Provide the Human Touch

All in-bound phone calls to sales and customer support must be answered by a live person.

I want to see a show of hands from those of you reading this eBook. Raise your hand if you, when you’re a customer, enjoy using an automated phone system when you call a company looking for product information or support. Keep your hand up if you not only like talking to an auto-attendant, but also prefer an automated phone system over talking to a live human being. Anyone?

Is there anyone who really likes having to “Press 1 for English” and then “Please listen carefully as our selection of options has changed” and then maybe  “Press 5 to hear these options again” because the description of which service is associated with which number is not really clear? You like playing hit-or-miss with the menu selections and then being put through to an extension where you get another voicemail message?

In fact, is there a reader who thinks having an auto-attendant provides a superior customer service experience for prospects and customers when they call a business?

I ask this question of C-level executives all the time. Virtually 100% agree that an auto-attendant provides a lousy customer service experience, that hate using it, and yet they use it in their own business.

I always ask a second question of the same people. How many orders have you lost in your efforts to save a few bucks by tossing out your receptionist? How many people hang up before their question is answered? How many calls to your sales department go unanswered?

The answer is always “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought of it in those terms.”

This means thatevery time the phone rings in the sales and support department of your companyit is answered by a person, not a voicemail greeting, not an auto-attendant. Itmeans that you must have a receptionist or admin who is assigned to answer thephones. And a back-up schedule to ensure that the phones are covered throughoutthe business day.

Sure,large companies have managed to succeed without receptionists. However, I wouldargue that even they are missing sales opportunities by having all calls go toan auto-attendant or straight to voicemail. In fact, capturing just a fractionof those lost opportunities would more than pay for a receptionist.

Zero-TimeSelling means that everything happens in the shortest time possible. Zero-TimeSelling means that you win business by being more responsive than yourcompetition. And you can be completely responsive only if you answer the phoneand give customers the information they want.

Ifa prospective customer calls in and an auto-attendant picks up the phone, thenthe chances of that sales lead talking to a real person anytime soon are fairlyremote. In fact, the probability that your salesperson will even return thephone call averages about 50%. That means you have taken a promising lead and reducedits potential value by 50%. Or, looked at another way, you have reduced yourprobability of getting that prospect’s business by 50%.

A Person Makes a Difference

Let’sconsider a customer’s experiences with two potential suppliers. The customer,we’ll call it Petersen, Inc., calls Company A, Outbrook Corporation, lookingfor more information about Outbrook’s product.

Okay,back to Richardson, Inc. Their person assigned to make a purchase decision isAlan. Alan has spent time researching Outbrook’s products online and has aquestion for which he can’t find an answer. Alan calls Outbrook. Anauto-attendant answers the phone and tells him he has reached the OutbrookCorporation. To reach a live person he has to go through a dial-by-namedirectory. If he’s lucky, the auto-attendant will mention an extension for thesales department. Of course, the salespeople know that, and as a result theyanswer their phones about as often as a commercial airline flight arrives ontime. Alan finally figures out to enter the first three letters of Sales, S…A…Land gets directed to Sal Belov’s extension. Unfortunately, Sal is in accountsreceivable, not in sales, and he transfers Alan back to the switchboard.Finally, Alan gets put through to the sales line and he gets a voice messagesincerely assuring him that his call is extremely valuable to Outbrook: “Pleaseleave a detailed message at the tone and someone will return your call as soonas possible.” Alan leaves a voice message, and is reasonably confident that hewill never hear back from Outbrook.

Alanthen calls Synchro, Inc., Outbrook’s competitor. On the third ring a pleasantvoice answers the phone. “Thank you for calling Synchro. How may I direct yourcall?” So far so good. Alan says that he has a question about the SynchroModel203B and would like to speak with someone in sales. The receptionist says,“Thank you. I am putting you through to Karly Harmann, and she will be able tohelp you.” Five seconds later the phone rings again. It is quickly answered byKarly Harmann, who thanks Alan for his call and begins the sales process byasking how she can help him. After 15 minutes Karly has answered all of theprospect’s technical and business questions and scheduled a follow-on phonecall to do a Web demo of the Synchro Model203B.

