you use it well? We know we do and that might allow you to call a potential customer back when you have set aside time to do it and your tone of voice is positive and welcoming – not rushed and hurried.
Recently, I referred to a 2022 survey around customers and telephone calls and there were interesting results.
For example, those who took part in the survey were asked what they do when they have a poor experience on the telephone. The results were that:
- 36 % said they would take their business elsewhere.
- 34 % said they would complain to the business about that experience.
- 29 % said they would tell family and friends.
- 25 % said they would write a negative review.
