On August 6th, Staci Clary joined Business Brew to talk about the importance of the customer experience as it relates to phone greetings, on-hold messaging, voicemail best practices, and how to handle online chat.
Here are some of the highlights from the chat.
When recording a voicemail message for your cell phone whether personal or business:
- Don’t be scary
- Be yourself
- Don’t be rushed
- Keep the message short
- Get to the point
- Be clear and kind
Tips for cell phones and employees:
- When handing out phones, also hand out the expectations for use including customer experience
- Consider writing a paragraph that accompanies the phone
- Offer a script they can use when recording a voicemail message
General voicemail tips:
- Practice what you’re going to say
- Deleting your voicemail and trying again is ok
Tips for businesses using auto-attendants (phone systems):
- In an ideal world, live answering is best
- Consider having a company representative answer the phone when possible
- If you have a hold system or auto-attendant, the music and message should sound like your business
- Allow three rings before the auto-attendant answers
- The most important person in your business is the person who answers the phone, whether it’s live or recorded
- Keep the options in the auto-attendant menu to three or four
- Always give “press zero to talk to a person” as an option
- While on hold, silence is not polite; it’s hard to know you are still on hold if it’s silent
- Consistency is important
Online Chat tips:
- Same with auto-attendant, it’s best that this is operated by a real person
- If it’s not a real person, make sure the auto-responses indicate that
Other tips and memorable lines from Staci:
- Any music playing in your business should suit you and the business well
- “Help me matter to you”; receiving a phone call from a customer is the reward for good marketing and advertising, make it count by making your customers feel special
- Your phone is an employee, treat it is as such
- Update your voicemail and auto-attendant two to three times per year
- Review all the touchpoints customers can have with your business!
- Little things matter and make a big difference