Have you ever considered the cost of a lost customer? Not a customer you once had who’s left you; a customer you never won due to an employee’s apathy, a lack of urgency or long hold times.
In his post “The True Cost of Customer Service,” Seth Godin details how the $600 you paid for digital ads that attracted one actual caller can be wasted if your receptionist or CSR doesn’t handle that call with care.
And that’s not even the worst part. The truly sickening sensation comes when you start imagining what all your lost callers would have spent with your company over the lifetime of your relationship with them. And then there’s the value of the positive word-of-mouth they might have spread on your behalf if you’d only given them a reason to.
We’ve addressed this topic before with the posts “Are Poor Phone Skills Costing Your Company Money,” and “A Phone Call Like This Should Be a Real Eye Opener.” Give them a quick read if you want to reinforce for yourself or someone else in your organization just how important friendly, efficient telephone representatives are – or could be – to your bottom line.
If you’re serious about making the most of every inbound phone call, begin with a third-party evaluation of how your company handles those calls. We refer to it as a Caller Experience Audit.
We’ve uncovered many weaknesses for several companies, from a lack of basic etiquette and communication skills, to CSRs who don’t take advantage of opportunities to close sales, cross-sell or upsell.
To start your Caller Experience Audit, email Steve Evert or call him directly at 419/724-7311.