We’ve all had the dreaded call from the contact centre, the monotone voice reads through a lengthy script down the phone, disengaging the recipient and ruining any chance of them buying into the idea, in some cases even damaging the brand.
The worst tend to be inflicted on the consumer by loan companies who advertise in the back of The Sun.
“Hello my name is Derek from ABC Finance, part of the Yabber Yadda group of companies regulated by the Financial Services Authority, I’m calling today because you’ve been selected blah blah blah…”
Then about 3 minutes later you finally get the chance to say “no, thanks”.
Ultimately, there has been no attempt to relax the recipient or let them speak, creating immediate barriers and adopting an obvious carpet-bombing approach.
What if you were fork-to-mouth about to take the first bite of your favourite meal? In the middle of a meeting? Rushing to finish before leaving the office? Would you stay and listen to 3 minutes of dour drivel?
Surely it’s more likely that you’d interrupt and get them off the phone ASAP.
One controversial idea is the use of “is this a good time to talk?” Some use this phrase whereas others view it as a loss of the control in the conversation.
5 reasons to apply this:
- It helps establish interest immediately.
- It aids intelligent conversation rather than reading from scripts.
- You can get a set time to call back when the prospect is readily available for a conversation on the matter.
- It is the difference between a cold call and permission marketing.
- It embraces basic manners.
