Boosting Sales and Customer Retention

When taking inbound customer calls, the greeting is critical

By Bob Davis

Customer contact centers have a golden opportunity every time a customer calls to make a request, register a complaint, or even quit. Yet far too often, companies lose these opportunities as fast as they come into the queue. The good news is that organizations can boost their sales and customer retention figures dramatically if they take the right steps. It is critical and highly profitable to have a consistent, quality conversation with every customer, every time.

Now this might seem like a no-brainer on first examination, but many customer contact centers are missing out because they're not giving enough attention to one of the most important steps in the call flow-the greeting. In fact, if this step is handled correctly, the chance the call will end with a sale or a save goes up significantly.

Let's start at the beginning. Industry research shows that people jump to several conclusions at lightning speed. During the first 15 seconds of a call, customers can decide the capability, competence, intelligence and helpfulness of the telephone representative. How the rest of the call goes is determined largely by these few seconds.

Fortunately, call outcome is greatly within our control. By and large, we can ensure that callers will jump to the right conclusions-that they have called someone competent, caring and who can really help-if we start out with a greeting with the following qualities:

* Enthusiasm. Representatives who answer the phone enthusiastically convey the positive message that they are glad the customer called and that the customer has reached the right person. For example, "Thank you for calling the Mayfield Chronicle. This is Betsy Jones. How may I help you?"

* Assurance of help, expression of sympathy. On inbound calls, representatives should immediately assure help after the customer has responded to the initial greeting. For example, "I'm glad I got your call because I can help you with that today." In the case of a complaint, the language should be, "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, but I'm glad I got your call because I can help you."

* Name exchange, name use. Dale Carnegie said that a person's name is the sweetest and most important sound to that individual in any language or setting. So, although representatives have identified themselves at the beginning of the inbound call, it is critical that they reintroduce themselves, exchange names and use the customer's name during the call.

* When to get the phone number. Again, when customers call, they want to reach someone who cares about them and can fulfill their requests or resolve their complaints quickly and pleasantly. Before asking customers for the phone number, reps should express sympathy about a complaint, assure help with a request or complaint, and exchange names. Otherwise, we can come across as robotic or rude and interested only in processing the call and moving on. Customers must know that we are interested in responding positively to their wants, interests and needs.

* Attitude control. Many representatives take 100 calls or more per day. It is important to work with and coach them maintain as much enthusiasm and positive attitude on the 90th call of the day as they had on the first. Without being mindful of attitude and enthusiasm constantly, representatives can slip into a robotic delivery during the call.

Using the right greeting sets the stage for the next important step in a robust call flow-discovery. By beginning the call positively, we're in a better position to have a meaningful conversation with the customer and discover the individual's wants, interests and needs. Knowing this, we have the knowledge we need to add value to the customer's experience with us and our products and services. Achieving this helps customers sell themselves-and that's the objective!

If you want to maximize your bottom line, there's no better time than now to visit your customer contact center and spend 15 minutes listening in on some calls. Choose three reps and listen to how they're greeting your customers. Are they enthusiastic and do they maintain their enthusiasm from call to call? Do they assure help and express sympathy? Are they exchanging names, establishing good rapport and showing interest and concern? If not, you can boost your saves and sales by helping your people master a new, more robust greeting and call flow.