Yesterday I was in New York at the National Speakers Association Convention.  While I was in town, I called the office of a sales coaching client who is a retail financial advisor for a large bank.  This bank has about fifty offices spread over seven states from coast to coast.  I provide sales coaching for their advisors, and thought I would stop by and say hello to this particular person.  I called the advisor’s office and asked “Do you know which branch [advisor] is covering today?”  The answer was short and to the point.

“No,” was the reply, followed by silence.  No offer to find out the answer or find someone who could assist me; just a simple no.

First impressions make or break sales.  If I had wanted to discuss opening a new account, I would have chosen not to dig any deeper.  Were I an existing client, I may have considered moving my account.  Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is one of America’s top customer service experts.  In an article titled “First Impressions”, Shep states that “Most of the statistics range between eight to twelve good things to make up for a Moment of Misery.” 

Solution: Make certain your staff and colleagues are trained on proper telephone technique.  Script them, and leave nothing to chance.  In today’s world, tolerance is preached on every corner, but never be tolerant of poor or rude telephone technique.  Believe this; your clients won’t be tolerant if they are treated poorly.  Conversely, if people are trained and expected to deliver exceptional client service in every way, people will want to do business with you, and refer you to others.

Good selling!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 11:39 am and is filed under Customer Sales Through Service, Practice Management. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.