In our last blog, we revisited the ever-important topic of returning phone calls. Your ability to master the art of returning every phone call can literally make or break the relationships you’ve established with your customers. As we made clear, no one likes being ignored. And when you neglect to return messages that were left for you within 24 hours, your customers will likely feel that you’re ignoring them.
How can you ensure that you make yourself a great call returner? Take the following three steps:
1. Listen to all of your voicemails before returning your first call.
By listening to all of your voicemails before making any calls, you will be able to prioritize the order in which your messages are to be returned. Naturally, some messages will be more urgent than others. Your voicemails may include a variety of messages that include everything from pressing issues to simple check-ins to see how you’re doing. Prioritizing is essential.
Be sure to take notes, writing down the names and numbers of your callers and the reasons for their calls. Then devise a list of those names and numbers in order of priority. That way, in your worst-case scenario, if you don’t get to every single message, you’ll know that you’ve handled the most important ones.
2. Never forget that an apology goes a long way.
A voicemail was left for you because you were unavailable. It may not seem like the world’s biggest inconvenience, but it would definitely be wise to acknowledge that it may have been an unsatisfactory experience for your customer to not reach you on his/her first attempt. When you make your call back, be sure to thank your customer for calling and apologize for your inaccessibility at the time.
Especially if you’re speaking with a first-time caller, your sincere apology will help to warm him/her up to you. Remember that it’s of vital importance that you convey pleasantness through the phone call in order to establish a rapport. You don’t have the luxury of facial expressions and hand gestures to show your friendliness. Instead, a friendly voice that expresses genuine regret and appreciation is one that will secure long-term support.
3. Send your future voicemails to your email inbox.
As we highlighted at the end of our last blog, MeloTel’s cloud-hosted Commercial Phone Services comes with a fantastic feature known as Voicemail to your Email. Aptly named, the service sends all of your voicemails to your email inbox as mp3 files. This makes it near impossible to ever overlook another important message!
With Voicemail to your Email, you will be able to receive and listen to your voicemails using any device of your choice – desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, you name it! The innovative feature has proven to help business owners all over North America better their relationships with their customers.
Become a great call returner by taking advantage of Voicemail to your Email today! For information about how to sign up for MeloTel’s Commercial Phone Services, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the Live Chat feature on our website!
