Give Callers Personal Value

The party line is dead.

It’s over.

Replaced by the sophistication of electronics. (That is, unless you live in one of the eighty-one cabins in Big Santa Anita Canyon high above L.A.)

Ahhhh, the steamroller of progress. A very good thing this time.

The party line’s completely non-private service made eavesdropping opportunities abound. If another caller were on the line when you needed to make a call…too bad…you were waiting.

But when it comes to business, have you realized that the party line is dead? No longer do multiple people share a phone call to your company.

It’s a direct, one-to-one relationship. Have you customized your On-Hold message to reflect that reality?

 

Talk to that one caller in his or her language.

“Well, how?” you say. “How can I have a customized On-Hold message? Lots of people call me!”

Right, but have you considered who those “lots of people” really are?

 

Mike Wittenstein, Chief Experience Officer at Storyminers, says the most important factor for delivering a great customer experience is to know your customer. Personally.

That personal knowledge allows you to understand how your product, service, or company fits into the customer’s life—what it is that makes him or her value your product.

 

Rather than build the Caller Experience with your entire customer list in view, pick one, and design it for that customer. Choose a customer you know personally, and build your message around how your product or service improved that customer’s life. Tell a story, with your customer as the star.

Sure, other callers will hear that. And when it doesn’t fit their exact situations, they’ll think, “Wow, if this company is ‘all that’ for that customer, it can probably solve my problem as well!”

 

Applying this tactic to other areas of your Caller Experience is even more straightforward. Here’s a great example from DSW Shoes.

[audio:http://prosoundusa.com/files/DSW.mp3|titles=DSW]

 

You see, if you want to connect with an individual caller, you have to talk to them like an individual!

 

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