Phone Interruptions with Potential Sales are Driving Me Nuts

[Lee Wright]

I run a small events/AV hire business. I've always used my mobile as the main number & this has worked pretty well for the last 10 years but since the end of COVID business has ramped up a lot along with the number of calls. I feel like it's really affecting my productivity & I'm getting very agitated with the constant interruptions. I'm loathed to not answer calls though as I really believe that responding promptly to enquiries is key to getting business. I convert over 80% of enquiries which is I think a very decent rate. When people call they are pretty much ready to do business with you right there & then. I've noticed when I return missed calls that haven't left a message the results are not nearly as good. The volume of calls is not that high - maybe 8 a day but they seem to come at very inconvenient times. I'm not at the point yet where I could employ a full-time person just to take calls. I'd love to hear how others have dealt with this problem. I've been re-reading Gary Keller's "The One Thing" & it's also brought home the idea that interruption is a huge focus killer.

-I could use an answering service but I can always tell when a business is using one of these as they have no clue about the business. I need someone who at least knows the basics.

-I don't think I can outsource this overseas as it will be obvious from the accent & lack of local knowledge.

-I find email is far more scalable & less intrusive. That could be easily handled by an offshore VA.

-I could tweak things a bit so that I get less calls by directing customers to our online ordering or FAQ pages for example but I think there will always be people who just want to pick up the phone & talk to someone. I've gotten some excellent customers this way.

Anyway love to hear your thoughts.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Aditya Gunjal]

I run a small events/AV hire business. I've always used my mobile as the main number & this has worked pretty well for the last 10 years but since the end of COVID business has ramped up a lot along with the number of calls. I feel like it's really affecting my productivity & I'm getting very agitated with the constant interruptions. I'm loathed to not answer calls though as I really believe that responding promptly to enquiries is key to getting business. I convert over 80% of enquiries which is I think a very decent rate. When people call they are pretty much ready to do business with you right there & then. I've noticed when I return missed calls that haven't left a message the results are not nearly as good. The volume of calls is not that high - maybe 8 a day but they seem to come at very inconvenient times. I'm not at the point yet where I could employ a full-time person just to take calls. I'd love to hear how others have dealt with this problem. I've been re-reading Gary Keller's "The One Thing" & it's also brought home the idea that interruption is a huge focus killer.

-I could use an answering service but I can always tell when a business is using one of these as they have no clue about the business. I need someone who at least knows the basics.

-I don't think I can outsource this overseas as it will be obvious from the accent & lack of local knowledge.

-I find email is far more scalable & less intrusive. That could be easily handled by an offshore VA.

-I could tweak things a bit so that I get less calls by directing customers to our online ordering or FAQ pages for example but I think there will always be people who just want to pick up the phone & talk to someone. I've gotten some excellent customers this way.

Anyway love to hear your thoughts.

Sir I haven't worked on any business but here are my thoughts
If you are having trouble from calls on inconvenient time and if you have a website for the same buisness
- You can give customers specific time span to directly call you which will be specified on your business site. (This way you can reduce calls that are not emergency and do not need direct attention)
- You can hire someone who will answer the call but you will pay him based on number of calls he take at given day

I run a small events/AV hire business. I've always used my mobile as the main number & this has worked pretty well for the last 10 years but since the end of COVID business has ramped up a lot along with the number of calls. I feel like it's really affecting my productivity & I'm getting very agitated with the constant interruptions. I'm loathed to not answer calls though as I really believe that responding promptly to enquiries is key to getting business. I convert over 80% of enquiries which is I think a very decent rate. When people call they are pretty much ready to do business with you right there & then. I've noticed when I return missed calls that haven't left a message the results are not nearly as good. The volume of calls is not that high - maybe 8 a day but they seem to come at very inconvenient times. I'm not at the point yet where I could employ a full-time person just to take calls. I'd love to hear how others have dealt with this problem. I've been re-reading Gary Keller's "The One Thing" & it's also brought home the idea that interruption is a huge focus killer.

-I could use an answering service but I can always tell when a business is using one of these as they have no clue about the business. I need someone who at least knows the basics.

-I don't think I can outsource this overseas as it will be obvious from the accent & lack of local knowledge.

