I called an insurance agent the other day to find out about rates for my new office building. From the lady who answered the phone, I found out much more information than I needed or wanted to know about the agent and his whereabouts. It seemed that he liked to take long lunch hours with another person in the office and she had no idea when he might “grace the office” with his presence. Boy, I have no idea what on earth was going on in that office, but I do know I found my Yellow Pages and looked for a new agent. I assure you this agent has no idea how the person who answered the phone sabotaged him and what business she deliberately cost him or how long had she been doing it. Was it an affair gone sour? Was the person who answered the phone just getting even? Who knows, but it’s a good lesson for all of us to pay attention to within our own business.
Just how well have you trained your folks? Have you suggested a script on what to say and not to say?
Chris Mullins, President of the Mullins Media Group, thinks you should be aware of how your staff sales represents you behind your back. He suggests using techniques like mystery shopping, mystery calling and surprise ride-alongs with your sales reps.
He also suggests training the person who answers the phone to convert inquiries into sales or face-to-face meetings. A lot of opportunity can be lost from your lead generation programs, if your staff is not properly trained to answer the phone or greet visitors to your business.
Once your staff is trained, you should have a program in place to make sure they are following the training, suggests Mullins. The receptionist, sales reps, support staff or customer service teams, may be sending prospects to the competition because it’s easier than knowing the answer. Or, they may be saying in some way, “I don’t have time for this” or it “doesn’t really matter what I say to you, you’re not going to buy”.
Another red flag is yelling, swearing or eating lunch while in the middle of a conversation. Many of these little goofs are made by seasoned sales reps and veteran employees who have gotten too comfortable in their positions!
You may find some of the things that are being said are to try to manipulate the prospect into buying such as “Money’s tight for me and if I don’t get this sale, I won’t be putting food on the table!”
Does any one on your staff try to hand off challenging customers to someone else? Are they doing this in front of clients in your waiting area? Play prospect yourself or ask someone you know to visit your business in-person. Ask a friend to call. Do follow-up calls to new clients and ask them about their experience with your staff.
Drop in on a few sales meetings in progress and observe how prospects are being handled. Use what you find out to put together more internal training to fix any problems, before it’s too late.Mullins says that not only is this information important to stop the loss of customers, but it’s also a great way to recognize hard-working team members and to keep your team fired up and motivated. How you treat your internal team is directly related to how they treat your external customers! Give them the tools and motivation they need to do their job well
