About a month ago, I emailed you a couple of audio recordings of one of our clients botching PPC phone leads.
To summarize, the company was losing a ton of leads because the people answering their phone were, well… atrocious.
As promised, today I’m back with more recordings of cringe-worthy phone calls that resulted in lost leads.
Just so we’re clear, I’m not doing this for the schadenfreude or to embarrass anybody. I simply want to show you what not to do when PPC leads call you, so you can avoid these types of blunders.
Let’s dive in…
Lost Opportunity #1 (4/8/16): “I’m sorry, we can’t help with that.”
The lead’s first words are literally, “I’m calling to see if I can get a quote.” HOW CAN YOU MESS THAT UP?!!
This phone rep found a way.
The lead is a real-estate agent calling on behalf of someone who is renting a home and about to close on it. He needs a bid on windows to know how much money to put in escrow for the project.
The phone rep informs the lead that the current owner needs to be present during the consultation, even though the owner lives out of state.
::banging my head against wall::
Okay, I get the legalities involved if the project were to move forward. But you can’t even provide a quote? Really?
This lead wants to move forward right now. He has already received a bid from another company. He’s not going to back out. The company is not going to waste man hours on a fruitless estimate. This is a guaranteed project and guaranteed money.
Well, it is for the company that provided a bid, at least.
Lost Opportunity #2 (4/15/16): “I don’t have any answers regarding the pricing of our windows!!”
I’ll admit, the lead in this call is kind of obnoxious. He repeatedly asks for prices despite the phone rep telling him she can’t give prices over the phone.
That said, the phone rep could have easily set an appointment with this prospect had she been a little more proactive. A simple “Let’s schedule you a free estimate, so you can get exact prices and answers to your questions” would have probably done the trick.
Instead, the phone rep loses her patience and gets snippy with the prospect by the end of the call. No Bueno.
Lost Opportunity #3 (4/11/16): “We have a four-window project minimum.”
The lead says he needs one, maybe two windows replaced. The phone rep informs him that the company has four-window project minimum.
That’s all well and good. But you can tell from the lead’s uncertainty of his situation that he’ll be receptive to an up sell. He doesn’t even know how many windows he needs—where’s the harm in telling him about the benefits of having a home full of new matching, beautiful, energy-efficient windows?
Instead of doing that, the phone rep immediately refers the lead to a repair company. I’m sure the repair company thinks this call went great, but I chalk it up to a big fat missed opportunity.
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The moral of the story: You don’t need the reincarnation of Zig Ziglar answering your phone. But it pays (big time) to have phone reps who are knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and not afraid to exercise the occasional salesmanship.
Want to know if your phone-answering practices are costing you job opportunities and sales? When you’re an MYM PPC client, you can.
We record, listen to and track every single phone call FOR YOU. If you’re messing up, we pause your campaign and help you fix the problem.
Will other companies do this for you? Not a chance. They’re happy to let you flounder, as long as you keep giving them money.
Let us know if we can help you out.
Thanks,
-Rich
P.S. Remember: We offer a free, no-strings, no-obligation lead generation & marketing audit if you’re curious about how effective your online marketing is. We’ll perform an in-depth analysis of your SEO, PPC, and website, and then personally review the results with you. This is a fantastic way to know exactly where you need to step up your online marketing game.
© 2016, Rich Harshaw. All rights reserved.
