In today’s fast-paced world of instant access to everything, people seem to be more impatient than ever before. The need to respond quickly and fully is paramount to reach prospective clients before they move on to the next service provider. Having a plan in place to handle the initial contact, discover their needs and wants, and then schedule an appointment properly will allow your business to become more effective at inquiry management. In this article, we will dissect the typical prospective client’s initial outreach and discuss ways your organization can strive to handle inquiries properly, leading to greater success and results that allow you to thrive.
To become more productive with inquiry management, you need to have the proper people and processes in place. Speed, Competence, Organization, Results, and Efficiency (SCORE), all play a big role in the overall effectiveness your organization will have at converting inquiries to clients. Anyone in your office should be able to take an inquiry call and use the process that you put in place to schedule appointments for consultations. While anyone should be capable of doing this, not everyone will be ready to perform well if they are not properly trained beforehand. Using the SCORE method mentioned above, you and your team will become experts at inquiry management and achieve the results that you desire.
Speed: They say, on the road, speed kills, but when it comes to inquiry management, speed sells. According to a study conducted by Harvard Business Review, companies that respond to new inquiries within an hour are almost seven times more likely to have a meaningful conversation with decision-makers. The longer you wait, the less likely you are to have those meaningful conversations, let alone with the people that really matter…the decision-makers. Surprisingly, this is a real issue for many businesses in today’s world. The study further revealed that only 37% of businesses responded to inquiries within an hour and that the average response time for web leads is actually closer to 17 hours! 27% of all web leads generated are ever contacted at all! This is awful if you are really serious about maximizing your return on your investment in lead generation. Speed matters, as 71% of clients surveyed in the review said that they made purchases based on speed experience quality and that 82% expected a response within 10 minutes. Needless to say, the clock is ticking the moment an inquiry is initiated.
Competence: Just because you respond quickly to an inquiry doesn’t mean the prospect is the right client for you. Your team needs to know what they are talking about and how to ask the right questions to get the answers that they need. Make sure your employees who answer the phones know all about your services and are able to identify the needs and wants of your prospects. Knowledge is always very important, and sounding like you know what you are talking about can easily be recognized over the phone. Do you know what else will be easily recognized over the phone? Your customer service ability. Being polite, yet keeping control of the call, asking the right questions, and providing the correct guidance, will all go a long way. Smile while you dial…or answer. People can “hear” your smile and may put down their guard a bit if you are pleasant when you speak with them. All of this factors into the information that you will get and, ultimately, in your chances of being able to schedule the inquiry for either a more detailed appointment or to close the deal now.
Organization: Along with competence and knowledge, your team’s organization is extremely important in its ability to take inquiries correctly. If you don’t have one already, you need to have and utilize a prospect call sheet when taking inquiry calls. Nothing creates organization for a process like a centralized checklist of what to do, what to ask, and a place to put it all in one location. This will also help your employees get the information that they need to understand your prospective clients’ needs better, while acquiring information that your company needs to better its processes and for tracking in the future. Speaking of tracking, it cannot be stressed more the significance of keeping track of where your leads are coming from and how to get back in contact with them. Train your staff on how to ask for important information, like how the prospect heard of us, or their phone number, email address, and other key facts that could be critical later when you are trying to follow up with this prospect or with the referral source that gave you them. “Okay, just in case we get disconnected, what is your phone number that I can reach you back on right now?” Ask for this information so that the answer is easy and obvious, not a yes and no situation when they can simply say no and move on.
Results: The ultimate goal of an inquiry call is to sell something. Whether it is selling a product or a service, or simply selling the appointment slot in which you will speak, a sale can be made on every call. Fact-finding will lead you to be in a better position to address the clients’ needs, and asking questions with options as answers other than yes and no, will lead to more discussion, and more opportunities to close them. Remember that your goal is to either acquire them as a client, or to acquire the chance to speak with them again. “BAMFAM” is a popular term here at Home Care Evolution, it simply means, “Book A Meeting From A Meeting,” and it may be the most impacted thought process that this article can teach. If you cannot sell the prospect today, sell a chance to try again. Results will only increase if you think this way, and always looking for ways to get another chance.
Efficiency: It is very easy to practice much of what we’ve discussed above, only to then make your inquiry calls drag on, take an hour of your time, and end up without a sale or even another possibility of getting one. It can be frustrating at times to be efficient…but it is part of the process, and finding ways to get to the point quickly can be the difference between lots of opportunities and a few each day. Be wary of the “shopper,” the prospect that simply wants the best deal they can get. Chances are, if you are reading this article, you aren’t the cheapest service provider in your area, and you offer higher quality products and services than most of your competitors. You don’t stand much of a chance with the shopper, since their motivating factor is about saving money, not receiving quality. Instead, focus on the people that have urgency; they have a need, and they need it addressed relatively soon. Use your Prospect Call Sheet fully, and reference it as you speak with your inquiry. Be sure to answer their questions and address their needs, but also be sure to keep moving along, and get to the next steps.
In the end, Inquiry Management is an essential and important part of business, and if you follow the SCORE method mentioned above, you’ll increase your chances at success. But it is a team effort. No one person can handle it all. Take this knowledge and bring it to your team. Roleplay with them, have fun, and make it a memorable and enjoyable training. You can increase your conversation rates easily. You just need to have a plan. SCORE!