The Telephone strikes back
In the olden days, ten years ago, the world was black and white and the telephone was the principal income generating mechanism for business. The telephone enabled you to keep existing business, develop existing business and drive new business.
Is this still the case today?
I hear many shouts of ‘yes you fool’! I answer, ‘I disagree.' But I shall soon be re-evaluating.
As with any technology tool, advancements come quick and fast. Expensive telephone systems were superceded by VOIP apps, call centres were operated more cheaply overseas and now AI systems will change the way business is done over the telephone.
What will not change is the loud and clear demands of buyers whose expectations must be met, or they take their business away. However, no matter how loud the shouting and moaning, is this actually the case?
In my experience, it is sometimes beneficial to not do business with some people. In today’s world of instant, online reviews and feedback, I do not believe the customer is always right. Sometimes the customer wants something for nothing and will take an inordinate amount of time telling you so….. mostly over the phone.
The telephone is simply one other form of customer interaction along with face-to-face contact, emails, messaging, social media channels and your website. All these contact points can be continually streamlined through better training and implementation of the right technology.
Before considering an enhancement to your service or most importantly before you start looking at potential solutions, have you mapped what your customers want to ask you over the phone? I bet there are no more than 8 general enquiries.
Your staff will no doubt tell you that there are hundreds of different enquiries to be dealt with and only more staff will solve the problem. This is never the case.
Let me tell you about an auction day 6 years ago. Madness. The owners loved it believing that this meant more income. I saw frustration from customers and burn out from employees.
What did we do?
Before beginning this business change we mapped what type of enquiries the business was receiving. We then analysed how they were received, from face-to-face, telephone, email, messaging and social media (along with letters that were still being received). We then looked at how each enquiry was being processed and how much it was costing the business. We then prioritised each enquiry by asking if it increased turnover or helped save money.
The results were simple: The loudest moaner was prioritised regardless of benefit to the business. The solution for this was really simple; a company policy on how to deal with complaints and a channel to do so. I was surprised to see how the number of complaints declined immediately and more importantly was very pleased to be able to properly deal with true issues where the business had made mistakes.
Once you have dealt with the fiercest bit of fire fighting, it is time to take an objective look at what your customers want from their telephone contact. Outside of those customers who expect personalised assistants, your customers will be busy people and want convenience. I have spent decades delivering online services via website or APPS that offer a more timely, direct and 24/7 solution for customers. This enables businesses to be more efficient, more profitable and be enabled to invest in their service delivery. Well..... that's the reasoning.
I can guarantee that those very loud moaners will still be there.
A plan around how you deal with your telephone expands from customer service, to payment systems, to website and APP development, to training, to recruitment and technology. Simply start at the beginning: What do your customers want via the phone? Does the costs of dealing with these enquiries help generate turnover or control costs?
This all started by analysing why on earth the phones did not stop ringing.
The result was that we saved thousands, increased sales, generated more repeat business and retained staff.
However these solutions were implemented before the brave new world of AI. I can see a situation where the telephone becomes more important for your business as enquiries can be dealt with automatically. This will not be some naff technology that attempts to understand your spoken enquiry. I doubt if customers will come to realise they are being dealt with by an automated service and most importantly for the business itself, those key enquiries will be prioritised and enhanced.
For the auction hall we were always committed to dealing with valuation and probate requests, whereas for an Estate Agent for example, they would be committed to dealing with requests for house appraisals. This is simply prioritising sales over requests for information that can be done via a very simple website, social media channels or AI.
