Colin Pearce's Blog

But first a cute story.

My grandchildren are the funniest things on two little fat leggies and like all kids they come out with some bursters. The three year old's Mummy was telling Daddy something over the meal table and right in the middle of it she touched his arm and said, "Daddy. I've got an idea. How about you and me play a little game of 'I spy with my little eye' while Mummy finishes talking to herself?"

Now the kicker. Are you talking to yourself? Is anyone listening? And do you respond in English?

A bizarre tale

I was driving home the other night and heard an advertisement on the radio at prime time. It grabbed my attention because I had been thinking about gas conversion for the car and these guys said they were 'it and a bit' at it. The ad. gave the phone number and told me to ring. I did.

You're busting to hear what happened aren't you? 

"Your call is being diverted" Ring Ring. "The mobile phone you are calling is either disconnected or out of range."

I rang again in case I had misdialled. Same story.

I called 1234 for assistance and yep, you guessed it, their name and number were not listed under the general listings nor under their category – Motor Vehicle Gas Conversions.

I will be playing I spy and finding someone else while they finish talking to themselves.

Altogether now. Duh-uh!

See? They spent the money because they believed the radio salesperson but they didn't work out what to do next and no-one told them.

What can you do? 5 more tips.

1. If you're going to advertise when you are closed use an answering service and give them a script.

2. If you're going to divert the calls have the phones turned on.

3. Tell your people you're going to be running ads and tell them what callers are likely to ask.

4. Tell them that callers can only ask one of about three main questions – How much? When can I get it? and How good is it? Write out the answers and hand them out. Then train them what to say. Make them practise.

5. If people won't learn the script, take their phone off them and tell them to go work where they can make someone else miserable instead of you – or at least sit them in a room for 10 minutes at a time every day to listen to a bit of Great  Phone Skills until they get it.

I mean to say, if you are carelessly chasing away 50% to 80% of your callers, you could definitely cover the cost of  Great  Phone Skills  by just getting one or two more calls right – on the first day? Yes! I know it to be true. 

I also know this to be true: the people who need most it will read this and not move a muscle.

It's not an investment. It's a rescue package. Grab the lifeline. You will not lose.