Telephone skills. The dos and don'ts that will take your customer service skills to a whole 'nutha level!
By special request: This blog post topic was submitted by two different members of our site. So here we go! Congrats to them both for submitting and earning one hour of coaching with me on a day of their choosing.
The ever-ringing phone. How annoying and stressful it can be when you are in the middle of doing ten different things. I know. But it is also the sole reason we have a job at the same time. If no customers are calling, there is no reason for us to be there.
And then guess where we would be headed...the unemployment line.
Phone etiquette helps you connect with customers, create a great first impression, and deliver great service.
How do you answer the phone?
I have heard people use the following;
"Service, how may I help you?"
"Service, Alice speaking."
"Service"
"Xyz Service"
Or any combination of the above is the most common way to answer the phone. I firmly believe that how you answer the phone sets the tone for every interaction at your dealership.
My script is the same every single time.
"Thank you for calling XYZ Service, Alana speaking, how can I help you?"
All business interactions should start with a thank you. This customer could pick several other places to call, but they have called your spot! For that, you SHOULD say "Thank You!"
Identify your dealership. Even though people do not listen. Say your name. Even though people do not listen. Ask them how you can help. Do it with enthusiasm and energy and with a polite tone that is welcoming and warm.
Remember to smile!! You can hear a smile through the phone. Think of how you feel when you call a business and the phone is answered energetically versus in a drab way.
The tone in which you speak can affect the conversation in a positive and negative way. So keep it pleasant.
After you have your tone and script mastered, let's address why the customer is calling. Most of the people calling are looking for one of the following:
They want to book an appointment.
Check-in on their car.
Get a ride back to the dealer.
Get information on a quote for a repair.
They have an emergency we need to help them with.
Yes, there are other reasons but these are the most common.
So, let's say the customer is calling to book an appointment.
What is the best way to locate your file?
Personally, I always use their phone number. This way fewer errors are made trying to spell names which takes less time. If you have read the explosive habits of a service advisor blogs, you will know I hate wasting time.
Actually, we have a number and name display when people call, so before I pick up the phone I have already put the phone number in the system and located the customer's file in most cases.
But using the phone number is also helpful when customers have accents that make hearing the spelling of their name difficult. Numbers are more clear usually.
So, we pull the file and confirm the name, address contact info, and email. I cannot tell you how important making sure this is all correct. So make sure this is done! It takes about 60 seconds to do this as well. Getting this info saves time and errors in the future when we need to get ahold of someone. Emails are part of this equation.
A few times every week, I have customers that I can not reach on the phone for whatever reason, bad service, no service, or they don't recognize my direct line and choose to ignore it thinking it is spam. So if I cannot get someone by calling, or texting, I also send a quick email asking them to call me or to let them know the car is done. This has saved miscommunications between myself and the customer.
I have done everything I can to connect. So get the email! It is not just about surveys or advertising. Nowadays, 98% of people have no issue giving you an email. So, just ask for it.
Many service staff makes the excuse that people do not want to give it and then when I am writing them up at drop off, they come in, I ask, and low and behold they give it to me with no hesitation.
There is actually a little classified information I will pass on to you so that you can also have a close to 100% email capture rate.
Here it is...This is an example of how I get an email 100% of the time. It is foolproof and one of my many secrets.
First I start by confirming the address, then I confirm the cell phone number and then I say this...."And what was your email for the file?" If I am texting the customer and there is no email, I text this, "Oh, I just realized we do not have an email on file, if you text it to me I can update it for you! :))
That is it! There is no magic in how I ask, I just ask. I just ask.
Then what? Ask what they are booking in for. What day do they want to come?
Those are ok, and yes of course, but I am always looking for more money! So the first thing I check while they are giving me a brief once over why they are calling is..... look for open estimates! They may not be mine, but I ask the customer if they would like the items done AFTER I have addressed their primary reason for calling and making a booking.
Of course if they are just calling to check in on their car, I do not do that. I do it at the "time appropriate" moment.
Most times, there is always something that was not fixed on the last visit. Brakes that were getting low last time, air filters, spark plugs that are coming due, etc. I would say 60% of the files have an estimate on them.
Customers forget. We are there to advise them. So take thirty seconds to do that. If they decline it, make a note in a memo that you asked so the advisor does not bother the customer again with the same questions when the customer comes in for their appointment.
But if they say yes, then we have booked the shop capacity correctly on the day of the appointment we are making. If you book the car just for an oil change, and the advisor writes it up and sees it has a previous estimate on brakes, and the customer happens to say yes, then we have hours that were not booked added to a likely fully booked shop.
