We have a service industry customer that has a handyman and remodeling business. They were having a hard time trying to get the phone to ring with new customers, and to keep phone calls from current customers coming in.
When we originally starting working together, we thought it was a marketing solution that they were after, so we gathered more information.
They were heading into their 3rd year in business (congratulations!). They do all of the work; estimating, invoicing, and more in house. They were concerned with business growth and seemed to have all the proper business branding in place.
They have a good website, and their SEO efforts have them showing up first in their immediate area.
They have great reviews on google, facebook and even on their own website.
Everything Sounds Great Right? Not So Fast.
We then asked about Customer Service. Specifically in regards to how the technicians are reaching the customer to notify them about their appointments.
We then asked about the Customer Experience side of things (what happens post sale that leads to customer referrals and more).
This is when everything became clear.
We took our notes in terms of lessons learned from a few of our service industry customers. A plumbing service company, a driving school, and a mobile mechanic.
One reason that the company phone was not ringing as much as expected (from existing customers), is because some of those customers began working directly with the technicians/employees themselves.
Correct, their employees were now working with the customers directly and bypassing the company completely.
While we understand and agree wholeheartedly that this a violation of employee rules and ethics, we also understand that if nothing has been done to control customer information – that is a variable that can lead to trouble.
We do not mean CRM’s, emails, and other things. We mean how the customer is contacted via phone or sms from field staff while in the field.
If a service industry business is not controlling all forms of customer contact information, unfortunately, the not so ethical employees are going to do things that can hurt the established business.
It is unfortunate, but it is simply a fact.
The Importance of Customer Phone Information in the Service Industry
Managing customer contact phone information is a crucial aspect of maintaining effective communication and ensuring customer satisfaction. It involves collecting, storing, and regularly updating information such as email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses.
Utilizing reliable CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software can streamline this process, offering centralized data access and enhanced accuracy.
Additionally, ensuring data security and compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA is vital to protecting customer information and fostering trust.
Properly managed contact information allows businesses to easily reach out to their customers, personalize communications, and provide timely updates and support, ultimately leading to stronger customer relationships and loyalty.
Controlling Customer Phone Contact Information in the Field
Effective communication is particularly critical for field staff who interact directly with customers. These team members serve as the face of the company and play a pivotal role in shaping customer perceptions and experiences.
To save time, most field staff utilize their personal mobile phones to engage with customers more effectively, address their concerns, and provide personalized service.
However, considering the importance of controlling customer information, if field are staff simply using their mobile phones with their personal phone numbers (and with no way of the company tracking interaction) to contact customers, this is absolutely not the best practice.
Service Industry Field Staff Mobile Phone Solution
Getting back to our service industry customer that we mentioned at the beginning of the story.
We discussed and demonstrated that the field staff could still use their personal mobile phones, but we include an app (works for iOs and Andriod) that functions as a real extension of the company PBX.
This also allows for reporting, usage metrics and more. Thereby eliminating the guess work of many very important customer facing factors.
Scenario 1. John (“Employee 1”) from ABC arrives to work and gets his orders, materials and tools ready for the day as normal. He then logs into our application on his mobile device.
John looks at the schedule, alerts the first customer that he is on his way, gets in the van and starts his day.
The owner of the company is curious if John touched based with the customer on time. So the owner goes to his computer or laptop and logs into to the same account that John (Employee 1) is assigned to. He can see that in fact, John did call the customer on time, and John even texted the customer when he arrived! What great customer service!
Scenario 2. Mark (“Employee 2”) from ABC has an “in office day” where he is working from home. Mark’s job during an in office day is to follow up with his previous customers. He is supposed to make 100 calls to discuss new needs that the customer may have, propose up sells for the company, generate new revenue, schedule new appointments and more.
John starts his day by logging into our application on his mobile and gets to work!
The owner of the company is wondering if Mark made his 100 calls, how long each call lasted, and other important reporting items.
