Focus On The Phone For Your Business

Alexander Graham Bell didn't intend to invent the telephone. It happened, kind of, by accident. Bell's mom and dad were both deaf; and Bell was obsessed on attempting to invent a device that would somehow help the deaf hear and speak. He actually started a school called The School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech (one of his students was Helen Keller).

But, in his rush to create a device that would help the deaf hear he created the telephone.

The telephone was so ancillary to Bell's overarching focus that historians now widely believe he considered it an intrusion. In fact, the telephone was so much of an intrusion into Bell's life's work that he would not have one in his office.

In the beginning, Alexander Graham Bell wasn't focused on the phone.

But you need to be.

The Truth: Why the Phone is So Important

In the internet world of SEO, SEM, Facebook Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, internet banner ads, websites, e-newsletters, cookies and pop-ups, is the phone still essential for your bottom line?

It is, for hundreds of reasons: here are three:

1. 50% of local customers will call a business before they visit it. This is incredible! Think about it: these are people who are calling you directly and asking for information. Generally this call happens after a web search, after research and after seeing your advertisement. If they call you, you can bet, they are ready to purchase. They don't' stop by your business first, they call. In some industries this number is much higher—in the 70% to 80% range. Even in the internet age with all the tools available at the tips of our little fingers; people still call. They still want to talk to an actual person before they invest money and order a product, or before they invest time and energy to visit your business.

2. That phone call is your first chance (your only opportunity if you screw it up) to actually talk to your client. It is also their first opportunity to actually speak to you. Maybe they've seen your ad in a coupon book or seen your listing on a website or in the phone book, either way they've made the decision to call you. This is your opportunity, your moment, to wow them. It may be the only opportunity you get. You have to be on your game. If you (or your employees) screw this phone call up, you have lost that customer.

3. You spend big bucks to get that phone to ring. How much do you spend on advertising each month? For smaller businesses it could be just a few bucks or a few hundred bucks a month. Larger businesses are spending tens of thousands and even millions of dollars to advertise each month. What is the purpose of all that advertising? Why are you dumping money into a never-ending funnel of advertising? At least one of the answers is this: you want the phone to ring.

But here's the big question: How do you react when it does??

The Facts: What We Have Learned

We've recorded tens of thousands of phone calls in the last decade. These are actual employee interactions with actual people. We score these calls on a 0% to 100% scale. The calls that score closer to 0% are doing almost nothing a good rep/salesperson/employee should do on the phone. A call closer to 100% is doing most of the things a good rep/salesperson/employee should do on the phone.

Here are three things we've learned over the years:

1) Close rates go up as the scores go up. For example: if a salesperson is scoring above 80% on his phone calls, he will close three times more sales than someone scoring under 80%. Let me reiterate: if you are doing 80% of the things you should be doing on the phone, you will close three times more sales than an employee who isn't. Holy cow!

2) For many industries the initial scores we see are in the 15% range. They are horrific. They stink really, really bad. When our clients hear their employees' recorded calls for the first time they are generally stunned by how poor they are. Most reps/salespeople/employees are only doing 15% of the things they should be doing on the phone. And, not surprisingly, their close rates on the phone reflect that.

3) Phone sales training works. When we record, score and coach employees on phone sales skills those employees show measurable improvement 85% to 90% of the time. The significant majority of them cross that 80% scoring threshold we talked about before. (Remember, three times more sales if they cross 80%). But to get those results the training must be ongoing, and it must be accompanied by recording and scoring.

Lost Customers

So if most of your employees would score in the 15% range on the phone right now, (remember, if they scored above 80% they would close three times more sales) how many opportunities are you missing? How many customers are hanging up the phone, never ordering and never walking into your business because your employees have never been trained properly? Ask yourself: Are your employees getting the sale on the phone? Are they trying get the sale? Heck, are they even polite when a customer calls?

And remember: you invested money to get the phone to ring.

A Final Analogy

Imagine spending money to buy ads. You put ads everywhere, in the newspaper, on TV, on radio, in the yellowpages, on a billboard—people see these ads and want to visit your business. But, as you see them approaching, you lock the front door. Only a small percentage of the people that show up at your door can figure out how to get inside.

That would be dumb.

But ask yourself this: are you are doing the same thing on the phone? Are your employees' sales skills on the phone locking that door? Is your ad money being wasted?

So even though Alexander Graham Bell wasn't totally focused on the phone, make sure your business is.


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ContactPoint is the world leader in sales and customer service optimitics. Their patented technology records and scores live phone calls so businesses hear what their customers hear. For more information visit http://www.contactpoint.com or http://www.contactpoint.com/about-you/sell-with-power