I recently received a call from a local HVAC company offering me a $29.00 tune up special on my air conditioning system. The person calling asked if I was the homeowner and once I said yes, they began to ramble about all the things they would do for $29.00. When the person stopped talking, I asked “How long have you been in business?”. They did not know what to say and after a pause just said, “A long time.” My next question was “What type of insurance do you carry for your business?” I heard the shuffling of papers which I assume they were looking for an answer. They replied, “I guess we carry what we need to do the tune up.” I did not ask for details because I knew they didn’t know.
Of course, I knew the person calling did not know the real value of the company they were representing and was only using a script to recite what they were paid to do. Needless to say; I did not schedule an appointment and would not recommend their business to anyone else.
Moral of the story and how this helps your business…
Train your employees and have them help maintain your “Value Bucket” List for your Company. Consider doing an all Company meeting and have everyone help build the list. Include the number of employees, the number of licenses and the number of years in business, your insurance coverage ie: liability, worker compensation, auto coverage, areas of specialties. The list is special and should be posted in the office, team meeting room, laminated flyers, handouts in sales packet. Be proud and get all employees to know the value bucket.
You have customers asking questions about pricing of services and equipment you offer. You need to actively train your Customer Service Representatives and Dispatchers about your services and promotions your company is offering. They need to know the Features and Benefits of your services and products. Build confidence and trust in your employees so they can build relationships with your customers.
When your team is knowledgeable – they are confident and can tell the story to build the relationship with your customers. You may consider using scripts for different scenarios but a conversation vs reading a script is a huge trust builder for your customers.
The ability to know our customers and anticipate the type of questions they might ask is what sets your company apart from the competition.
I thought about how I felt on the other end of the call, how the agent sounded that is getting paid to make the outbound call, and the effect it had on the business they were representing.
Did I trust this person calling me? NO
Would I schedule an appointment for a tune up? NO
Would I ask my family and friends to do business with this company? Of Course NOT!
This 1-1/2-minute long call made a big negative impact with me because of the lack of knowledge and it sounded scripted. If you are preparing for outbound marketing and sales calls, either from your staff or an outsourced provider… make sure they know your company’s Value Bucket and the confidence to be able to talk about why a customer should do business with you!
