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The Top 9 Reasons Your Leads Aren’t Closing
At some point in your life, I’m almost certain you’ve had to maintain a long distance relationship. I currently live 250 miles away from my family, which probably doesn’t seem like an insurmountable distance. That is, unless you take into account my vehicle (a smart car) and the commute between here and there (all mountains).
My long distance relationship with my father has blossomed into biweekly phone calls, where he describes plumbing problems he’s having with his house and how he can’t pronounce the word “arugula” and I tell him about my latest traffic violation (parking a car with an expired registration at the metro) and try to explain for the thousandth time what I do for a living (content marketing manager at an online marketing company). I still don’t think he understands, because when my grandmother tried to explain my profession to someone else, her explanation was simply:
“Lexie works a lot with older men.” Um. Ok.
Back to my story. Since I have plenty of plumbing clients (Blue Corona markets primarily for home service businesses), his plumbing problems were bad news for him but good news for me. I quickly referred him to one of my plumbers, and he had his wife call in and set up an appointment for the following Friday.
When my stepmother told me she let the plumbing contractors know Blue Corona referred her, my response was, “Oh I already know. We have access to our clients’ phone calls so I already listened to the conversation!”
Although my stepmother was a little creeped out (in my defense, there’s a whisper file at the beginning of the call that lets you know it’s being recorded), our phone call tagging services is absolutely invaluable for our clients—not only to determine the most accurate ROI on their marketing investments, but also to identify the reasons their leads aren’t closing and offer solutions for improving the number of leads that they close.
So over the years, as you can imagine, we’ve listened to an awful lot of client phone calls, which means we’ve come across a lot of reasons why leads don’t get closed. While the best way to figure out why your business’s leads aren’t closing would be to track, record, and tag your calls (or have us do it for you), it’s your lucky day because I’m willing to share the top nine reasons we’ve found businesses aren’t closing their leads.
1. Could Not Satisfy Time Requirement
The customer needs service immediately and you don’t have any appointments available. We’ve also seen situations where a company is understaffed and doesn’t have appointments available for weeks.
Solution: Get the person’s contact info in case you can help them later on. Leave them with a sense that they can call you back in the future. Above all, show empathy for their problem!
2. Price Shopper
The caller’s main motivation is the cost of the service—over quality, experience, and other factors.
Solution: Remain in control of the call. Let them know that price isn’t the most important thing and you offer good value for your work. If the customer still seems to be in limbo, show them a sense of urgency.
3. Customer Service Representative Error
Your CSR is unable to answer questions about your business or is providing false information about your products, services, or service area. Alternatively, your CSR is rude or unmotivated to help the customer.
Solution: Make sure that your CSRs are thoroughly trained in all aspects of your business. Remind them that they often offer the first (and last) impression of your business.
4. CSR to Call Customer Back
Your CSR doesn’t have all the information available or is unable to close the appointment themselves. In this situation, the caller has time to potentially book the appointment with one of your competitors.
Solution: Once again, make sure your CSRs are well trained and even go as far as preparing them with sales tactics. Let the caller know that your technicians can answer specific questions at the time of the appointment.
5. Excessive Hold Time
You make the caller wait too long or put them on hold before helping them.
Solution: Make sure you have enough people available to answer your phones. In addition, prepare your CSRs to answer questions by themselves (as opposed to asking a specialist or technician).
6. Call Dropped
Technology failure occurs or your CSR doesn’t know how to work the phones.
Solution: Always get lead info right away so that if technology fails, you can easily call them back.
7. Referred to Sales Rep
Your CSR answers the phone and gives a number for an out-of-office sales rep (with or without getting contact info or finding out what the customer needs). In this situation, it’s difficult to tell if the lead was taken care of or if the CSR should follow up.
Solution: Book the appointment in the office, even if it means bringing an expert in to your office to book the leads. At the very least, you should get all lead info.
8. Transferred to Voicemail
Similar to #7, instead of giving the number for an out-of-office sales rep, your CSR transfers the caller to a voicemail. In this situation, most people hang up and don’t leave a message.
Solution: Get the person’s contact info—at the very least—but avoid transferring calls to voicemails. However, your CSRs should be able to book the appointments without having to transfer the caller to a voicemail.
9. Referred to a Different Branch
For companies with multiple options, your CSR has given the caller a number for a different branch to call.
Solution: Your phone system should be able to transfer calls between offices so the caller doesn’t have to hang up and redial.
Learn More Insights as to Why Your Leads Aren’t Closing
We’ve heard it all when it comes to companies mucking up their leads, but at the same time, every company is unique. With our Call Intelligence Reporting, you’ll receive a new perspective on your customer service and your customers’ needs, and you can then make the internal changes necessary to capture future leads.
For more information on how your company can benefit from our Call Intelligence Reporting, contact our online marketing experts today!
You Might Also Be Interested In…
- How Do I Know if My CSRs Are Good?
- Expert Tips for Converting More Calls Into Sales
- Smart Selling – CSR Training from Blue Corona
About The Author: Blue Corona's Editorial Staff is determined to help you increase your leads and sales, optimize your marketing costs, and differentiate your brand by passing on our tribal knowledge. The team vigilantly stays on top of the latest in digital marketing, bringing you the top insights with expert commentary. Want to see something on our blog you haven't seen yet? Shoot us an email and our marketing team will get to work.
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The information on this website is for informational purposes only; it is deemed accurate but not guaranteed. It does not constitute professional advice. All information is subject to change at any time without notice. Contact us for complete details.
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