The owner logs into Employee 2 (which is assigned to Mark internally) and in fact, he does see where Mark was very productive. What a great Customer Experience!
Scenario 3. Steve, a new employee, is assigned “Employee 3”. He arrives at work and prepares to hit the road. However, he did not log into the application.
The owner of the company logs in and see’s that Employee 3 has no activity! The owner has no idea if the customer was contacted or if Steve did any of the Customer Service stuff that is expected of him!
The owner calls Steve and finds out that it was accidental and then simply reminded Steve of the process. Steve mentioned that he used his personal phone number to contact the customer directly and did not login to the system.
Steve immediately logged in and later the owner was able to then verify that Steve did everything he was supposed to do for the remainder of the day. Matter of fact, Steve’s last customer of the day attempted to contact Steve because he left a couple of his tools.
The customer called the number they had on their phone for Steve to find that this call was answered by the company receptionist! The customer was thrilled by this level of Customer Experience. They informed the receptionist that Steve left his tools.
The receptionist put the customer on hold. Then called Steve on his personal mobile number to find that he was only 10 minutes away and was en route.
The receptionist informed the customer that Steve would be there within 10 minutes and everyone was happy. The customer even commented that they did not even realize that the company was that big and capable of communications this way.
The customer was also very happy about the price and the work. Being impressed all around, the customer is now referring business directly to the company. What a great Customer Experience!
Service Industry Phone Solution Features Summary
Unify Communication from All Types of Mobile Devices
Easily make and receive calls and easily send text messages to/from your business numbers, your extension, or your departments. dial extension-to-extension, transfer calls, or add a call just as you would in the office.
Expand Productivity
With our business mobile phone app, you wont miss a beat and you have complete
access to your office while on the go.
Complete Admin Control From Anywhere
Remotely access your on-the-go needs with an easy-to-use and intuitive online portal. You can set your call forwarding rules, view your ring groups, department settings and more, anytime, anywhere.
The above scenarios are just some of the many features available with our solutions. Included with the package are also a complete and comprehensive set of tools and features.
Also Included Are Complete Phone System Reports.
Easy to use and intuitive. Other Cloud PBX system’s require a bit of a steep learning curve and things can be quite complex and confusing. In contrast, we feature a simple user-friendly portal to seamlessly use the advanced features.
Have you ever wondered if your business hours need to be updated?
Based on the image above you can see that quite a few calls are missed before 9am.
It’s possible that those new potential customers have already moved on and found someone else that was available. Your existing customers already know your hours, so this can only be missed calls from potential new customers!
You can see that between 8am and 9am, about 20 calls were missed. It may be time to change the receptionists hours to accommodate your customers changing needs.
Based on our customer case study that this entire story started with, that is exactly what they had to do.
They also learned how to call customers back from the “missed calls log”.
Enable Calling from Your Computer or Laptop
Have you ever went to a Dentist office and the receptionist had a headset on? These days, more than likely he/she is using “WebRTC”, which simply means Web Real Time Calling.
Refer to the image above once more. Notice on the right hand side, the intended call is queued up and all that has to happen is click the blue button to make the phone call!
Of course, if you prefer to have actual desk phones, that is no problem what so ever!
Business Phone System Hardware Can Be Included
All of our packages have the option to come with hardware included. In contrast, other providers may not have this option with any of their packages. The ones that do, require you to pay a whole lot more, causing you spend more money for phones and other necessary hardware.
Everything that we have talked about does not require any upfront costs to get started. Nor will you be asked for a credit card! Your first bill is usually within 30 days of activation (not from the date of the order).
All things considered, we can implement the solution quickly, you get great features and capabilities. Even 24/7/365 live person on the phone reliable customer support.
Click order now to find out which plan is right for you. We have flexible pricing plans that fit every need and budget.
We understand the small business. We can help with any industry or solution. While this post is specific to the service industry, we also currently work with large national enterprise customers and more.
GenXtra Communications, we’re here to help.
