In sales and in customer service, it’s frequently the little things that matter. There may be sales you’ve made where something very small tipped the scales your way. Or possibly you’ve lost a long-term client over something you didn’t even know had happened.
This is especially true when it comes to communication. Let’s take a look at four little things that matter in how you and your business communicate with clients and prospects, and could be losing you sales.
Not Returning Phone Calls
Everyone has an expectation about how quickly phone calls will be returned. Very rarely do they expect you to answer the phone every single time they call. But they have a specific expectation about how quickly you return that call.
Usually, twenty-four hours is okay, and three months isn’t. But with some of your contacts, twenty-four hours may not be quick enough. It’s important that you find that out at the beginning of the relationship.
Answering the Phone Ambiguously
If you’ve ever had someone just answer their business phone with, “Hello,” chances are you were a little bit turned off. How do you even know if you’ve reached the right person?
In today’s world, you need to make sure you’re answering with your business name and the person’s name. At my business, I answer the phone, “Sandler Training, this is Mike.”
Not Setting Up Your Voicemail Correctly
When your voicemail isn’t set up right, it may just tell people what phone number they called. But that may not help someone know if they’ve actually reached the right person’s voicemail or not. So they may not even leave you a message.
Not Replying to Emails
When anyone sends you an email, they have some sort of expectation about your response. And it’s probably not the same expectation you have!
Even if the email’s reply is something you have to spend some time researching and really working on, some sort of initial acknowledgement is a great idea, Something like, “Just wanted to let you know I got your email. I’m going to check into that and I’ll get back with you by the end of the week.”
Some of these changes are quick, one-time fixes. Others will require that you change your habits. But just taking care of these four little aspects of your business communication can make a huge difference in how you are perceived.
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