WHEN YOUR CUSTOMERS COME CALLING: TELEPHONE RULES FOR EVERYONE IN THE AGENCY
by Judi Newman
More business has been lost because of poor service and poor treatment than because of poor product. Yet, it doesn't take any extra time or money to treat people with grace and courtesy; and in many industries, especially insurance, quality of service is one of the few variables that can distinguish a business from its competition. This third in a series of articles by Judi Newman offers guidelines for courteous and effective phone behavior.
To instill good telephone techniques, you need a set of specific, written guidelines. Here's what I'd recommend:
Because the first 30 seconds of a phone call set the tone for the entire call (and the last 30 seconds are critical for establishing lasting rapport), let's start at the very beginning.
1. Answer promptly. Within the third ring is a good standard. Otherwise, the call can get off to a bad start before anyone says a word. Not answering the phone promptly gives the impression that agency staff is harried and disorganized, or perhaps just not concerned with serving customers effectively.
If your phone isn't being answered by the third ring most of the time, find out why. If it's because the receptionist has been given too many other tasks, let them get back to their most important duty, which should be manning the phone. If the volume of incoming calls is more than one person can handle, you need an effective backup system with specifically assigned people (who are just as well-trained and conscious of good telephone manners) to support your receptionist. A caller-friendly automated backup system is also a possibility.
There might be extremely busy times when it's tempting to let the phone ring, but don't. It's a bad habit to get into.
2. Offer a friendly greeting, followed by proper identification. Once you've started on the right foot by answering the call quickly, it's time to slow down and offer an appropriate, friendly greeting. A simple “good morning” or “good afternoon” sets a warm, hospitable tone. Consider using a non-denominational holiday or seasonal greeting at certain times of the year. (“It's a beautiful summer day at Smith Insurance” would almost bowl people over with friendliness.)
Then, give the full agency name. It's a name you should be proud of. It's a name that you want your customers to recognize and get to know, so say it clearly and plainly when you answer the phone.
You'd be surprised how many agencies simply answer the phone with “insurance” without a greeting or any attempt to identify the agency. This might be efficient for the receptionist, but it doesn't convey a caring attitude. What would your reaction be if the businesses you called answered their phone with the type of the product they sell: “Hello, restaurant,” “Videos,” or “Bank,” followed by silence?
Admittedly, some agency names are rather lengthy and a mouthful to say. If so, you probably use a shortened version in the office and perhaps in your advertising that would be acceptable when answering the phone. In other words, by what name do your clients know your agency? If you spend thousands of dollars advertising one version of your agency name it doesn't make much sense to answer the telephone with something else just because it's faster or shorter.
Giving a greeting and proper identification is just as important when the receptionist transfers a call to a staff person. Proper identification means giving a friendly greeting, your name and a “may I help you?” or “how can I help you?” Example: “Good morning, this is Bill Evers. May I help you?” When the receptionist tells you the name of your caller and/or why they're calling, you should use that in your greeting, too. Such as: “Good morning, John, this is Bill Evers. I understand that you have a Homeowners claim.”
3. Avoid the ‘who's calling?' syndrome. We all must have been taught that when we grow up and become part of the business world, we must ask every caller for their name. So many offices seem to do it. But, think about it. Do you really have to ask everyone “who's calling” and thus offend 90% of the callers who don't offer their names first? Many enlightened agencies get along just fine by not asking for callers' names up front — and their clients like it just fine that way.
“Who's calling?” was invented to allow us to screen calls, and that's exactly how it makes most callers feel: Screened. Even if your receptionist uses the more pleasing “May I tell him your name,” you can still run into trouble if the receptionist doesn't transfer that name or if the staff person receiving the call doesn't acknowledge the name. “Who's calling?” can also backfire if someone on your staff has the bad habit of turning away calls at whim or leaving the office without letting the receptionist know. In such cases, the caller can't help but feel that their call has simply been refused.
