The investment in advertising and a company’s other promotional efforts to get new business are wasted if the initial contact with the prospect isn’t handled properly.
Administrative team members often are irritated when they receive an inquiry. They think the inquiry is an interruption to their “more important” duties. “I have to do all this filing!” “I have to read my email!”
To get the benefits of the costs and effort to get that lead, support systems need to be in place. Employees must be trained and prepared for when they receive a call.
Do they know that a prospect should be treated like gold, with a “be of service” attitude?
Do they understand the purpose of the business is to be of service to its customers?
Have they received and practiced a script of what to say to a prospect, and that the goal of the employee who receives an inquiry is to get the prospect’s name, phone number, address, and email address and to make an appointment for the prospect to meet with a salesperson, doctor, or other professional?
Employees have been known to try to be helpful to prospects by recommending they see a less expensive competitor!
Have these issues been covered in a regular employee training meeting, including regular role play, rehearsing the telephone greeting script?
If you explain to employees they have been hired to be an actor playing a character, delivering their scripted lines and “ad libbing” to adapt to the prospect’s requirements, responding to inquiries can become a fun game.
It can be a worthwhile investment to incentivize the process. “For every new prospect, when you get their name, phone number, address, and email address, you receive a $25 bonus. When you make an appointment, you receive an additional $25 bonus.”
What are your employees actually saying to prospects? Some companies record incoming calls to find out and give feedback to employees. Another approach is to hire a “mystery shopping” company to learn how employees handle different situations.
Would you like some help developing scripts for calls from prospects or developing an employee training program around answering prospect calls? For an initial conversation, please contact me at mgray@profitadvisors.com.