-I find email is far more scalable & less intrusive. That could be easily handled by an offshore VA.

-I could tweak things a bit so that I get less calls by directing customers to our online ordering or FAQ pages for example but I think there will always be people who just want to pick up the phone & talk to someone. I've gotten some excellent customers this way.

Anyway love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Kevin88660]

I run a small events/AV hire business. I've always used my mobile as the main number & this has worked pretty well for the last 10 years but since the end of COVID business has ramped up a lot along with the number of calls. I feel like it's really affecting my productivity & I'm getting very agitated with the constant interruptions. I'm loathed to not answer calls though as I really believe that responding promptly to enquiries is key to getting business. I convert over 80% of enquiries which is I think a very decent rate. When people call they are pretty much ready to do business with you right there & then. I've noticed when I return missed calls that haven't left a message the results are not nearly as good. The volume of calls is not that high - maybe 8 a day but they seem to come at very inconvenient times. I'm not at the point yet where I could employ a full-time person just to take calls. I'd love to hear how others have dealt with this problem. I've been re-reading Gary Keller's "The One Thing" & it's also brought home the idea that interruption is a huge focus killer.

-I could use an answering service but I can always tell when a business is using one of these as they have no clue about the business. I need someone who at least knows the basics.

-I don't think I can outsource this overseas as it will be obvious from the accent & lack of local knowledge.

-I find email is far more scalable & less intrusive. That could be easily handled by an offshore VA.

-I could tweak things a bit so that I get less calls by directing customers to our online ordering or FAQ pages for example but I think there will always be people who just want to pick up the phone & talk to someone. I've gotten some excellent customers this way.

Anyway love to hear your thoughts.

Get them to Text you instead of calling you?

 

[Johnny boy]

Use a good answering service with proper scripts.

Set it up to only go to them when you're away from the phone and it's inconvenient.

Have them say "I'm just answering the phone for Lee, he's the expert on this but he just stepped away from the phone for a few minutes and he'll call back right away. (Asks a couple qualifying questions) Okay thank you we'll have Lee get in touch soon".

People are pretty forgiving when you're straight up with them in the right circumstances.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Lee Wright]

Get them to Text you instead of calling you?

Texts are slightly better. I actually do say on my website that people can text & they sometimes do. People do expect a fast reply for texts though more so than email. Texts are easier to delegate & are generally much briefer.

 

[Lee Wright]

Use a good answering service with proper scripts.

Set it up to only go to them when you're away from the phone and it's inconvenient.

Have them say "I'm just answering the phone for Lee, he's the expert on this but he just stepped away from the phone for a few minutes and he'll call back right away. (Asks a couple qualifying questions) Okay thank you we'll have Lee get in touch soon".

People are pretty forgiving when you're straight up with them in the right circumstances.

Yes a script is not a bad idea.

 

[JAJT]

I convert over 80% of enquiries which is I think a very decent rate.

The volume of calls is not that high - maybe 8 a day

As a former sales guy - suck it up and pick up the phone!

You can get 6 new pieces of business for every 8 calls you pickup? Dude, come on.

You know what's inconvenient? Making 100+ cold calls to land a sale or two. Instead you have interested business calling YOU.

It would be insane not to pick up the phone. Any delay is going to cost you business because you're not answering when they are hot to trot.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Lee Wright]

As a former sales guy - suck it up and pick up the phone!

You can get 6 new pieces of business for every 8 calls you pickup? Dude, come on.

You know what's inconvenient? Making 100+ cold calls to land a sale or two. Instead you have interested business calling YOU.

It would be insane not to pick up the phone. Any delay is going to cost you business because you're not answering when they are hot to trot.

When you put it that way I do have it pretty good. Maybe I'd be better offloading some of my other work which is more outsourceable & just focusing on the phone calls. As you rightly say, they are indeed "hot to trot" when they call because the website & reviews have done all the heavy lifting.

 

[Kevin88660]

Texts are slightly better. I actually do say on my website that people can text & they sometimes do. People do expect a fast reply for texts though more so than email. Texts are easier to delegate & are generally much briefer.

If you have missed call. You can always call them back.

If they missed your return call you can always drop them a text message to arrange a time for the conversation.