Whichcompany is more likely to get the order from Richardson?

Severalimportant things happened here. First, Richardson began to experience howdifferent it would be to do business with Synchro than with Outbrook. Theinstant availability of a salesperson to answer Alan’s questions created animmediate positive impression of Synchro and their ability and willingness tosupport him. This is immensely important in the buying cycle. One key step in aprospect’s decision making process is a mental trial of your product and yourcompany. From your first encounter with a prospect, they are assessing how easyit would be to work with your company.

Second,Outbrook turned that first call into a customer experience that created valuefor Richardson by immediately answering Alan’s questions. This responsedramatically increased their odds of winning the order. By answering phonecalls in person, and then answering questions in Zero Time, you set yourselfapart from your competition. You establish credibility with the customer andcreate a standard of communication and responsiveness that all of yourcompetitors will have to live up to. Most important, you have shortened thecustomer’s buying cycle and increased your odds of winning the order.

Red Flag Warning: Salespeople hide behind the phone system. They know that it serves asa useful bulwark against unwanted calls from those annoying people andcompanies that may actually want to purchase their company’s product! Companiesthat route all in-bound calls through an auto-attendant and force potentialcustomers to hunt through a dial-by-name directory send a message to theircustomers that they just aren’t that important to them. And they send a messageto their sales team that responsiveness and customer service aren’t importanteither. If yours is a smaller enterprise, deciding to use an auto-attendantwill cost you more money in lost orders and customers than you could ever save.

Corollary #1: At least one salesperson must always be available to take calls from leads, prospects, and customers, even if the customer belongs to another salesperson.

“That really seems inefficientto me.”

Howso?

“Why would a salesperson wantto field a call from another sales guy’s account? It’ll just irritate thecustomer, who wants to talk to the same person he’s talked to before.”

Tothe contrary. When prospects call, they want information, not to chat with yoursalesperson. They want answers to their questions.

“Still, it seems inefficient.The customer’s regular salesperson will still have to call the customer back.”

Notif the customer gets the answers to his questions. This works to everyone’sadvantage—the customer’s, the salespeople’s, and the seller’s. All for one, onefor all.

“Now we’re Musketeers?”

Butwithout the hats.

Zero-TimeSelling demands that a customer or prospect always talk with a live person whenthey call. So, what happens during lunch or when someone is on the phone? Whathappens when a salesperson is sick or on vacation? Your job is to keep yoursales process completely responsive. Shared responsibility and accountabilityis the answer.

Ground Rules for Providing the Human Touch

1.All in-bound sales and customer service calls are answered by a live person.

2.There is always a back-up to answer the central phone lines when thereceptionist goes on break or is at lunch.

3.Only in the most dire of emergencies should the phone system be answered by anauto-attendant—except outside of business hours.

4.When a call comes in during the lunch hour, there is always at least onesalesperson available to answer it. The salesperson assigned to the lunch shiftwill answer calls for all salespeople regardless of territory. In addition thisperson will handle all sales leads that come from any source.

5.When a sales rep is traveling or on vacation, that rep’s accounts are assignedto one person to manage. Commissions from orders taken by the “temporary” salesrep stay with the original salesperson. There is no argument about this.Everyone is just helping out the team. What goes around comes around.

6.What applies to the sales department also applies to the customer-supportgroup. There always needs to be a live person, one person at all times,available to answer customer questions.

Summary

1.All in-bound sales and support phone calls must be answered by a live person.

2.Use a weekly schedule to ensure there is phone coverage for sales and supportduring lunch and breaks.

3.Members of the sales team share responsibility and accountability for theaccounts of a salesperson who is ill, on vacation, or traveling on business.