Today the phone will ring into your organization and if you are lucky, you will have a golden opportunity to sell your services, help a citizen or solve a problem. Having a great sales and marketing strategy or a fantastic CRM tool is one part of the equation. But, the customer’s impression of your organization through a customer service or sales representative can make or break the deal. At Tooty, we have a unique point of view to share with you because we FEEL what customers go through as we make secret shopper calls and listen into monitored conversations each week. Based on over 2,000
secret shopper
Voice, Attitude and Wording Shape Image
How many words does it take for you to determine if the customer on the other end of the line is in a bad mood? One? Maybe two? You hear your customer’s voice and you can’t help but start to pass judgment on cranky old Mr. Smith. After the conversation is over, you turn to your co-worker and say, “You won’t believe the jerk I just spoke with!” Your teammate nods her head and smiles as she says, “Wait until I tell you about mine!” Before you know it, everyone is talking about their customer as that jerk or that idiot that needs to get some manners.
How many words do you
Training Your Second-String Customer Service Team
Summer vacations leave your office short-handed. Often-times you find you must recruit someone to help with the phones who has not been trained or who isn’t working in customer service for a reason! Customers tend to wait on hold longer when you aren’t fully staffed, and they are likely to get incorrect information or incomplete help which generates additional calls. Training your second-string customer service representatives allows you to utilize your personnel more effectively and to be prepared for anything that affects customer care.
Tooty Secret Shopper Calls
Preparing for A Price Increase to Your Customers
There is a lot that goes into implementing a price increase to your customer base. Operations, sales, accounting and many others need to coordinate what will happen and when. Customer service needs to brace for an influx of customer calls by adding additional staffing, some of whom may be temps or support staff within the office. Unfortunately, some leaders simply settle on a vague directive to the team that they should try to keep as much of the P.I. as possible. They leave the details of what will be said and done to the person taking the call. It has been my
Patience and Understanding
I did some volunteer work with a group of first graders and one of our lessons focused on patience. It is endearing when a 6 year old scrunches her nose and asks, “Patience? What is that?” But, I admit I am more likely to throw my hands in the air as I shout, “Patience? What is that?” because there are days when it seems as if people are unable to tolerate anything that doesn’t go according to plan. Like you, I have many inconveniences that cross my path every day. It could be unexpected computer issues, airport delays or unreasonable people. On a recent trip during the height of the
You Talk Too Much
As a company, Tooty has listened to over half a million customer conversations which includes both secret shopper calls and monitored real customer conversations. Regardless of the industry or the office location, CSRs will tell me how different and demanding their customers are in comparison to anyone else. Some describe their customers as mean, long-winded or needy. I recently told a CSR I was hoping she would get some of “those” customers while I was with her, not because I wanted her to be nervous or to be given a hard time but because I wanted to
