Hello?.... Is anybody there?
What is the purpose of a phone call? How do we determine what to do? Or what to say? The phone is a funny thing. It allows us to reach around the world and talk to anyone. It is present in our car at home at work and even on vacation. The phone is such a big part of our everyday life it stands to reason we should know how to use it to our best advantage, agreed? Let’s get started: The question I am asked the most regarding the phone in our field is? “How can I get the person on the other end to set an appointment and then show up and if they do enroll?” Well, that’s a good question, best answered case specific. However, I’ll try to give a general purpose of the Phone presentation.
The message that you must convey in a brief conversation is that you are available, interested, capable and willing to provide an affordable method that can meet their specific needs.
The phone has limitations that can interfere with our ability to convey that message. On the phone we cannot see the person so we miss out on their body language and that alone can be a big obstacle in determining the caller’s true motive. We cannot see things like facial expression or gestures that if we could see would help us determine the true reaction of a given statement or suggestion. If we listen carefully however, with practice we can gain an extra sense that will enable us to hear the projected meaning through the specific tones and pauses. That’s right we can learn a lot about someone through the speed, pitch, volume, clarity, or even the silence that may be in between their words. There are a lot of messages sent in silence. The best way for us to tackle the complex nuances of the phone is to examine specific situations and then dissect the calls as they happen.
Example of a typical call we might receive:
Ring, ring….
Hello Z-Ultimate Self Defense Studios, How may I help you?
Hi, I was calling to get some info about lessons?
Great! Will these lessons be for yourself or someone else?
They are for my son.
Super, how old is he?
10, how much do you charge?
Well that depends on the type of training you are involved in, we have a lot of good programs here so that won’t be a problem. What’s your son’s name?
Joey, can you just give me an idea of what the lessons cost?
Sure, we are open seven days a week and we specialize in personalized training, so we can customize a training schedule and budget just for you. I’m actually in the middle of a lesson right now, the best thing for you to do is to schedule an appointment to come down to the studio and I can show you around and introduce you to a few of our instructors and we can go over all of the lesson schedules and different programs at that time, when we would be a good time for you to come in, would this afternoon or evening work best for you?
Probably this evening.
Great, I have an opening around 6:30 and also one about 8pm, which would work best for you?
6:30 would be better.
6:30 would be better.
Ok and your phone number in case we need to reschedule?
714-555-5555
714-555-5555
Do you know where we are located? We are on the corner of Euclid and Orangewood here in Anaheim next to Maggies Diner. Do you know where that is?
Yes, I get my tailoring done next door with Mrs.LeeAwesome, by the way my name is Jon, what’s yours?
Bob
Alright Bob I have you down for tonight at 6:30. When you come in remember to ask me about the special we have for people who enroll on their first visit.
Ok thanks, see you tonight
You too Bob I look forward to meeting you , bye
Bye
There are a lot of Skills that can be developed to improve your phone call success but, if we keep in mind as we are working to get better the main purpose of the phone call, as described above and have a genuine interest in helping others through this incredible tool we will see great results ahead!
Please leave your comment below…… Thanks, Jon Dunlap
With telephone presentations it is important to remember your purpose. Your goal is not to sign the person up over the phone. Your goal is to book an appointment for the person to come to the studio. Frequently, we tend to give out too much information. It's only natural. We are teachers and teachers love to inform and enlighten. That skill that works well for us in the dojo actually works against us in the telephone presentation. Information calls should be the teaser. Why should they come down to the studio when all of their questions have been answered over the phone? There are three parts to a telephone presentation. One, ask open ended questions to find out about them and why they are interested in martial arts. Listen more than speak so that you can focus on how you can match their need with what we offer. Second, explain how we can meet their needs. Then and only then, in the third part, should you focus on setting the appointment. One last note (can you tell this is one of my favorite topics)a telephone presentation call should last only a few minutes. If your calls are lasting longer than that you may be giving out too much information.
ReplyDeleteJenn Herzog
A lot of these are good reminders! Sensei Jenn had to work ridiculously (and probably painfully) hard with me on talking over the phone and I think I've been letting a couple of these simple things slip recently...
ReplyDeleteThe phone is your friend! The only way it can hurt you is if you dont use it. I completely agree with Mr. Dunlap's ideas of moving around and standing and smiling before and during a phone conversation to a prospective student. Motion creates emotion! Thank you for the invaluable reminders that help us keep our performance up to par!
ReplyDeleteThese are good reminders....I usually get thrown by the repetetive "how much does it cost"? I rarely am able to set the appt right there and then.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought to just sidestep that question that way. Typically if someone asked me about prices once I could very easily tell them that we have a variety of programs but if asked a second time I would almost always surrender an answer that included a number. I also love the use of the alternative close throughout the sample phone call. Sensei John never ceases to amaze me!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminders
ReplyDeleteMr. Dunlaps suggestion in our meeting last friday is what rings in my head as I think of the phone, "let's get away from 'sales' talk and start using 'people we like talk'..." I have found I have done my personal best when I use the voice, attitudes, and language I would use with any of my active students whom I am already accostomed to taking care of, as apposed to the 'let's get you in here' tactics. They're already 'in'... if they weren't...why would I have their number in the first place?!
ReplyDeleteI'm printing this script out so it reminds me to always get the conversation going in the direction I want it to go.So many times i could have set an appointment and just because the person i was talking to wonted to know how much things were, just direct them in the direction we wont them to go.Once they come in and see what they could get from what we do it's a piece of cake.
ReplyDeleteAnother piece of this is also being comfortable with saying these things that a lot of people would consider against the grain or not specifically answering the question.
All of this reminds me that we've already been given the tools. Next practice everyday live. Thank you sir.
ReplyDeleteI remember at Anahiem when me and Mr Hyman were making calls together. We were talking shop and joking while getting appointments set. It was a lot of fun and kept the energy high. Calls with another person in the room can create friendly competition and team work.
ReplyDeleteIt is the rare (non-existent?) person who is better on the phone than in person, so I appreciate the reminder that the goal is to get the prospective student in front of me, not necessarily to make a hard close over the phone.
ReplyDeleteI can see myself using "I'm actually in the middle of a lesson right now..." all the time!
LV (Bellevue)