Two Ways Your Organization Can Ensure It Makes Great First Impression When Customers Call

Every experience your customers have with your organization begins with a first impression. The first impression is the first "touch point" that your organization has during a customer interaction and it either leaves them feeling excited to work with your company or feeling indifferent and unsure about possibility of continuing a relationship with your firm.

In many situations the first impression takes place during a phone call. Unfortunately many organizations do not take advantage of this opportunity to create a powerful first impression. There are two main reasons that this happens.

The first reason a good first impression is often missed on a phone call is the lack of proper customer service procedures that place an emphasis on call scripting and consistency. While most companies take the time to show their team members how to operate their phone systems, very few instruct them how to answer the phone properly, and even fewer have established telephone scripts to instruct employees exactly how to answer the phone and respond the customer's call.

Consistency is paramount when it comes to providing exceptional telephone customer service. You cannot afford to greet current and future customers differently each time they call. Your organization has a brand image and part of that image is how the customer is greeted when they call. If the customer is greeted differently (sometimes good, sometimes bad) every time they call, your brand will quickly lose value in the customer's mind and they will wonder what version of your organization they will receive each time they call.

Just as Coca Cola ensures that every can of Coke tastes the exact same, so should your organization when it comes to how your customers are greeted on the phone by your employees.

The second reason many organizations miss the opportunity to create an excellent first impression is that it has the wrong people answering the phones. Let's face it… not everyone is cut out to provide great customer service, and not everyone will enjoy answering the phones.

Why is this? Not everyone loves people! While an employee can "fake it" for a while, if they are not truly a "people person" your current and future customers will eventually notice and their experience with your organization will suffer as a result.

Hiring the right people to answer the phones is critical to making a good first impression on the telephone. This cannot be understated. Like it or not, the right employee team member is essential to a strong first impression and creating a customer experience that will leave your customers coming back time and time again.

What can you do to make a good first impression when a current or future customer calls your organization?

First - Create a telephone customer service calling script that will instruct your team members not only what to say, but how to say it, and when. When left to their own devices some employees will provide exceptional customer service with little instruction, while some will fall far short of expectations. Creating an incoming call script will make certain that all employees are on the same page when it comes to answering the phone and will ensure that your customers get a good impression of your organization every time they call.

The Phone Coach has extensive experience creating call scripts that will leave your customers saying "Wow!" Click here for more information.

Secondly - Hire the right team members that will take pride in creating a great first impression over the telephone. Again, the importance of this cannot be understated. The wrong team member answering the phones can create a poor first impression with a poor tone of voice and a lack of enthusiasm for their job, even with the most carefully crafted phone script.

The Phone Coach has helped numerous organizations hire the right team members to answer the phone and create great first impressions. Click here for more information.

Creating a positive first impression is too important to be left to chance. Contact The Phone Coach today for more information on how you can ensure that your customers are left saying "Wow!" after they call your organization.