How They Lost My Business
A few days ago, I was looking for a veterinarian for our family cat because she had been acting odd. What should have been a pretty simple task – taking our cat for a checkup – turned into a more difficult ordeal. I did what anyone with a new pet and no recommendation for a vet would do; I googled “veterinarians near me”. Without bothering to check reviews, I called the first one on the list – no answer. I called the second one listed – no answer. Then I called the third one – the line was busy. Finally, the fourth one listed actually picked up the phone and told me that I can come in anytime without an appointment. I got in the car and drove straight there.
An Automated Text Message Could Have Gained them a Customer
All I needed to do was bring my cat in for a quick checkup and probably buy some medicine from them. I had the money and I was looking for the services that these clinics offer, but the first three of them missed out as I drove farther because they actually picked up the phone. What could these first three clinics have done differently? The most obvious thing is that they could have hired an additional employee to man the phones so they missed less calls. Maybe they could have even paid for a second line so the phones weren’t busy. Hiring another employee, may be necessary at times, but not all businesses are in a position to do that.
What if there is a cheaper and simpler solution? What if I called the first clinic and after they didn’t pick up, I got a text message on my phone that said something like:
“Hey, sorry we missed your call. How can we help you? If you need to bring your pet into our clinic, you can come anytime without an appointment. We our open until 5pm today.”
I wouldn’t have bothered to keep calling other clinics and they would have gained a customer. The first three clinics were closer and if I had received a message like that from one of them, I would have gone there instead. The best thing about this is that nobody has to actually type up anything for a message like that to be sent. Using our software, we can easily setup automatic messages that go out anytime you miss a call.
The Solution is Simple
An automated text message is such a simple solution, but it can gain you a lot of customers. Often times, when people are calling you, they just have a simple question like I did; an automated message can easily answer their question or at least reassure them that you will call them back as soon as you are free.
What About More Complicated Situations
What if your business isn’t quite as simple as that veterinarian clinic was? What if your customer needs to talk to a real person to get a quote or what if they have questions that can’t be easily anticipated by an automated message? Not a problem. You can still send a message to convey that you received their call and are willing to help them. Something like this would do fine:
“Hey, sorry I missed your call. Let me know how I can help you and I’ll call you back as soon as I’m free. If it’s not urgent, you can schedule a time for me to call you on my calendar https://website.com/linktocalendar.”
If you respond to missed calls with a message similar to that, you can increase the number of customers you retain even when you miss their initial calls. You have acknowledged their call and assured them that you will call them as soon as you can. Alternatively, you have given them the freedom to schedule a time on your calendar so that they can be available when you call them back.
You Have to Take Advantage of This
For how easy this strategy is to implement, and how much of an edge it can give you on your competition, you would be making a huge mistake if you didn’t implement this in your business. It is especially important if you are a small-business or solopreneur without someone to man your phones all day. This is an economically friendly way to retain incoming phone leads and expand your revenue. If you want to talk more about this, or you would like some help setting up this service for your business, you can schedule an introductory Zoom call with our team.
