People throw around the term "customer engagement" but as we begin holiday 07 businesses will have a chance to truly engage customers --- on the phone. Many will miss out by emphasizing, monitoring and measuring the wrong things.
Despite the Web, we are still a phone-based culture. Sixty plus percent of catalog shoppers still buy by phone. And the magical qualities of the disembodied voice communicate understanding, empathy and suggest alternate ways to get things done much better than the fastest IM device with the most expressive icons or emoticons.
People buy people first. The second transaction involves goods or services. In many cases the voice on the phone is the only human representation of a brand that shoppers encounter. That's why its so important to prep your phone team to anticipate customers needs and behavior.
With that in mind, here are 6 tips for Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) to maximize engagement and holiday sales:
1. Smile. Facial expression is communicated in the tone and timbre of your voice. The shape of your face positions your cheeks and your larynx which affects how you sound. As creatures this is one of the signals our limbic brain uses to discern friend from foe. A smile and a relaxed attitude come across on the phone and invite interaction.
2. Listen for urgency and intent. Talk is made up of words and feelings. Often the pace, pronunciation and parsing of the words communicate more than the words themselves. Customers dial 800 numbers with all kinds of things on their minds. Usually the feelings come across long before the words catch up. Listen for the signals because it will cue CSRs how best to respond.
3. Listen for content. A percentage of the American population are direct and straightforward. Some of us think these people are blunt or even rude because unlike the rest of us, they actually say what they mean and communicate their needs clearly. But since this segment is a minority, we often don't take their presentation at face value. If you are a CSR or are running a retail business change your ear settings and default to this customer type. You'll save yourself a lot of confusion and sell much more faster.
4. Ask Questions. A huge number of shoppers have a hunch and need a hand. This is especially true during holiday shopping where many people are shopping for others, some of whom they don't know all that well. If you ask the right questions, you can genuinely help them which usually translates into selling them something. Don't be bashful about the line of questioning. Ask "who is this for", "how much do you want to spend", "how will they use/like it", "what are they like" or "what do they like"? then shut up. Listen closely to the answer and map whatever you have to whatever they need.
5. Talk Back. Shoppers crave help and validation. If they ask you a semi-personal question answer it. If they ask where you are or what the weather is, tell them. Shopping is a social experience. If she isn't doing it in a mall with a girlfriend, she's doing it on the phone with you. Participate and join in. If she isn't comfortable with you, she's not going to buy from you.
6. Resolve Everything in 1 Call. Don't focus on talk time. Focus on making customers happy in one call whether its finding the right stuff, managing a return, answering a question or responding to a complaint. If, by the luck of the draw, they get to you they want you to help them and see the issue through to a happy conclusion.
One other thing that helps to encourage the "engagement" you touched on is to get a toll free number. That makes you look larger and more professional and it's much easier to do than most small business owners realize.
A toll free number is kind of like a remote call forwarded number, in that it just rings to or points to whatever local number you want. It doesn’t change or affect the local number. You can even point it to your cell phone. The cheaper services go down to about 3 cents per minute too and just a couple bucks per month.
Back to the point though, that a toll free number facilitates that Customer Engagement. It gives you another “Door” for people to get to you. Marketing is all about interacting with your prospects, and even a mediocre phone conversation will close a much higher percent of callers than visitors than a website alone.
Being on the phone doesn’t mean you’re tied to your job any more either. I took two calls yesterday on Thanksgiving. I took one call while I was driving to our Thanksgiving dinner and another afterwards watching television. They were Canadians who didn’t have a holiday and both led to sales. They only took 10 minutes of my tv and driving time combined. And it impressed them that they could reach not only a live person but the owner, even on a holiday. That’s customer interaction!
Bill Quimby, President of TollFreeNumbers.com
Posted by: Bill Quimby | November 23, 2007 at 02:29 PM