Once the instant thrill of winning a new piece of business hits home, your next reaction should be one of concern. Yes – you’ve just increased your turnover but, now, you also have one more client to keep happy – or lose!
Of course, how well you service your client will be paramount, but eventually, the day will come when something does go wrong – and how you react to correct this error will be how you are really judged.
As most business today especially in international recruitment is transacted over the phone, many customers don’t ever visit their supplier’s office. Your customer’s impression of your business, therefore, relies not just on how well you service them but also, equally importantly, how well you interact with them and that is most likely to be over the phone. Daily we are in conversations locally, nationally and internationally every time a member of our staff who answers an incoming call they become instantly responsible for our organisation’s PR. We are literally, putting our brand in their hands.
It is therefore vital that every person answering the phone in any business treats every caller, (no matter who they are!), with courtesy and friendliness.
Do your staff do this? Do you ever called into your business unannounced to see your staff handle incoming calls? if you don’t you should.
You cannot just expect call handlers to be naturally pleasing – with the ability to use body language removed from the equation, using the phone isn’t a natural skill.
An easy, inexpensive, coaching session is all it takes to provide your ‘call takers’ with polite confidence – and you with peace of mind.
The question is not, ‘Should we budget to do this?’ but rather, ‘Can we afford not to do it?’
It’s your brand, don’t let it bite you back!
Author: Chris Slay
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