Your phone number is available on Google, your website and your flyers, and guess what? Your customers are going to use it.
Your website has all the information you need, and you offer online booking. The number of phone calls has dropped, but some people still call you to make a reservation.
When you're in high season, you get a lot of calls, but you can't answer everyone at once.
A prospect contacts you, you're already on the phone and making a series of calls. By the time you call them back, they've already booked with your competitor.
The adage "one lost, ten found" doesn't work here.
You'd done the hard part: attracting the prospect to you and then letting him slip away.
This must never happen again!
How can you avoid losing customers when you're unavailable?
The tip described in this article was given by Jacques, manager of a nautical base (thanks to you Jacques 🙃).
As his base was located in a highly competitive area, every time he took too long to call a customer back, the latter left for the competition.
He has implemented two actions to avoid losing any more customers.
1. Use voicemail to reassure customers
When Jacques can't answer the phone, his customers are directed to his voicemail.
Rather than a banal message, Jacques chose to encourage his customers to book online rather than go to the competition.
Here's his voice message:
"Hello, I'm currently busy, so I'll call you right back. You can also visit the aventurenautique.com website to discover our activities and book online if you wish. See you soon, Jacques.
Why does it work? Most of the time, the customer just needs to be reassured that a human being is there to take care of him. Jacques shows his future customer that he will take care of him, and informs him that he can also book directly online.
2. Send an automatic SMS to encourage customers to book
Jacques has gone one step further. He wants to be sure that his customer doesn't go to the competitor.
When a customer goes to voicemail, they hear Jacques' message AND also receive an SMS containing a link that redirects to Jacques' website, encouraging them to book online.
And it's AUTOMATIC 🤩
Here's the SMS he sends:
Why does it work? After hearing Jacques' reassuring voice, the customer receives an SMS with all the necessary information. Jacques' customer service is exceptional. The customer has no desire to find an alternative with a competitor.
Jacques believes that these two tips were key to the development of his base this summer:
The automatic SMS tool
The tool Jacques uses is a smartphone application called Auto Message (click here to access it). It's available for all Android phones. I haven't yet found an equivalent for Apple (Iphone).
To use the automatic SMS after messaging function, you'll need the €5.49 paid version (lifetime license).
The investment is minimal, and as soon as you get your first customer, it'll pay for itself. (We don't get commission on sales of this application, we just think it's great).
Here's what the SMS setup screen looks like. Choose the option reject/miss a call to automatically send an sms to people who have reached your voicemail.
Don't forget to include a link to your website to direct your customers to your online reservation.
Thanks to this easy-to-implement tip, your customers won't have to leave for the competition. They'll also enjoy a better shopping experience.
