Automotive retailers are missing telephone enquiries

Automotive retailers are missing 26% of telephone enquiries per week.

Call tracking specialist, Mediahawk analysed the call data of 500 automotive retailers in the UK and found that in an average week retailers were missing between 6 and 26% of their telephone enquiries.
As Mediahawk work with 20% of the AM 100 to monitor their telephone enquiries, they currently work with existing clients to overcome this problem. The following five tips will help you to improve your call handling and avoid significant wastage in your organisation.

1. Be prepared
When allocating a telephone number to a particular marketing campaign: website, auto-trader, flyers or advertising, alert the person or people most likely to be answering the telephone. If you have advertised a special test drive weekend event or sent an email blast with a specific offer on it, tell the receptionist as well as the sales team. The caller will expect the respondant to know all about the offer and if there are a significant number of calls expected, keep the telephones covered at peak times. If your receptionist doubles up as a meet and greet person, make sure there is someone else who knows about the offer or event to be ready to answer the calls. If you are missing calls, act upon it quickly, those callers won't call back instead preferring to ring the next company on their list.

Call tracking has a missed call alert feature that can identify call answering issues

If you are missing calls, act upon it quickly; those callers won't call back...

2. Be efficient
Route your calls efficiently to ensure they get answered within three or four rings. If the main number is busy or remains unanswered after three rings, route the number to get answered somewhere else in the organisation. If your response via telephone is expected to be larger than your telephone system can handle, consider getting the telephones answered by a outsourced agency for the duration of the campaign. The main objective is to answer the telephone quickly and efficiently, being able to give the caller the information they need if the sales team are tied up.

Call tracking has a call whisper feature that can announce the source of the call before the call is answered.

Monitor the peak periods and you will be able to handle the telephone calls more efficiently as they come in...

3. Be scientific
Identify the days and times when the telephone is busiest. Highlight these days and times and re-structure the call handlers to take breaks and have meetings during quieter times. Monitor the peak periods and you will be able to handle the telephone calls more efficiently as they come in. There will be common times for calls such as between 12 and 2, Saturday morning and Monday morning. This will differ for every organisation but if you monitor the activity you will be able to man the calls coming in and avoid wasting good telephone enquiries.

See the time of calls, number of rings and duration of call with call tracking.

4. Calls getting lost in the system
What happens to those 'lost' enquiries where a caller was left on hold for more 'than a minute, the call went to voicemail or the caller was passed to three different departments? If the inbound enquiries could be listened to, a caller’s destination can be tracked and problems like this can easily be solved. Once the journey of a call can be monitored, any problems with calls not reaching the right destination smoothly call can be addressed and the enquiry not wasted.

Call recording can helped to eliminate 'lost' telephone calls.

Ensure your sales team are aware of what marketing material has gone out recently...

5. When the calls do get answered
Don't forget that when the calls do get answered it is vital that your team are ready for the new bread of enquiry. The caller will have done their research online before calling you and will most likely be ready to buy. Ensure your sales team are aware of what marketing material has gone out recently, what the prices are on your website and most importantly what your competitors are selling at. Being on the receiving end of a savvy customer telephone enquiry can be hard to deal with unless the team have been briefed and trained on how to handle telephone calls. Always telephone interview sales staff as this will give you the opportunity to see how they perform under pressure.

Use call recording to listen to your sales team handling telephone enquiries.

If you would like Mediahawk to improve your telephone enquiry handling call us now on 0844 243 5888 or contact us here.

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