Article by Julie Cook

Last weekend I volunteered at a massive garage sale for my son’s high school marching band. The gymnasium was filled with table after table of the junk that would become someone else’s treasure. One parent was so anxious to clean house that she showed up with a U-Haul full of cast-offs (the organization made $1,000 from her donations alone).

A curious thing about the garage sale economy: It’s truly an underground one, often with high-ticket, high-value items walking out the door for pennies. We all know that’s the way it is, and if you try to buck the system or won’t haggle, you run the risk of sitting in a fold-up chair in your driveway at 5 pm on a Saturday afternoon staring at the same junk you’d set out so carefully that morning. At the high school sale, I saw a gold-plated silverware set that sold online at $300 going for $35, and really expensive sports gear (I know sports gear; I have 3 boys) walking out for $20. Garage sales = cast offs = pennies on the dollar.

I think business owners and sales professionals can bring a garage-sale mentality to their products and services. In a panic to make a sale (or make payroll), they move too fast to offer discounts on the spot. You’re asked to discount or match a price, as if you’re selling soybeans or some other commodity. Afterward, you’re left feeling “had.” Do you know the feeling?

Jeffrey Gitomer, author of the best-selling Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness, writes in his blog that objections to price are actually a buying signal obscured by some kind of perceived risk. Gitomer says we need to re-engage the buyer and find out why they wanted to buy in the first place. For me, that means re-visiting the original problem that sparked the motivation to consider buying in the first place.  “If I uncover the buyer’s motive,” says Gitomer, “I will make a sale regardless of price. If I engage the prospective customer in a value-based and value-driven discussion, I might be able to get them to see my perspective.”

What value do you bring to the table? What problem do you solve right here, right now for your prospects? Focus on that, and you can let the hagglers be your competitor’s problem. Remember to include phrases in your on hold script that reinforce how and why your product and services solve your target market’s problems. We can help you with this; just ask.

Here’s to your growing business!

Special Article by Julie Cook on creating a better customer experience.

Our building is situated on an acre of woods, and it’s the norm to feel like we’re in the middle of a Disney movie as we watch the deer, rabbits, squirrels and birds congregate on our property.

Here he is, our loyal friend.

One day last summer a cute collarless Jack Russell terrier emerged from the woods, scampering through our yard, clearly out of place and clearly an escapee from

a nearby neighborhood. We scooped him up, named him Scrappy Doo for the day (although he was much cuter and far less annoying than Scooby’s annoying cousin), put a notice on Craigslist, and by the next day, the pup and happy owner were reunited.

Well, today he’s back. Scrappy Doo (we never got his real name) freed himself once again and ended up at our doorstep, obviously remembering all the love, the playing, the cuddling, the lap-sitting we gave him those short few hours.

Okay, so it was the food.

But my point is, he chose us when he could’ve sniffed at the door of any other business or home in the area. When he had the freedom to choose, he knew we would have the goods he wanted. It was burned in his memory, if not his belly.

And so it goes with customers.

They can go to any of your competitors, but they will keep choosing you if you make every experience unforgettable. Make it forgettable and they’ll go somewhere else. Loyalty can be built overnight and lost just as fast.

What can you do right now to build loyalty? Take a look at my list below. How many do you have in place? How many can you start working on tomorrow?

7 WAYS TO LOVE YOUR CUSTOMER

1. Make me feel important.
Every employee must be genuinely interested in making me feel like royalty when I walk in the door. It starts with a smile and eye contact.

2. Make your facility smell nice.*
It’s called scent technology and you won’t believe what’s possible with scents specially formulated for a business or retail environment.

3. Make it look nice.
If your decorating scheme is more than 10 years old, it’s probably time for something fresh, even if it’s just new carpet.

4. Make it sound nice.*
No local radio station blaring overhead (awful! And illegal!). Use custom overhead music that fits your brand.

5. Make the wait great.*
Don’t leave me sitting on hold in silence or suffering through radio commercials (again, awful! and illegal!). I think either of these two alone leaves a caller feeling more forgotten than anything.

6. Be an expert.
Know your product and your industry better than anyone you know. If you’re smart, you make me feel smart for choosing you.

7. Understand my problem before you try to help me.
Ask lots of questions before you launch in with advice. Getting it half-right makes it all wrong. Train your employees to ask questions first, talk later.

*Easy On Hold specializes in these services. Ask us for advice and solutions.

Be unforgettable to your customers and they’ll keep coming back…just like our little canine friend.

Julie Cook

There’s an old-school on-hold marketing approach that says, “load up that script with all the content you can dream up. Throw everything in it–including the kitchen sink!”

I cringe when I work with a client with that kind of thinking because what they don’t understand is that repetitive marketing is effective marketing. One-size-fits-all marketing falls flat. A script that tries to cover too much ground is like throwing mud at a wall and seeing what sticks; a little bit does, but the rest just slowly falls to the ground leaving behind a real mess.

On hold marketing works best when you limit your message to a single idea, and resell it over and over by writing each paragraph a bit differently.

For example:

A plastic surgery/facial rejuvenation office would like to entice prospects and customers to try something new, using a “special offer”. Old school on hold would work one paragraph about the special into a laundry list of other paragraphs (hours, the facility, the dermatologist, the new this, the new that). Of course those are all good things, but if building business is the goal, then why only mention the promotions once? It’s a bit like playing Russian roulette with your most important message.

My preference would be to write 5-6 different paragraphs about the same promotion, but in the first paragraph, briefly mention the convenient hours for booking your new procedure at that special price. The next paragraph would indeed mention the new modern facility where you’ll be getting your new procedure done–at that special price! Then talk about the dermatologist who will be providing your new procedure–at that special price, and so on.

