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Customer Service......are you real or scripted?

By
Title Insurance with Bell Title /Triserv LLC

Okay short rant here, so bare with me for a second!

How many times have you gotten one of those "service" calls from your cell phone, credit card, etc. providers? Well I have been getting quite a few lately (business must be bad) and as I understand their reasons for calling, it is absolutely ridiculous how they completely insult my intelligence while on the phone with them. They usually start something like this:

Hello Mr. Hussung, this is (so and so and 9 times out of 10 I have no idea what they said) from XYZ company.

How are you today? (So far, so good right?)

This is a courtesy call from our service department to make you aware of all the great deals you may be eligible for (okay, I am a little irritated now, but I will be patient)

Now Mr. Hussung, I treally appreciate your time today. May I tell you about our deals, Mr Hussung? (Starting to get on my nerves!)

Now Mr Hussung, you are such a good, long standing customer, we have a great deal for you, Mr Hussung ( I know my name!)

Now Mr Hussung, since you are such a good customer, we are offering you today [whatever, whatever]. Would this be of interest to you Mr. Hussung? (Geez, will you quite saying my name every other sentence?)

Thank you Mr. Hussung. I will have to run that by my supervisor, Mr Hussung. Do you mind waiting on the line, Mr. Hussung? (#%^^&*&*!!!! Are you kidding me?) (What kind of deal is it, if they have to get permission? Wow, I feel really special now!)

1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes....tick, tock, tick, tock!!!

Thank you Mr Hussung for waiting on the line, Mr Hussung. My supervisor has approved the offer (GEE, THANKS!). Blah, Blah, Blah, her eis the offer, Mr Hussung, blah, blah, blah, Mr Hussung. *ENOUGH WITH THE NAME ALREADY!)

Now Mr Hussung, do you mind waiting on the line Mr. Hussung while we record this conversation for your protection, Mr Hussung?" (WHAT?)

CLICK!

Folks, this is not good customer service! Reading off a carefully scripted cue card to make a service call that needs permission and then a recording because no one on the call trusts what anyone says is borderline......well, you get the idea.

Needless to say, the deal was really not that great a deal. The call took over 25 minutes out of my day and by the time I was done, I was so frustrated, I actually wanted to take my business somewhere else.

Here are my observations:

If you can't think on your feet and have a pleasant unscripted conversation with someone, then don't bother calling!

If you have to say someones name 30 times in a phone call in ever other sentence, then don't bother calling!

If you need permission to approve a deal, don't bother calling

If you need to record it for whatever reason you want to make up, then don't bother calling!

Customer's want to feel special. They want to be important. They want to know that their business is appreciated. I am sure the intentions were good, but the execution and delivery is everything.If the intention and delivery are out of sync, then it is pointless.

Stay sharp! Have fun!

 

Thanks for stopping by

 

To your success

Until next time my friends,


LEADING EDGE TITLE SOLUTIONS

Matching experience with technology to give

you the edge to be a mortgage industry leader

 

Bo Hussung

Vice President of Sales

phone ~ 615-438-7300 fax ~ 678-261-1594

email me ~ bhussung@cogentca.com

web ~ www.cogentca.com


Comments (7)

Sun City Grand Homes; Surprise AZ Real Estate and Homes,Josee Plant Long Realty West Valley
Long Realty West Valley - Surprise, AZ
Arizona Retirement Communities Specialist

Hello Bo,

I agree that you shouldn't be so scripted when it comes to dealing with clients.  I will follow a script somewhat but ad-lib what needs to be based on the flow of the conversation with my client. 

My signature

Sep 03, 2008 11:33 AM
Leander McClain
North East, MD
Cecil & Harford County Realtor

Bo,

I couldnt agree with you more.   I usually interrupt them with "excuse me....what did you say your name was.  ok ___________  I would would not be interested. Thanks so much for calling"  Click.

you have to learn your scripts and practice and really mean what you say so that it doesnt sound like a script.

Have a great day

Leander

 

Sep 03, 2008 01:23 PM
Rick Fitzgerald
AAM Capital - Chattanooga, TN
The MultiFamily Expert

I absolutely agree with you Bo.

While working for AmSouth Bank, we used to have to cold call a list (even us managers).  We were given scripts to improve our response totally ignoring the fact that most people just hated the calls.  We had better success just calling to say thanks for the business.

Sep 03, 2008 02:48 PM
TeamCHI - Complete Home Inspections, Inc.
Complete Home Inspections, Inc. - Brentwood, TN
Home Inspectons - Nashville, TN area - 615.661.029

LOL... Scripts are a good intro but you do have to ad-lib as you get more into the meat of the conversation. As far as using your name 30 times in a conversation, that is nuts...

Sep 03, 2008 09:20 PM
Richard Weisser
Richard Weisser Realty - Newnan, GA
Richard Weisser Retired Real Estate Professional

Bo...

Funny that you wrote this, because just yesterday I got a call from my cell provider. Seems that my wife has really gotten into text messaging, and ran up quite a bill last month.

The "courtesy call" was to tell me that I could add unlimited testing for ten dollars a month.

Yes, it was right from a script, but it this case, it made good sense and I agreed to the modification!

It had nothing to do with the personality of the caller, it was just practical.

Sep 04, 2008 12:02 AM
Rebecca Anne Cole
PNC Mortgage - Timonium, MD

I agree that customers want to feel special and appreciated.  A scripted telephone call is not effective.

Sep 06, 2008 09:56 AM
Bo Hussung
Bell Title /Triserv LLC - Nashvle, TN

Josee...that is a good plan. The more you speak with clients the better you get at it. Then it is not so scripted....Thanks...Bo

Leander, Straight and to the point....perfect. Thanks...Bo

Rick, Sometimes honesty and sincerity are the best when it comes to dealing with customers. Thanks...Bo

Michael, Thanks..Bo

Richard W...Sometimes they are actually good calls. Thanks...Bo

Rebecca, Well said. Thanks for commenting....Bo

Paul, No kidding. The insincerity is astounding....Thanks..Bo

 

Sep 08, 2008 02:37 PM