It's true that having the receptionist ask who's on the line can help you avoid office supply salesmen and nuisance calls, but ask yourself if this is worth the price of possibly offending your clients. Yes, you'll get client service calls that you can't really handle and that will need to be transferred to someone else in the agency. But now you've had a personal contact with one of your insureds that you might not have had otherwise — a chance to touch base and let them know how much you appreciate their business.
Think about how your clients will feel when they call and ask for the agency principal, or for anyone else in the agency, and are connected with that person with no hassle and no questions asked.
But if you still want your receptionist to find out who's on the line before you pick it up, do this in the most courteous way possible. “Who's calling?” is just not acceptable any more. “May I ask your name” is better, as is “Yes, Ms. Agency Owner is in. May I announce your name?” Then the receptionist should announce the caller's name and Ms. Agency Owner should use it when she greets the caller.
4. When transferring a call, always say to whom and why. Here's an off-putting telephone habit we've all encountered: you call a place of business, explain to the receptionist what you want, then all you hear is a loud click and you're left hanging. You're pretty sure that you're being transferred to someone who can help you, but you're positive that the receptionist (and possibly everyone else who works there) is rude and hates their job.
Certainly a “Just a moment please, I'll transfer your call” is needed. It's even better if the receptionist can tell the caller the name of the staff person who will take the call. “Certainly, sir. Marcia Enright can help you with that. I'll transfer you.”
5. When transferring a call, the receptionist should always relay all information (such as the caller's name if she knows it, and why they are calling). The person receiving the call then must act as if they've received that information (for example, “Good morning, Mr. Paxton. This is Bill Manifold. Can I help you with a coverage question?”).
This is one of the most important telephone rules, because your customer doesn't really want to have to start from the beginning when the receptionist hands them over to someone else in the agency. After all, your agency staff is supposed to work together as a team and communicate with one another for the benefit of its clients.
But it doesn't always seem that way over the telephone. For instance, have you ever called a store with a problem that took you a minute or two to explain, only to be put on hold and have the store manager come on the line and say only, “Hello”? Either the person answering the phone didn't relay your problem to the manager, or the manager was told about your problem but is going to make you say it again anyway.
This sort of caller frustration won't happen in your agency if everyone gets in the habit of passing on information when they transfer phone calls, and acknowledging this information to the caller.
This technique is especially important when someone calls with a complaint. That person is probably already frustrated and likely to be on the lookout for how else your staff can mess up. This is a classic “moment of truth” when telephone courtesy can go a long way to ease a tense situation. If you were the staff person receiving such a call, wouldn't you appreciate knowing the situation before you picked up the receiver?
6. Speak clearly and plainly. No gum chewing, cigarette smoking, candy sucking, potato chip crunching or Coke slurping while you're on the phone; go ahead and swallow that last bit of granola bar before you pick up the receiver.
Speaking clearly and plainly also means slowing down and taking your time. Don't rush your words or your thoughts, because if you do, your caller will feel rushed, too, or at least get the impression that you can't wait to end contact with them.
7. Pay attention to your caller. Don't divide your attention between your caller and something/someone else. People can usually sense when you're trying to do two things at once, and they won't appreciate the fact that you can't focus on them for a few minutes. When your caller can hear you whispering to your co-worker, tapping on your keyboard, or shuffling papers, they can sense that your mind is elsewhere.
When you need to use your keyboard or take extensive notes during a conversation, why not let your caller know? For instance, you're taking information from a prospective client over the phone and keying it into the computer so you can rate a policy. In this case, tell the customer what you're doing so they'll understand the keyboard sounds and the brief delays as you type and talk at the same time.
Don't let your attention be divided for you, either. Make it office policy that no one is to be interrupted when they're on the phone, except in emergencies. Don't let your secretary buzz you when you have another call holding. Very few of us would tolerate being interrupted during a face-to-face conversation between agent and insured, yet we often feel free to interrupt a phone call and forget (beep) call (beep) waiting (beep) altogether — please!
