In the course of your IT telemarketing campaign, especially if you are using a business list of old customer contacts, there will always be times when you meet prospects that require a little more handling than the norm. Not that they are demanding or anything. They were just let down by someone in your company in the past (or even now). When that happens, you need to be at your best. Smooth their ruffled feathers, find a solution for them, etc. Otherwise, they will be taking their business somewhere else. Now that is lost sales leads. And who wants that to happen, right? Unfortunately, be it the upper management’s fault or an oversight on your part, what you tell your customers may add fuel to the fire.
Really, you cannot believe just how big a damage some dumb phrases create in the hearts of unsatisfied customers. Your company let them down, remember? Now, it is your job to save their business (and make your future IT appointment setting campaigns much easier to do). Knowing what to say is important, true, but it is also equally important to know what NOT to say. Seriously, latter list is much smaller compared to the former, making for easier reading. So, what are these offending phrases that you should know about?
- “That is our policy” – seriously, part of your lead generation work is to make the lives of your prospects easier. Now, in the event that you encounter B2B leads prospect that turned out to be an unhappy customer, saying something like ‘that is our policy’ will never get you far. Indeed, it might get you booted out.
- “There is nothing I can do” – really, is that what you should say? To tell you the truth, there is still something you can do, and that is by returning the money that you took from your customer (within reasonable time, of course). That would be a real good solution.
- “Would you mind holding for a minute?” – it may be innocuous, but what would you do if the customer says ‘No’? That would certainly make for an awkward moment. It would have been better if you just explain outright why you are putting them on hold and for how long.
- “You will have to visit our website” – take note, there is a reason why you are calling your prospects, and that is to know what their problems are. Once you do, then you can provide them a solution. Telling them to visit your company website defeats the purpose of your call. Basically, you are going to drive away their business. And is that not the last thing you need?
- “That is the manufacturer’s responsibility” – this is a common reply when one buys from a middleman. To tell you the truth, if you are in that kind of business, be ready to shoulder the cost and effort to reach the manufacturers of you defective products. You see, in the eyes of your customers, you took their money. Therefore, this is your responsibility.
Honestly, these are really dumb answers, and rarely will this get you anywhere in yourlead generation campaigns.
