Is Your Receptionist Silently Sabotaging Your Business?

Written by LiveLink
June 23rd 2016

It’s not uncommon to feel frustrated when reaching a lull in business. Frustrations in sales and customer response can send tempers rising, and managers and deputy managers may come under fire when clinic appointments are not being made.

Laying blame is never helpful, but placing responsibility at the very top may be aiming too high. Having first contact with customers, it is often your receptionist that determines responses and whether or not clinic bookings will be made. And if your receptionist isn’t delivering an accurate representation of your company’s ability, how is it going to achieve its full potential?

Not Knowing the Facts

It may seem ludicrous, but your company can lose customers simply by a receptionist not being properly informed. Staff members may nod their heads and reply with the desired responses, but can you be confident they will be able to deliver this information to your customer? Try having them relay the information to you, in their own words. Ensuring they’ve absorbed and maintained every detail may seem monotonous, but knowing how to answer a question directly without having to run off and ask a manager could be the difference between a confirmed booking and a dead line.

Negativity

One or two words are all it takes to transform a customer from confident and comfortable, to disinterested and disengaged. If your receptionist is on the verge of making a booking, but sounds pessimistic and miserable, there’s a chance your customer will look elsewhere. A lack of passion for a call suggests a lack of passion for your company, and this could lead a client to question whether the expensive trip away or costly home improvements are really the right choice for them after all. Keep your office space a happy environment to work in, encourage compliments and enthusiasm amongst staff. By maintaining a positive and confident dialogue throughout every call, you can ensure that your call staff aren’t throwing customers away.

An Untidy Work Space

There is no way an office can work to its full potential if it’s messy. Food wrappers, stacks of out of date information and old coffee cups are only going to distract staff when on a call. Consider putting a ban on eating at desks and shred any out of date paper work. By keeping the contents of your work spaces to an absolute minimum, you’re ensuring that focus is kept on the customers. This allows staff to provide their full attention and give them the best service available.

It can be conventional to believe that the person answering the phone is the lowest person on the ladder. In reality your receptionist is one of the most important employees in the entire company — the right receptionist can dramatically improve your company’s bottom line.