Your shop is open. You have technicians. You have trucks. You’ve spent money on advertising. Will that get the tech to the house?
NO! All these things will contribute to the one thing that will get your tech to the house, and that one thing is the phone ringing. By the way, do you know what it takes to make the phone ring? Are you tracking your marketing costs and comparing against the phone calls taken? Are you source-coding your marketing to maximize the dollars?
So, now the phone rings. Will that get the tech to the house?
NO! That phone call has to be answered professionally, by an empathetic client-care representative who can get that call SET AND MET! If you want to realize your dreams of success and profitability (and profits are good) IT ALL STARTS WITH THE CALL!
How are you answering your phones? The phones need to be answered LIVE, IN REAL TIME! Think about it—the person dialing your number is in some level of pain! “Something is wrong in my home, and I desperately need you NOW!” The homeowner’s blood pressure skyrockets with each passing second the phone rings, and it hits a level 10 when he/she hears your voicemail! They may leave a voicemail, but you better believe they’re calling another name immediately thereafter—and your lack of response may anger them enough not to call you ever again in the future!
Answering phones live takes people, and good people at that. Your CCR is your front-line brand ambassador and provides impact for your business. Positive impact gets the call set and met. Negative impact drops the call and loses clients.
DON’T STOP READING! THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Answering the telephone and getting the call SET AND MET is an art. It requires attitude and skill. The attitude is one of empathy, leadership, knowledge, and reassurance. The top CCR knows how it feels to have the problem(s) and wants to help, takes the caller through the steps, details what will happen today, and lets them know they’ve called the right place. The attitude comes with hiring the right CCR. The skill required grows out of the right attitude and the right training.
Yes, the work of the CCR is an art! You must provide the right training for your CCRs—and it must be consistent in order to keep their skills sharp! Send your CCRs away for immersion training. Then build training plans exclusively to address their needs to guarantee their success. Require regular role-playing. Review recordings of actual calls. Have contests to foster competition. And remind your CCRs how important they are to your business!
Calls should be as precious to you as gold flakes floating down a brook to a miner! You shouldn’t even think of allowing a CCR to answer a call until they know their scripts well enough to book a service call, build value in your diagnostic charge, be able to explain StraightForward Pricing®, plant the seed about a club membership (or even sell one!), address client concerns, and reassure the caller so the appointment is SET AND MET!
EVERY TIME YOUR PHONE RINGS THAT’S MONEY OUT OF YOUR POCKET! Yes, you paid to have that phone ring, and after every single ring, a caller gets that much closer to hanging up! Answer those calls immediately! If the call does not get answered and service booked, you’ve just, at the very least, doubled your marketing costs. That doesn’t take into consideration the negative experience for the caller or what they’ll tell others about your company.
So much can happen on a call: You can get the call SET AND MET and gain a client for life, building profit in your business! Or the caller can go to voicemail… call another contractor on the ball… and never think about you again… It all starts with you, because it all starts with the call.