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Business Insight

By Jeff Morgan

Pulling customers in or driving them away? IT ALL STARTS WITH HOW YOU USE THE PHONE

There are so many great tools for marketing yourself to new customers: digital and print ads, social media, websites and more. When used well, these channels can certainly get new customers to consider you for their tire and service needs. And often, they will drive customers to your door. However, in most cases, before customers flock to your store, they will still pick up that old communication device called the phone.

What kind of experience are your employees creating for customers when they call? Do they make the customer feel welcome? Do they inspire the customer to visit your store?

If your people are not using the phone properly, all of the great marketing campaigns you have launched and all of the other communication tools you are using will be rendered meaningless.

It starts with the very first moment the phone rings. Is it a priority for everyone at your dealership to ensure that phone is answered quickly? In today’s world, if a phone is not answered within the first few rings, customers will move on.

Once an employee answers the phone, what does the customer hear? Have you ever called a business, only to hear someone speak so fast that you cannot understand what they are saying and you must ask them to repeat what they have just said?

Perhaps you called a business only to hear a very unfriendly, unenthusiastic voice on the other end? How did that make you feel? What was your immediate perception of that business? This is the same response that your customers will have if they experience the same things when calling your store.

It is important that your entire staff knows that when they answer the phone — regardless of how rushed, aggravated, or apathetic they may feel at the moment — they must step into the utopian world

The goal is to give the customer a compelling reason to walk in the door and you should make sure that everyone who works for you is aligned to this objective. You can be very friendly, informative, and responsive over the phone, but if you do not proactively invite the customer to visit, you can miss out on an opportunity.

of the telephone with a smile on their face. Putting a smile on your face puts a smile into your voice. Try it! You might be amazed at how different you sound when you are physically smiling.

Another common mistake is the use of the hold button. First, do not do what I like to refer to as “insta-hold.” You know you have experienced it: “Thank you for calling. Can you please hold?” Before you even have a chance to ask your question, you are already “on hold!” This is very aggravating. And for many customers, this gesture implies that they and their needs are not that important to you.

This is made even worse if a customer is left on hold for a long time or is put on hold again after you finally pick the call back up. When answering the phone, let your customer at least express the reason for his or her call.

Often, the hold button is used out of habit or for personal convenience, as opposed to true necessity. A customer should only be put on hold for one of two reasons:

1) So the employee answering the phone can move to a different phone for access to privacy or extra information, or; 2) To transfer the caller to another employee who is better-equipped to assist.

I realize that many of you are thinking that if you have another customer in front of you at the sales counter, this is a good reason to use the hold mechanism. While this may be a reason, it is not optimal.

Let me explain. Most calls made to tire dealerships are completed within one to two minutes. That is not too much time to excuse yourself. In most cases, the

customer in front of you will understand. After all, you have to run a business.

Additionally, if you have a culture where everyone is empowered to answer the phone, odds are that someone else will pick it up. And finally, if the customer on the phone is inquiring about a complex estimate, it is absolutely acceptable to collect the information you need, explain that it will take you a bit of time to pull the estimate together, and offer to call the customer right back. This will give you time to finish with the customer in front of you. The key is as soon as you have completed the in-person transaction, you follow through immediately with what you promised the phone customer, calling back with the estimate in a timely manner. You will find that most callers much prefer that option to sitting on hold for what seems like ages.

But perhaps the biggest opportunity your business has when it comes to phone etiquette revolves around selling. I am not talking about selling tires or service. There is only one thing that you are trying to sell over the phone: a visit to your location!

The goal is to give the customer a compelling reason to walk in the door and you should make sure that everyone who works What kind of experience are your employees creating for your for you is aligned to this objective. You can be very friendly, customers when they call your store? informative, and responsive over the phone, but if you do not If you want to experience this for yourself, call your nearest proactively invite the customer to visit, you can miss out on an competitor — or better yet, call several of them. Ask about tires opportunity. “Just bring your car on down” is not good enough. for your personal car or some other vehicle. Just be consistent You must be very deliberate when you invite them in. and ask about the same thing at every location you call. Take

Let me give you an example. A customer wants to get a price some notes. What was the phone experience like? When you on tires for his car. Maybe he wants to know what’s the cheapest are all done, put yourself in the shoes of the customer. Which of option or what will be his “best value?” The reason doesn’t matter. those dealerships would you do business with and why? I think When you provide the requested information, do you stop there? you will find that the things that we discussed here weighed into If so, the customer may ask when they can that decision. come in or they can simply thank you and Then ask yourself the more difficult quesmove on. Do not leave that visit to chance. Make sure to mention other reasons that the Do not just wait for the tion: How does your business compare on the phone? Could you have lost a customer customer should do business with you – things customer to ask for an to that competitor? Think about how your like quick mounting and balancing, valueadded services, specials, rebates and more. appointment. Make sure you business comes across to a potential customer on the phone. Then sell the visit by sincerely saying something like, “We actually have several proactively offer one. If you do not have the ability to listen to the calls that come into your store, have different tires that could work for your car. someone call your store with the same inquiry When would be a good time for you to stop by so I can show that you called the competition with. Again, imagine that you you your options? Is this afternoon or tomorrow morning better are a customer looking for somewhere to do business. How did for you?” your location measure up to the competition? You might realize

Notice I did not ask, “Would you like to come in and look that you have a huge opportunity for improvement. around?” That is a simple yes-or-no choice. Give the customer a The good news is that phone etiquette is a skill that can be yes-and-yes choice. While this may not seem like a big difference, improved with strong follow-up. Make sure your team is leveraging it certainly increases the odds of the customer coming in, as well all the keys to create a positive phone experience and invite the as demonstrating your desire and willingness to help him. customer to come to you.

Leveraging appointments is also a great tool. Do not just This is an easy skill to hone through role play as well. Have wait for the customer to ask for an appointment. Make sure you two employees stand back-to-back so they cannot see each other. proactively offer one. In today’s busy world, people want to know Choose one to portray a customer and then role-play a phone that they can get serviced and not leave it to chance. call. Listen in and provide feedback after the exercise ends. Do

Again, how you ask for the appointment can make a difference. this regularly and you will build a culture of maximizing the Do not just ask, “Would you like an appointment?’ Think yes/yes phone as a customer-increasing tool. I know you will see positive and say, “I have morning and afternoon appointments available. results if you do! ■ Which works best for you?” The customer will pick one or the other. Then you can nail down a time. Tire industry veteran Jeff Morgan is the executive director of Dealer Strategic

You’ve heard the old saying that you have one chance to make a Planning, the DSP Group. He can be reached at jeff.morgan@20dsp. first impression. That initial phone call might be your one chance. com or (310-533-2576) See the website www.20DSP.com.