How to Unlock Hidden Growth Potential
The same conundrum is facing businesses all over the world. In a time of social distancing, closed showrooms and limited physical touchpoints, how can you keep your sales up? The simple answer lies in your phone calls.
In an age of a digitally enabled customer who is armed with a ton of information and competitor options, it’s not a visit to a website that sells a car or schedules a service appointment, it’s the phone call.
The customer phone call is the single-most-important customer touchpoint. It’s your first impression, your opportunity to shine. But when calls are dropped or not routed to the correct staff member, that opportunity suddenly falls flat. To ensure that you turn a prospect into a loyal customer, it’s time to pay attention to your customer phone calls. This is why.
Why Your Phone Calls Should Matter the Most
According to science, you have only seven seconds to make a first impression. Dropped calls, uninformed personnel and missed opportunities account for far more lost revenue than you may think. When dealerships prioritized the phone call, they achieved the following results:
• Generated 72 more service appointments in a six-month period
• Achieved a 27% year-over-year improvement in total business
• Saved 28 deals in a single month (www.callrevu.com/ganley-case-study).
Excellent customer service is a primary indicator of returning customers. In fact, Salesforce reports that “47% of customers say they’ll stop buying from a company if they have a subpar experience.” The same study reveals that 76% of customers now say it’s easier than ever to take their business elsewhere. Translate this into a phone call experience and the opportunities for lost customers and lowered revenue skyrockets.
How to Improve the Phone Call Experience
Now you know you need a better phone call experience, but how do you provide it? There are several ways to improve the phone call experience:
• Train staff to attend to the phone call: Personnel education is an important part of any business. You can’t expect your staff to be good at something if you haven’t taught them the correct approach. Actively training your staff can lead to more appointments scheduled and return customers.
• Don’t leave customers hanging: If a customer has taken the time to leave a voicemail or follow up with your dealership, you owe them a return call. Show them that their time is valuable and you appreciate their choosing you.
• Limit hold times: Customers today are more connected than ever, which makes them a little less willing to wait through the on-hold music. Do your best to limit customer hold times and connect customers to knowledgeable staff as quickly as possible.
• Find out what you’re missing: One dealer commented, “You are not aware of what you don’t know…and what you don’t know is going to hurt you.” In other words, it’s time to find out what you don’t know. Missed opportunities account for a high amount of lost revenue and knowing where you’re missing out can be a valuable way to boost sales and appointments.
• Design sales and promotions based around customer needs: Do you ever experience a drop in revenue and have no idea why it’s happening? Analyzing your calls can help you improve the customer experience and get your numbers back where they belong by offering tailored discounts and promotions.
