Here are five ways to make the most of the first few seconds of your call and three ways to make the most of the last few seconds.
1. Be excited to see the customer. Put a smile on your face and some energy in your voice. Try to sound fun, interesting, friendly, and like you're having a conversation. When you do these simple things, you'll find that you and your callers get along quickly and that your customers like talking to you.
2. Don't talk at the same time. It can be tempting to stop a talker or storyteller in the first few seconds, but try not to. Let the customer talk and listen to what she has to say. You can't let a caller who talks too much get out of hand, of course.
3. React with the right feelings. Be yourself around customers. When they are happy and the situation calls for more energy, show this energy. If the situation calls for compassion, don't just stand there like a rock; show compassion. When I worked in car rental and a customer complained that one of our rental cars broke down, I would quickly say something like, "I understand how frustrating this must be for you."
4. Make the customer feel good and smart.
Yesterday, I did a mystery shopper call for a client. One of the customer service reps did a great job making the caller feel good. The "mystery shopper" was told to ask a number of "dumb" and "redundant" questions, which she did very well. At one point, the customer service rep said, "If you didn't care about your health, you wouldn't have called today." That went over very well. Instead of making the caller feel like a fool, she made her feel like a star.
5. Don't seem annoyed, irritated, or "interrupted".
It's your job to serve and help. And at your job, you will hear a lot of people say the same thing over and over again. Some customers will irritate you, and some of the things they say will just blow your mind. But don't show it. Give your best to each caller and always sound patient, interested, friendly, and helpful.
If you can do these five things well at the start of the call, you will come across as friendly, helpful, and memorable. Find out how to end the call on a good note by reading on.
6. Use the last few seconds of the call to your advantage.
7. Ask if you can help in any other way. Don't end the call right away. Ask the customer, "Is there anything else I can do for you today?" to make sure you've answered all of their questions.
8. Thank the caller from the bottom of your heart.
this is something that one of my clients does very well. When a customer calls Accuvue Vision, they will always be greeted with a warm and sincere "thank you." Every representative will say sincere things like "I'm really glad you called us today" to make the caller feel good about calling. "I really appreciate your thoughts, and I'm glad you shared them with us today." "Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to call and tell us this."
9. Always end the call on a happy, positive note.
10. Let the person who called you go first. Let your caller hang up first. It's just polite. Most of the time, callers will hang up between 2 and 4 seconds after the last word was said.
Don't forget that people tend to remember the first and last things in a series more than anything else. Follow these steps to get the most out of these important touch points.