Being attentive also means listening to your caller and not assuming that you know what the call is about after the first sentence or two. Let your caller say what they need to say. It's especially tempting to pass callers quickly down the line after an event that generates a lot of claims — but don't. Insureds are particularly sensitive to how they're treated when they have a claim and they need assurance and attention from you more than ever. This might be your 87th claim today, but it might be your caller's first ever.
8. Don't give a bad impression. Although none of us would deliberately give a customer a negative impression, we inadvertently do it over the telephone all the time.
One example: An insured calls at 10:00 a.m. and is told that their agent is “not in yet.” Or it's 3:30 in the afternoon and the agent is “gone for the day.” See what we mean? The customer imagines that their agent is sleeping late or out playing golf. What's more likely is the agent is out making sales calls. So why not tell that to the client? Something like, “I'm sorry, Mr. Agent is making some sales calls this morning and will be in the office about 11:00.” That leaves a good impression, rather than a bad one.
Another example: An insured asks for Cathy and is told, “Cathy is busy right now.” When the insured hears those words, they sound exactly like; “She's too busy to talk to you.” Of course Cathy's busy; she's supposed to be when she's at work, meeting with a client, on another telephone line, or in the file room. Tell that to the caller and you'll leave a far better impression than if you say, “She's busy.” She's not just “out today” (oh dear, out sick again), she's attending a continuing education seminar.
Here's a frequent scenario that's both unfortunate and preventable: An insured calls for the agency principal, Jim. The receptionist asks for the caller's name, as she always does, and proceeds to transfer the call to Jim. Except he left the building five minutes ago and didn't tell the receptionist he was leaving or when he would be back. Now the receptionist must go back to the caller and explain that Jim is suddenly not there. Here's what the caller is likely to feel: Jim really is there; he just doesn't want to take the call because he knows it's me. If only Jim had bothered to check with the receptionist before he left!
9. Take a complete message, but before doing so, see if someone else can assist the caller. If your agency doesn't use an automated voice mail system, messages are taken by hand. All of us know to get a caller's name and telephone number. Few of us go to the trouble of getting the caller's business name, and almost no one asks when the best time to return the call would be and if they can relay what the caller needs in the written message. Are they looking for certain information? Do they have a specific question? Knowing this can be very helpful to the person who'll be returning the call. They can look up the file, check on coverage — or whatever the concern might be — before they call back, and thus be prepared to help the client quickly and effectively.
The receptionist isn't being nosy and doesn't have to sound as if they are. Use wording such as “Is there something Mr. Agent can look up for you before he calls you back?” or “Can I let Mr. Agent know what it is you need?”
But first, try to avoid having to take a message at all. Make it a policy to always ask callers if someone else in the agency can help them. Although this seems logical, you'd be surprised how many receptionists don't offer the caller this option (even after the nice touch of stating that Mr. Agent is out making sales calls). Chances are, another staff person can give callers what they need without making them wait for a return call. At least let the caller make that decision.
Also be sure that the messages you take are accurate. If there's any doubt about a phone number, address change, or any information that you're not sure you heard correctly, don't be shy about asking the caller to repeat it.
a s part of E&O control, it's also handy, to keep a record of all the phone messages the agency takes by hand. An easy way to do that is to use the type of phone message pad/notebook that automatically makes an NCR copy of each message.
10. Note the caller's name immediately, and use it. It's an old sales axiom that everyone likes the sound of their own name. It makes quite an impression when everyone in the agency, starting with the receptionist, uses the caller's name courteously and appropriately, especially when the caller demonstrates good telephone manners by offering their name up front.
So be ready to catch the caller's name (it's usually one of the first things said) and, because it's too easy to forget the name during the conversation, jot it down.
If your receptionist has been instructed to ask for each caller's name, it's especially important to make use of the information you just asked for. As we've discussed already, “Who's calling?” gives the immediate impression that your agency screens calls; to ask for the name and then ignore it bolsters that impression.
11. If you must use ‘hold,' use it properly. First, use hold only when really necessary.