This issue is the same with recalls. Check them when booking the appointment. There are not many customers that do not want the recalls on their vehicles done. So book them when you book the appointment. Order the parts. This saves the customer from having to make a return visit and the shop capacity from being overloaded yet again with work that needs to be done that we are not booking correctly when they call in. Recalls are low-hanging fruit that we need to pick!
If you are the appointment coordinator... book great appointments. If you are the advisor...book great appointments... Complete appointments. Accurate appointments.
We are the dealership. We are responsible to make sure the recalls and recommended services get done. Period. So take a professional attitude to do what you are doing properly, and completely.
After you have taken the list of concerns, and service requirements and confirm what date they are bringing it... Confirm the time frame.
When they say, "How long will it take?" Do not say, "Once it is in the shop it will take 2 hours." I promise you all they are hearing is "2 hours" this sets up a scenario where we are destined to fail. This is what the customer says when they are dropping off and the advisor asks, "Are we ok to have the vehicle until 4:30 - 5?"
"I was told it would take two hours!" And thank you for the crappy survey! So, change your word tracks and your verbiage. Start now!
If you are not clear on what to say to be more clear, instead, may I suggest, "If you drop it off at 9 (or whatever time they are dropping), I will need the vehicle until 4:30-5. Will that work for you on that day?"
If it does not, they will let you know. This will expose the fact that they are looking to sit and wait, or are assuming they can wait, or that they need it by a certain time to pick up kids or whatever. Make the notes, and the adjustments required, or pick a time that they can actually wait so that the customer fully understands what you can and cannot do for them.
Yes, there will still be a few people that do not listen or manipulate things when they drop off, but this is 5% of people, not the majority. And we can deal with a few of them. But when the majority of people are not clear on the parameters, that is OUR own communication being unclear. This, we need to fix.
We are always working against the clock.
We need to underpromise and overdeliver. If they want it at 2 deliver it at 1. If we tell them a two-hour wait time, get it done in 1.5. If your average wait time is 1.5, do not say, an hour to an hour and a half. Say an hour and a half to two hours. And add the following statement. "That also allows some lead time if the hoist is not empty when you arrive for whatever reason, things don't always go as smoothly as we would like in the repair industry."
After you get the concerns, with abundant information on how to recreate issues, noises, etc. Review the entire thing, confirming all the parameters of the booking. And then.....add....."Ok, remember this is a drop-off time only, not the time your vehicle will go into the shop. The advisor will keep you posted on the progress through the cue and when it is completed. "
What else is important when you are answering the phone? You need to understand how to:
Transfer a call
This is so important. We need to get the customer off the phone as soon as possible. You must feel a sense of urgency to do this in fact. Do not leave them on hold, go find the person you are trying to connect the customer with and then get them to pick up the line. If the customer is looking for an advisor or an update on their car, and you are not their advisor, you should not be the person chasing down an advisor and getting them to answer the call. Instead, let the customer know you are going to transfer them to the advisor and if they don't pick up, they may be on the phone or with someone, so leave a message and the advisor will call them back asap.
You should not leave the customer on hold if you can see that the advisor is clearly taking care of another customer. Pick the phone back up and say, "Alana is just with a customer and it looks like she will be a good 10 minutes, can I get your name and number and have her call you back as soon as she is done?"
There are a couple of exceptions to this process. If the customer wants to hold. Or, if the customer says they have left a message/s already, then, and only then, do you physically go see that advisor and tell them to get the phone, if they still do not, then the manager is the next step. You are the contact that is handling the customer at that point and if you have left messages, sticky notes, etc. several times and the advisor has still not called their customer back that is an escalation you must make, and fast.
You do not want to be associated with someone else's bad service. If I were a customer, I would prefer to leave a voice mail and get on with my life rather than stay on hold for 6 - 8 minutes while you are chasing down someone for me.
Wasting time, leaving a customer on hold, and letting the phone ring off the hook while you are looking for someone is not great customer service. You should see dollar signs flashing when the phone is ringing. People are calling to spend money with your business.
Park and page
If the customer is in a hurry and they do not want to be transferred or leave a voice mail, you can also page that person to the phone. If they do not pick up, you MUST...
Take a message.
How should that message be delivered? I do not recommend sticky notes. They get lost in the shuffle of paper at times, and there is no record of timing. So, instead, text the person on the CRM (whatever program you use to handle your customers, common ones are ADP, PBS, or Quorum) or email them to call that customer back. If this is your third attempt to get them to call that customer, blind-copy the manager as well. That way there is a documented time of the call and if the customer calls back and has had no callback from the advisor, we have a record of when we asked that advisor to call that customer for the manager.
We should be aiming to be efficient and professional. If you are struggling with phone etiquette, word tracks, or anything else, reach out!
You can also check out my recently published book:
"Building a Gold Standard Service Advisor: The Evolution of Service"
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