The repetitive message doesn’t get missed with any of your callers.

“But I don’t run specials,” you say. “I do want my callers to hear a variety of ideas; I’m okay with that.”

Yes, I understand that not all companies are alike, and your goal may not be as sales-driven as the example above. But keep this in mind: Hold time really is most effective for you when you answer the question, “What do I want my callers to do with the information they’re receiving while on hold?” Without a call to action, you simply have a dull brochure that’s all about you, not the caller.

Once you’ve decided what action your callers can take to receive maximum value, don’t bury it. Get it out front and repeat, repeat.

With the Easy On Hold Anytime Plan, you have the freedom to keep your message very targeted…and if you’re using one of our internet-load players, you can have us add or remove content based on specific dates which we program into your unit. Perfect for time-sensitive promotions.

Our scriptwriters are ready to help you bring a more targeted focus to your scripts. Just let us know, and we’ll be happy to help provide ideas.

If you’ve ever thought that your choice of “on hold” content wasn’t important, consider this exchange from the Comcast customer forum. The point here is, people ARE listening! What are they saying about your company?

ANNOYING MUSIC ON HOLD
10-05-2011 04:41 PM

The music that Comcast plays while on hold is the most annoying music i have ever heard period!  It is a short annoying jingle that is irritating because it plays over and over and over and over again. And we all know how long we are on hold.  It’s almost like they do it so you’ll hang up!  Think about that one!  Who agrees with me?

Re: ANNOYING MUSIC ON HOLD
10-05-2011 11:48 PM

The techs have to listen to that same horrible music. Imagine doing it for several hours every single day. The “tune” is still stuck in my head. blah.

Re: ANNOYING MUSIC ON HOLD
10-06-2011 09:54 AM

so what universe do you live in?

Re: ANNOYING MUSIC ON HOLD
10-06-2011 09:55 AM

So why doesn’t someone get it changed ?

Re: ANNOYING MUSIC ON HOLD
10-06-2011 11:40 AM

They could turn the music off and you listen to nothing…no matter what music they pick, no matter what ads they run on hold someone will complain about it.  Six in one and half a dozen in the other…

Re: ANNOYING MUSIC ON HOLD
10-06-2011 12:01 PM

Not true…..didn’t you ever hear the saying , “silence is golden”.

Re: ANNOYING MUSIC ON HOLD
10-06-2011 12:49 PM

The thing about silence is you wonder if you are still connected. At least with the music or blurbs for other services or Comcast features you know that Comcast hasn’t disconnected the call. I’ve listened to silence on hold before and a few times did get disconnected and not know it.

Sometimes you find a gem among the truckloads of advice on “improving  customer service” published on the web. Here’s one offered by Business 2 Community, a forum offering “valuable insights from both a business-to-consumer and business-to-business perspective helping us truly create a ‘Business-to-Community’ experience.”

In a discussion focusing on the decision-making element of perceived indifference, a feeling a customer gets when customer care is lacking, these tips are provided for putting more care in customer-care:

1. Do you answer the phone on the second ring every time?
2. Do people have an on-hold message to listen to? (And does is provide useful upsell info?)
3. Do you thank your customers or potential customers for calling?
4. Do you thank your customers or potential customers for visiting your business/or website?
5. Do you thank your customers for buying from you?
6. Do you and your team always arrive on time for meetings with customers?
7. Do you deliver products or services when you say you will every time?
8. Do you always let your customers know beforehand if there’s a problem?
9. Do you always return phone calls the same day you get the message?
10. Does each team member take responsibility for helping customers or do they hand around customer problems from one to another or from department to department?
11. Are team members empowered to provide compensation / service recover following a complaint?
12. Do you stay in touch with customers regularly?
13. Do you keep your customers informed about new things happening in your business?
14. Do you thank your customers when they pay on time – every time?
15. Do you have a policity to turn your mobile phone OFF/silent when in meetings with customers or potential customers?  (I have to throw this one is as it’s a particular bug bear of mine which I find totally ‘rude’ and is a strong example of ‘perceived indifference’).

Some of these issues can be solved quite simply, such as lining up a firm such as Easy On Hold to write and deliver meaningful messages on hold. Do your customers know you care?

In an article called, “Know What Makes Your Customers Angry”, guest writer Marco Pacelli (CEO, ClickFox) writes in Bloomberg Businessweek about customer service slip-ups that can get customers hot and bothered.

In a survey, ClickFox asked more than 1,500 consumers what really makes them get ticked off. Their top three responses:

• Speaking with multiple agents and starting over every time.

• Dealing with rude or inexperienced representatives or service technicians.

• Being kept on hold for long periods of time or unable to use self-service options successfully.

Losing customers is not an option… so why not pull out all the stops to help your callers get to know you or fall in love with you all over again. In addition to the tips in the original article, we would like to offer a few ways your music on hold message can be utilized to help with common customer irritations.

Be consistent. If using an auto-attendant, use the same voice as your on-hold messaging. This helps gives the impression of a seamless operation and cuts down on the feeling that the caller is being bounced around to different connections and agents.

Remember why callers are reaching out to you. Do the callers want technical help? Price quotes? Need to make an appointment? Convince your callers that you know their needs by targeting specific announcements in your messages on hold. Stay away from generic hold music solutions.

Promote web service. If callers can get help online, carefully instruct them to use your site to their benefit.  Be certain to use this information in your hold music message. You may be able to save them a phone call–and save them the frustration of having to wait on hold.

Don’t put it off! Ask yourself, which caller can I do without? Which caller is going to bring in business? Can I afford to lose even one call?