You’re busy. No one is disputing that. As a business owner, you have a lot on your plate each and every day. Nevertheless, it’s not always so easy to keep people’s feelings from being hurt. Yes, you’re running a business and those who call you shouldn’t be taking it personally if you’re not around to take their calls. But, for some reason, many people take offence to having to leave voicemails.
Having to both leave and receive voicemails are inevitable parts of life. In your personal relationships, you can certainly experience senses of worry or agitation when the voicemails you leave go unreturned for days. But, it’s important to remember that, in the business world, people tend to get just as agitated. This goes for both clients and colleagues alike. So how do you do damage control when someone is upset because it took you days to return his or her call?
Here are three ways to master the art of “missed call damage control”:
1. Be clear about your reasons for missing the call. Some people jump to conclusions. It’s a part of our nature that many of us can’t help. When we leave messages and expect them to be returned within minutes, we sometimes question if the people we left the messages for are ignoring us. In the business world, this is especially true. People expect expeditious service. Not hearing back from a company within the same business day is often very off-putting.
Therefore, when you return your phone call, be sure to inform your caller about the reason you missed the call. You were busy at an important business meeting, you were away on a business trip or you had to tend to an emergency are all legitimate reasons for missing calls that most people won’t argue with. To limit the amount of agitation felt by the person whose call you missed, be forthright about your inaccessibility.
2. Apologies never hurt. You have a busy schedule. That is to be assumed. But many customers feel like they are your most important clients. Of course, it’s important that you work to make them feel that way. We do the best we can, here at MeloTel, to make all of our customers feel special. But when you miss the phone calls that come in from certain customers, they tend to not feel so special anymore.
Don’t be afraid to say that you’re sorry. Remember that an apology isn’t necessarily an admission of doing something wrong. It’s an acknowledgement that you may have inconvenienced someone. It’s important to be empathetic in your apology as well. Let your customers know that you understand the frustration that can come with not being able to have their problems addressed immediately. This will give them the confidence that they can still count on you.
3. Never miss another call again! Now, how exactly is that possible? You can’t be expected to take every single call that comes in, can you? Of course not. But you can certainly make a major change in your accessibility to those calls. Sometimes, you’re out of the office. Sometimes, you’re not at home. But, no matter where you are in the world, there is a solution to the entire “missed call” problem.
At MeloTel, we offer the wonderful Single Number Reach feature. It’s a virtual phone number service that allows you to forward a local number to up to five numbers of your choice! You get your own telephone number and can even receive voicemails in your email inbox. Single Number Reach helps to ensure that your clients can contact when you’re on the go, no matter where you are. For more information, call us at 1-888-MELOTEL!
