Hello again, Hope everyone out there is doing well all around. We are all starting to take turns getting sick in here but hey tis the season (as stupid and yucky as it is).
Every company in the service industry is feeling the whole economy slump especially right about now when things are usually booking faster than we can enter it. Things are good but slower than usual for this time of year so far and as I mentioned we know what's going on in the economy, we all see what's happening with peoples' jobs, even the banks are making changes which is a little scary BUT what makes and breaks my day are the lame excuses we get over the phone from customers.
We make calls several times a year reminding repeat customers it's time to clean the windows or power wash the home. This time of year we focus on gutter cleaning and our newest rainflow gutter protection. We even offer extra special deals for repeat customers on top of the advertised stuff they get in the mail. In an effort to get you off the phone customers make up the strangest excuses rather than just tell you the truth either they can't afford it, they used someone else, or they just aren't interested which leaves you with one of the following.
Breaking your day: This could be where you call a repeat customer. They have been using you for the last several years and suddenly you are the enemy. They claim that you damaged something or missed something, even did a horrible job. Yet all the notes you have say nothing about any issues and even the follow up call and survey card say "what a wonderful crew, I was so excited after the work was done can't wait to see you again next year" So you ask "Why didn't you let us know when it happened" and they say "Well we didn't want to get anyone in trouble" or "We didn't think you would do anything about it" Of course none of these are the case it just sounds better to them if they have some other reason other than their own decision to turn us away. Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying we never have an issue but we always do our best to address them when we are told about it. The only other real scenario that breaks my day is when the answering machine picks up you go through your whole spiel then someone picks up and says "oh they're not home now and hangs up" Please come on now why in the world would they bother to pick up the phone I was just about done with my message..... JEEZ!
Making your day: There are so many excuses that come through that just make you either stop and think for a while about whether you are the crazy one or just flat out crack up. For example when we get a customer on the phone who has used us for several years then took like a two year break. You make your offer and they say " we never used you how did you get our information?" or "I'm on the do not call list it's illegal for you to call me" These leave me scratching my head rechecking the number I dialed and reviewing the customers info. Then I laugh after confirming that I'm not the crazy one. I love the brain teaser excuses which take 2 or 3 other people to figure out what the excuse has to do with the call. Ready for these? "My house was just painted blue last month call me back next year", "No I can't have you come out it's gonna rain" and finally these two are my favorite.. "Who are you, what did we do when, huh I'm sorry I don't understand" and "I'm on my way out (or in a bank even at a funeral) can't talk now" With these calls you generally don't get a chance to say a word after they are done because they hang up. If you think about it though they are hilarious cuz why would you answer the phone if you were running out, for god sake why would you even have your phone on at a funeral especially in this day and age with caller ID and watch out now voicemail.
As funny and frustrating as these calls may be at the end of the day it's making these calls that puts you over the top so please take my advice it will help at least one person out there. Go to the bathroom before you start your calls, keep plugging along don't let anyone get under your skin and don't ever give up! Keep taking the good with the bad; trust me the good will outweigh everything else in the end.
Just a side note for any potential customers reading this please, please just be straight with us. I would much rather hear "Not interested" or "found someone to do it for less" than be strung along to a dead end.
Have a great week everybody,
The Appointed One
No comments:
Post a Comment