Telephone Tune-upSimple Skills to Help You Improve the

Customer Experience

Every contact we have with a customer

influences whether or not they'll come back. We have to be great

every time or we'll lose them.

-Kevin Stirtz

Customer Service Gone Bad

Was Vincent Ferrari

justified?

Self AuditWhat is the best thing about

your telephone service?

What is the worst thing?

It’s not what you say. It’s how you say it.

How to Create Rapport Over the Telephone

Smile as you speakPut lots of energy and enthusiasm into the first 4-6 seconds of the call

Use the caller’s name more often than you would in person

Speak more slowly than you would in person

Be personable, warm, natural and friendly

Phone Finesse

Call Handling From Beginning

to End

How to Open a Business Call in 4

Friendly Steps1. Greet the

caller2. Company

name3. Your name4. Offer to help

“Thank you for calling Rooney Insurance.

My name is Terasita. How can I

help you today?”

Acknowledge Concern “I realize this must be

frustrating.” “I can understand how

frustrating it might be to gather your team together for a video training and the video not play.”

“I cannot imagine how upsetting it must be to…”

“We want to get to the bottom of this just as much as you do.”

Acknowledge Compliments “Thanks for being a loyal Myra

Golden Media customer.” “Thank you. We always like to

hear how much our customers enjoy our products.”

Maintain Control (and put customers at ease) with Assertive

Statements• “We appreciate customers

who let us know when things aren’t right.”

• “The first thing we need to do is…”

• “I’m glad you called today.”• “I can certainly get that

information for you.’

Bridge to Questioning “In order to determine what

happened I will need to ask you a few questions.”

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions so we can figure out what has happened?”

How to Ask Questions Use please and thank you. Be friendly and

conversational…don’t have an interrogation style.

“May I have your zip code, please?”

“Thanks. One final question…”

Recap and Explain Next Steps

“I will mail you a $50 gift card. You should receive this gift card within 7-10 days.”

“I will research this and call you back at 918-398-9368.”

Ask, “Is there anything else?”

• “Ms. Williams, may I help you with anything else?”

• “Is there anything else I can help you with today, Mr. Davis?”

• “Ms. Bryant, do you have any additional questions?”

How to End a Call

1. Repeat any action steps2. Ask customer if you can

do anything else3. Thank the customer for

calling4. Let the customer hang

up first

Putting Callers on Hold

1. Get permission2. Explain why3. Give a time frame4. Thank the

customer

Sample On-Hold Dialogue

“Tim, may I put you on hold for approximately two minutes

while I obtain more information? (wait for

response) Okay, I will be back with you in a minute or two…(45-seconds pass) Thank you for holding.

What I have learned is that…”

How to WOW a caller who can’t hear you.

“I’m sorry, I’m not able to hear you. Your call is important to us. Please call us back at 866-873-

8419. Thank you for calling Myra Golden Media.”

Be aware of and control

mouth noises.

How to Escalate a Call

1.Explain why you must escalate

2.Introduce customer to escalated party and explain the situation

3.Thank the customer and wish them success

How to Communicate with a Person Who Has a Foreign

Dialect Don’t pretend to understand

Don’t rush the customerDon’t shout

Summary

Adapt AdoptApply

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