We call a lot of MSPs here. I called over 70 myself today and we have multiple reps.
This blog post is going to be short and sweet. First, please for all that is good in the world, make sure someone is answering your phone. When they answer your phone, make sure they are announcing what company the caller has reached. Make a great first impression on that caller. Make sure they aren’t eating, that their dog isn’t barking in the background. Yes, I’m a sales rep, so my call may not be as important to you as a potential client call — but you don’t know who I am before you pick up that phone.
If I’m a business owner looking for a professional firm, the last company I am going to choose will be the guy who answers the phone while he is yelling at his dog to “shut up!”. Yes, that happened today. I’m not going to choose the guy who answers the phone “Yeah?” while he is eating his lunch. Also happened today.
An inbound lead is solid gold, people. If you don’t answer your phone, that lead is going right to the next company on the list. And if you do answer the phone and you sound like answering the phone is an inconvenience, guess what? You are not going to win that business.
Please! Ensure that any person that answers the phone at your place of business understands the importance of that first call in. I spoke to some people today that I wouldn’t have hired to mow my lawn, let alone handle any of my core business processes.
Out of curiosity, I went to check out the websites of some of the companies I called today that I described above. Nice websites. SEO optimized. They’ve spent money to make sure they look professional online. But, the thing is that nobody is buying IT support online. You can’t sell your IT services without talking to someone first.
Buying decisions are made in the first few minutes of a call. Everyone in your company should understand the importance of that. Develop a short phone script and roll it out to all employees. Drive home your brand with every inbound call. Polite. Professional. Engaging. Every time a potential or current customer calls in to your office, they should be greeted the same way. Yes, sales reps too. Your answering service or voicemail box should reflect that script as well. Direct lines should be answered the same way. You never know when someone will dial incorrectly and end up at tech support and not sales.
Next week’s post? Get an answering service – voicemail is not your friend.
Happy Selling!