Don’t give up

Welcome to the secret shopping blog, where we look at customer service and sales trends as they impact mystery shopping and secret shopping efforts.

While I was doing evaluations this morning of some of secret shops we had completed, I noticed a common objection that was causing a concern for the people we were calling. When the store asks for the caller’s name and phone number and the caller does not want to give the number out, you can hear the wind come out of the sails of the store staff. Deflated, dispirited and let down the staff people don’t even try to close the call/sale. Objections and concerns happen all the time. Why would they call it selling if every sale was handed to you on a silver platter? Some examples of other objections are; price concern, just shopping, not ready, spouse/boss permission, doesn’t have a credit card, waiting for help, are just a few that we hear on a daily basis.

Ok, it happened. A potential customer gave you a concern. Now what? Do not let it get you down. If the caller does not want to give their phone number for instance, don’t let your voice change. Agree with them if you have to, “yeah, I don’t like to give my number out either,” then ask them to come by for a visit. Let them know when your office hours are and then try and nail them down for a specific day or time. More than half the battle is getting the caller to the property, once there, we’ve found the turnaround to be very lucrative. Same idea for the credit card refusal, it’s not that they don’t want to rent with you; it really might be they don’t want/can’t use their credit cards. Now, some callers will use this as a concern just so they aren’t locked into the reservation. Again, agree with them, “well that’s ok, I don’t like to use my cc over the phone either, is there a day that you would like to come by for a visit and look at that unit?” Turn the negative into a positive. After the cc refusal, try again to stress the limited availability. Let the caller hear the urgency in your voice. Try and think of some of the concerns you hear on a regular basis, write down some good comebacks so you will be prepared when the concern comes up again. Be ready.

And then after you have gained a little more trust from the caller, you can ask again for the name and number, or ask again for the credit card reservation or appointment…and you will get it more times than not.

Give the caller the best customer service from the time you answer to when you hang up the phone. And don’t assume a concern is not going to turn into a sale down the road. (See Laura’s blog from yesterday about assuming)

“There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem.”
Harold Stephens

Thanks,
Natalie

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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