DAS in Disguise: First Impressions

© 2001 Door & Access Systems
Publish Date: Spring 2001
Author: Tom Wadsworth
Page 27

DAS in Disguise

First Impressions

Editor’s Note: For this undercover assignment, we called five door dealers (in randomly selected locations from British Columbia to Florida) and noted how they answered the phone. We then measured their performance against the advice of Nancy Friedman, the Telephone Doctor. As always, our goal is to encourage excellence and professionalism among dealers.

How should a business answer the phone? According to Nancy Friedman, the number of rings is not the critical issue. Yes, answer the phone as soon as possible, but she adds, “When you answer is not nearly as important as how you answer. What you say when you pick up the phone is what creates the initial impression.”

Friedman believes a good telephone greeting includes three parts: The welcome (“Good morning!”), the company name (“This is ABC Door”), and the signature (“This is Nancy”). She says that “How can I help you?” is not necessary. The idea is to be friendly, pleasant, and helpful.

Scoring
With that as a background, we scored these five dealers on six criteria: the number of rings, friendly tone, the welcome, the company name, the signature, and general communication. In each category, the dealer earned a 0 (worst), 1, or 2 (best), depending on their performance. Here’s how they fared.

The Winners
None of the five hit a grand slam (see scoring below), but the dealers in Texas, British Columbia, and Minnesota all performed well. Two of these, however, spoke so quickly that it was difficult to determine if we’d called the right business.

Michigan must have been having a bad day. Florida had already turned on their answering machine even though we called within their business hours. The recorded message was well done, but we think a customer would prefer a live person, especially during business hours.

For more on telephone skills, visit the Telephone Doctor at www.telephonedoctor.com.

SCORING

# RINGS?

Texas
2 (2 points)

Brit. Col.
1 (2 points)

Minnesota
3 (2 points)

Michigan
5 (1 point)

Florida
1 (2 points)

FRIENDLY?

Texas
Yes (2 points)

Brit. Col.
Yes (2 points)

Minnesota
Yes (2 points)

Michigan
So-so (1 point)

Florida
Yes (2 points)

WELCOME?

Texas
Yes (2 points)

Brit. Col.
Yes (2 points)

Minnesota
No (0 points)

Michigan
No (0 points)

Florida
Yes (2 points)

COMPANY?

Texas
Yes (2 points)

Brit. Col.
Yes (2 points)

Minnesota
Yes (2 points)

Michigan
Yes (1 point)

Florida
Yes (2 points)

SIGNATURE?

Texas
No (0 points)

Brit. Col.
No (0 points)

Minnesota
Yes (2 points)

Michigan
No (0 points)

Florida
Yes (2 points)

COMMUNICATE?

Texas
Yes (2 points)

Brit. Col.
Mumbled (1 point)

Minnesota
Mumbled (1 point)

Michigan
Yes (2 points)

Florida
Machine (0 points)

TOTAL SCORE

Texas
10 points

Brit. Col.
9 points

Minnesota
9 points

Michigan
5 points

Florida
10 points