Why a Standard Way of Answering the Phone is Important-Blog/Quiz #10

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Have you ever noticed that almost every time you walk into a Walgreens drug store, the POP (point of purchase) person says, ”Welcome to Walgreens?” Wonder why? The answer to that question is: because the CEO and board want to brand their chain as the most friendly and remind their employees of what a priority it is. It is the same reason a fast food restaurant chain such as “Bojangles” answers the intercom “It’s Bo-time!” when you drive up to place your order, to position itself as a friendly and special experience. Branding and positioning yourself as the most friendly and special place in the market of what you do allows ownership and Sr. Management to know that when they lay their head(s) down on their pillow at night, that where a positive community impression is concerned, all that can be done has been done. Every interaction, be it the first of the impression of that day or of the new potential customer’s life experience with the company, can be influenced by creating a standard for the entire organization to abide by. 

Allow me to overcome the main objection to setting and using this standard answering verbiage by laying it out before I get it. Some will say, “it feels unnatural or scripted, not real; I don’t like to seem phony.” YES, when it does not sound and feel sincere to the recipient it can provide a “canned” and not believable perception. If this is the case, you haven’t understood the value it has to the company and injected the enthusiasm (doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be over the top) needed to pull it off. Frankly, the secret to delivering a script is to NOT MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A SCRIPT. Many of you have been entertainers and interpreted music in your own way that was created by a composer other than yourself. Take the same approach here. Whether it was written the way you would have written it, you must deliver it in the most authentic way you can.

Please understand this; everyone “shooting from the hip” or “doing their own thing” without any company consistency is NOT building or helping establish a culture that can be refined as time goes by. It is everyone figuring out their own way of representing the company, the brands and themselves which is, as I stated, NOT establishing a culture of sales ideas based upon a baseline. If any of us has ever had initial doctor’s visits, we know how valuable it is to see how well you “are or are not” doing based upon a comparison to a baseline.  

This course will be chock full of sound fundamentals. Being consistent as a staff is a sound sales culture fundamental that can be a building block for creative ideas shared by sales staff members in the spirit of everyone learning and growing from the thoughts and ideas of their colleagues. This course, whether you buy into the theory of establishing a culture or not, will be based upon solid fundamentals. It will allow you to be more productive whether you are a single sales pro or part of a sales staff.    

Here are some sample scripts based upon a fictitious piano gallery “Prestige Piano.” The fundamentals abided by are pointed out so not merely the “how” but the “why” are addressed in the first example:

“Prestige Pianos, the home of Yamaha, the world’s most popular pianos, this is _____________. or “this is specialist __________, at your service.”

or

“Prestige Pianos, the home of Steinway, the world’s finest pianos, this is __________.”

or 

“Prestige Pianos, the home of Kawai, the world’s best piano value. This is __________.”

Here are the positioning beacons along the way, in green…

Prestige Pianos, credibility/branding  the home of Yamaha credibility/branding,the world’s most popular piano credibility/positioning. This is __________, at your service.” rapport building/servant’s positioning

Things to consider when answering the phone:
If it is a first call to the store it is a first impression and whether the day is hectic or not, we cannot feel to the person who is calling in as if it is. We always want to portray in our voice that we are happy to be where we are and never sound put out or interrupted, even if we are. Getting in that habit of being servant oriented and sounding happy to help is our mantra. After getting into the habit of being upbeat when answering the phone and serving up a positive first impression, it will become muscle memory. We want the owners to lay their heads on the pillow each night knowing that we have represented ourselves properly with every opportunity. Having a very good phone disposition in a world of people who don’t act like they “like what they do” or like they “even want to be at work” creates a positive divide between your company and your competition.

Allow me to inject this into the conversation – since fewer and fewer people answer their phone or return calls, it adds GREATLY to the value of a “live” phone conversation. To take it a step further, I believe there should be an “in person” script, or set of acceptable intro scripts, that the sales staff uses for walk-ins. Here’s what it shouldn’t be, “So what are we looking for today?” or “Are you looking for something in particular?” These questions are ill-conceived and leap-frog over the first two steps of the sales process, launching directly into the fact finding. Remember the old Teddy Roosevelt saying,“No one cares what you know until they know that you care.” Your interactions with prospects only need to be examined for two reasons: one, so that you have the next shot at getting them to like you and secondly, in retrospect to crystalize those things that you did right and wrong and learn from them. We learn what to do more or less by self-examination. It is a remarkable way to grow your sales chops.       

WARNING: these scripts/talking points can work in reverse and brand yourself and your company as robotic and insincere. If the Walgreens or Bojangles associate has a sourpuss disposition, the irony can become memorable. I noticed this as a youngster (yes, I still remember back that far) when I would enter a drug store chain named “Hooks Dependable Drugs” whose slogan was “We Like to See You Smile.” I often asked my mother, “if they want us to smile, why aren’t they being friendly?”

Just like the old “Head and Shoulders” shampoo campaign slogan says – “You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression.” Having a good disposition and pride in where you are and what you sell is a remarkable habit to have and forge into muscle memory. That is why it should be apparent to the potential customer every time you pick up the phone.

Here are some quotes about the value of a first impression:

“Two things remain irretrievable: time and a first impression.” – Cynthia Ozick
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” – Will Rogers     
(wonder if Head and Shoulders paid their royalties on this)
“First impressions never have a second chance.” – Charles R. Swindoll
“People sometimes talk about the power of first impressions, and believe me, there is truth to it.” – Ann Brashares

A quick quiz to be sure you covered this material:

5

PI Sales Academy-Quiz #10

1 / 5

#1 It is not important for management and ownership to manage the way their representatives answer the phone as long as they are friendly.  T/F

2 / 5

#2 Customers who call the showroom don’t want a sales person to be enthusiastic, they want to “get down to business.”  T/F

3 / 5

#3 A sales culture is valuable to a sales staff.  Y/N

4 / 5

#4 A scripted way of answering the phone can turn into a negative.  Y/N

5 / 5

#5  How have you been answering the phone?

Your score is

Jack Klinefelter
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