1) Stick to the phone script. The script that works is your best friend, influencing your prospective and established clients to do business with you--what they wanted to begin with or they wouldn’t have called you. If you get lazy about this and allow your team to deviate from the script, you run a big risk of losing many appointment opportunities and ultimately cases. Scripts work, so hold your feet to the fire.
2) Provide a list of common objections with correct answers.
3) Practice how to answer objections. Each time you prepare to launch a new campaign, put together a list of potential objections that your team might get and review that list with them.
4) Use a script, test your script and then keep using the one that works the best.
5) Practice how to use the script over and over again. Teach your team members how to use their voice as a tool, using their tone and inflection without sounding scripted.
6) Make sure that your team members know everything about your business before they get on the phone.
7) Create testimonials appropriate for your business to which your team members can quickly refer. This helps to build their confidence as they share your company’s success stories with prospective and established customers and clients. (Guard confidential information, of course.)
8) Coach your team members on how to use your testimonials; you can’t just say “Use this.” Show them how they can weave different stories into their conversations.
9) Provide ongoing coaching, motivation, and recognition. This is a must because you’re dealing with people. Coaching and mastermind groups work for you, and your team needs coaching, too.
10) Daily pop quizzes are a great way to keep your team focused, moving forward, motivated, sharp, excited, and knowledgeable about your business.
11) Develop ongoing contests and bonuses. Keep score publicly for all team members to see.
12) Do the math. Track and talk about the sales numbers (appointments) daily with your team.
13) Teach your team how to focus on one call at a time. Visualizing is a great tool for staying focused on the next call. Think about “Mary,” the next prospect in line to call. What does she look like, how can you be of service to Mary? How can YOU solve Mary’s problem?
14) Create a voice message script. Create an outline for the messages your team members will leave. Again, hold them accountable for using the script. Create scripts for everything you do.
15) Provide headsets that work for your team members. It will be faster and easier for them to navigate calls, and using headsets cuts down on fatigue.
16) Observe your team members as they make calls. Listen carefully to the tone of voice. How are they doing, really? Watch their body language. Should they be in this position? Are they O.K.? Do they need a break?
17) Teach your team members to use good listening techniques by paying attention to the tone, the voice, and the breathing of the callers, as well as any background noise.
18) Teach your team to keep detailed notes on each call, especially documenting the exact language and vocabulary of your prospects and clients.
19) Stop treating your receptionist, your intake specialist, your case managers, and other valuable team members as low-level employees! Your inbound calls are critically important to your business. The inbound call gives the very first impression of your business. Pay attention to how your phone is being answered and monitor those calls to be sure you’re capturing all sales opportunities. Give your team members all the important ongoing coaching, training, and information they need to be successful. Set them up to win, not fail.
20) You must decide that the first impressions director (the receptionist, the intake team) is critically important to your business. Roll out the red carpet! Stop dealing with turnover. Sell with integrity from the top down. The way you treat your internal team (internal customers) is exactly how your team will treat your external customers.
21) Monitor all team members that use the phone. There’s no way around this, you must Inspect What You Expect™. The purpose of monitoring calls is to identify all the great things that are happening so you can repeat them and all the areas that need to be tweaked fast. This technique is the fastest way you can grow your business and keep it growing.
22) Teach self-critiquing. Your entire team must know how to critique their own phone calls and provide you with feedback.
23) Implement a bonus plan (commission works best) that promotes MORE business, which will make even more money for your receptionist, intake specialists, call center, and all team members that touch the phone.
24) Have fun! Don’t give up. You can do this!