← All Articles
General · ·599 words

can do!

can do!

Answering the Phone with a Can-Do attitude!

By Tron Jordheim, PhoneSmart director

Bio: PhoneSmart is an off-site sales force that helps property management companies rent more units with its call center, secret shopping and sales training services. You can get the day-to day scoop on PhoneSmart at www.selfstorageblog.com or email Tron at tron@phone-smart.net .

We all know that the phone is one of the most important business tools we have. The phone makes us money. Potential customers call and decide to do business with us. Current customers call and pay us or just get an issue resolved. The phone has been around for as long as almost all of us have been alive, yet we still need a review from time to time. You can flood your head with all sorts of techniques and phrases to use on the phone. You can study until you are blue in the face, but if you don’t sound like you have a “can-do” attitude the phone will not make you as much money as it could.

Here is your cheat sheet to keep close to you until answering with a can-do attitude is second nature.

  1. Take a breath and let the phone ring twice. This helps you clear your head, adjust your attitude and get prepared to focus on that call.**2. Smile. The caller can hear if you are smiling or not. If you are not smiling, you are not using the phone correctly.
  2. Tell what you can do. Many times a caller asks for something you cannot provide. However, you can offer alternate solutions that may even be better than what the caller was asking.
  3. Ask good questions. You can’t help someone if you don’t know what they are thinking and what they are hoping to accomplish. Ask.
  4. Listen. You won’t know how this person can help you make money until you hear what they have to say.
  5. Determine the outcome of the call. If you decide what results should come form the call, you can influence and guide the outcome. If you do not determine the outcome of the call, anything could happen. Or nothing could happen.
  6. Ask for action. When the time comes in the call, ask the caller to take action that will bring the desired outcome. Ask for the appointment. Ask for the reservation. Ask for the payment.
  7. Don’t let the caller off the phone until a decision has been made. If you cannot reach the desired outcome, reach the next best level. If the caller will not make a reservation, schedule a site visit. If the caller won’t make an appointment to visit, set a time to call back so you can set the appointment then.
  8. Be thankful they called. You have no chances to make money on the phone if no one calls. Even if the desired outcome is not reached, be thankful and make sure the caller knows you mean it.
  9. Review the call in your mind after you hang up to see what went well, what did not go well and how this call could help you improve. It doesn’t matter at this point what you say. It matters how you say it. If you can master these ten steps, then you can learn to use techniques and phrases that will help you make even more money on the phone. This is like learning to swim. If you can blow bubbles underwater, float on your back, jump up and down submerging your head and do the doggy paddle, you can learn every swimming stroke there is and master them all. Trying blowing bubbles and floating on your back for a while. It will give you a lot of confidence. That way the next time you feel as if a phone caller is taking you into deep water, you won’t panic, you will swim like a pro.

rent while you are outHow do the calls flow at the call center?PhoneSmart basic informationManagers, You Need A Call CenterEver need help with a caller?Put On A Smiling Face :)Attitude is everything, so they sayPut On A SmileCallers Say The Strangest ThingsGot Trucks? Tweet This Post Disclamer:** This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

View Tron Jordheim’s Profile Subscribe via RSS

Filed under: can-do