Resource Center - Industry Articles
Mastering the Incoming Phone Opportunity
by Tim Gomoll, March 19 2009
If you want to increase sales while improving customer satisfaction and retention, focus your attention on telephone prospects. Consider these facts:
- 75% of all buyers will call before coming into the dealership
- 80% of telephone prospects will buy within 5 days of the initial call
- 90% will buy within 7 to 10 days of the initial call
Your success in handling phone calls is based directly upon your Words, the Tone of your voice and your Attitude.
With words, the skill is in how we use them. Do we invite only positive answers? Are we complimentary throughout the conversation? Are the words we choose always a benefit to the prospective customer?
Words Have Power
The words and phrases we use during the phone call are like a roadmap. They give the prospective customers direction and reassure them that they know what to expect.
Impressions are formed during the first 10 seconds of a phone call. A positive greeting will set the tone for the remainder of the call. With a proper greeting, you will minimize the defensiveness of your prospect while displaying professionalism. By the end of the greeting, you will have started taking control of the call.
Greet the prospect in a positive and upbeat manner. A prospect is going to detect if you are in a good mood or bad mood within the first 3 words that are spoken.
Right Greeting:
- Sound like a professional
- Answer the phone with an upbeat greeting
- Be preparedBe Enthusiastic
- Take it slow
Bad Greeting:
- Answering the phone when preoccupied
- When in a bad mood
- Talking too fast
- Not in your comfort zone
- When eating ot chewing gum
Tone Carries Impact
You can use the right words, but if your tone of voice isn't right, the words will not matter.
While you are on the phone, the customer can not see you or your expression. They can only gauge those by the tone of your voice.
Think about your pitch, tone, speed, volume and tempo.
Attitude Does Count
You can choose the right words and adopt the right tone, but if you do not have the right Attitude, nothing else matters.
Be positive, upbeat, engaged and ready to guide the prospective customer to an appointment. The right attitude will most often compensate for weakness in other skills.
The proper handling of phone leads can make all the difference in your bottom line.
Tim Gomoll is Vice President of Sales for CallSource.
