Do you give good phone?

Or are you telephonophobic?

Those of us of a certain age will remember BT’s “It’s good to talk” adverts.

And in business, the telephone is a great tool. But it’s one that’s becoming more and more poorly used as people hide behind email and focus everything on social media, because that’s the BIG thing.

So I’m going to tell you the tale of how an organisation dealt with a recent enquiry.

Are we sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin

The Good Business

I needed a skip. I’ve had a garden shed that was on its last legs and a lot of rubbish that was too big for the bin. A skip was just the thing. I’ve had a skip before and the company was very reliable so they were the first people I called

Alas the size I wanted wasn’t available.  But the person at the other end of the phone looked through her books and thought she should have the size I wanted coming back in in time. So she said she’d call some of her customers and call me back by the end of the day.

Now I normally hate it when businesses say they’ll call be back. I’m sure you have had bad experiences when they don’t. You’re are left wondering do they want my business, have they forgotten about me, did they write the phone number down incorrectly etc.

What Happen Next?

However, as promised, at about 4.50 she called back to say she hadn’t been able to get hold of anyone but had left messages and expected to hear back when people got home from work.  I was really pleased she called to let me know what was happening, even if there was no positive news yet. I knew I hadn’t been forgotten! And her call meant I wasn’t looking for another supplier.

She then promised to call be back the next day.

And she did. And she had the size I wanted and could deliver it when I wanted.

It’s not too difficult to see how her use of the phone got her my business.  She kept me informed as to what was going her and I felt I was valued. If I hadn’t had that phone call that said she hadn’t any news, I most likely would have picked up the phone to another company and they’d been the heroes in this story. So it’s a big thumbs up to Cooks Skip Hire of Colchester.

What are you like on the phone? Do you use it well, or hide behind email? People are frequently surprised when I call rather than email but then pleasantly surprised at how much can be achieved in a 10 minute call instead of a day of emails going back and forward.  It saves so much time! Try it.