How Your Phone is Answered Says a Lot about Your Cleaning Company

When someone calls your company, what do they hear on the other end of the line? Many cleaning business owners spend very little time thinking about phone etiquette. The truth is, much of your customer's experience with your company is through the phone—what happens in those interactions is extremely important.

A customer's perception of your company starts with their initial call. How you and your employees address them on that first call (and every subsequent telephone interaction) will determine whether they believe yours is a professional, courteous business.

Training employees on phone etiquette is key

Make sure you and your front-office staff have great phone etiquette.

Here are some tips for ensuring your skills are top-notch.

Answering the Call

• First and foremost, answer your phone quickly. The goal is to always answer incoming calls by the third ring. Waiting too long will leave a current or prospective client annoyed and, potentially, result in them hanging up and calling your competitor.
  
  
• Answer the phone with a standard greeting, and then identify yourself and your company. For example, "Good morning, ABC Cleaning Company, this is John. How may I help you?"
  
  
• You may want to use a speakerphone to keep your hands free for other activities but avoid that temptation. People don't feel comfortable being put on speakerphone as it gives the impression the call isn't private.
  
  
• When someone can't see your facial expressions, your voice becomes infinitely more important. Always be warm and courteous. Remember that you're representing the company and you want to make a good impression by having a pleasant-sounding voice.
  
  
• Speak slowly and with a moderate volume. Avoid talking so fast that the caller can't understand, so loud that it could be perceived as yelling, or so soft that you can't be heard. Also, enunciate your words so can be easily understood and not sound like you're mumbling.
  
  
• Finally, keep a positive tone to your voice. If you're not having a good day, be conscious of it because the tone of your voice is easily detected. Even if a call becomes contentious, be careful to not let your tone become sarcastic or angry. And keep your responses positive; instead of saying, "I don't know," say something like, "Let me find out for you.”
  
  

When You're Away

Unless you hire an answering service or have more than one person answering the phone, it's not possible to answer every single call as it comes in. Also, there will be times your staff will need to take messages for you. In these cases, there are some important tips to remember.

• First, avoid using an answering machine. Voicemail is a more professional and contemporary choice; it's a better way to signal your company is modern and professional. Be sure your message includes a friendly greeting with the company name and informs them how long they can expect to wait for a return call (office hours).
  
  
• Before putting a caller on hold, ask their permission to do so. Then, don't leave them on hold too long; get back to them right away. Instruct employees to check back in with people on hold if the wait is getting too long and give them the option to leave a message for a return call rather than continuing to hold.
  
  
• In cases where you or an employee must take a message for someone else, get complete information from the caller, and write it down in a central location like a telephone log. Get the caller's name, company name, phone number, who the message is for, and a detailed message. If you're not sure how to spell the name, ask them to spell it out for you. Be sure to get the message to the correct person right away.
  
  
• Return calls either the same day or within one business day. Nothing is more irritating to a caller (especially a prospective customer) than having to wait days on end for an answer to their question.
  
  

 Write a Script

• To avoid the waiting game, it's smart to have some prepared scripts available for your employees. This can empower them to answer basic or common questions that might otherwise wait for your attention.
  
  
• Write down the questions you are asked most frequently and provide templated answers wherever it makes sense. If you don't know what questions to include, begin tracking what customers and prospects most commonly ask when they call in. Use this information to create a binder filled with Qs & As organized by topic for your front-office staff.
  
  
• Make sure this binder includes a list of questions you need to be answered when quoting a job. It's important to get them a price as quickly as possible so you don't lose out to a faster competitor. Having all your questions answered when you receive the message can avoid back-and-forth calls and help you give a custom quote right away.

When Things Go South

There will be times when you or your staff will be greeted by an angry caller. Most often, this will be a current customer who is calling with a complaint about their service or their bill.

• To avoid getting flustered and to prevent escalation, it's critical to have a process in place for dealing with these situations. Think through potential problems and write out plans for how you'll address them. When the call comes in, how should the person answering the phone react? What can they do to diffuse the situation? Who will ultimately be responsible for addressing angry callers who aren't appeased by the initial response?
  
  
• Whatever it takes, you want to address problems promptly (ideally, no longer than 24 business hours), whether that means a personal apology call from the owner or sending a technician back to a home to fix a mistake. Waiting too long allows the customer time to grow angrier and even to call a competitor and fire you.

Training Your Employees

• Make sure all employees who will be answering your phone are trained the same way. You want the experience for callers to consistently be pleasant.

If you need help creating a proper training program, our Customer Service Training Program can help. We'll make sure your employees know how to represent your company in the way you want it to be represented, including phone etiquette and so much more.

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