Sales Clinic: Better telephone skills can boost sales results

Howard Feiertag

So much has been written about customer service in the hospitality industry that it's almost redundant to write a column about it. Recently, CBS covered it on a Sunday morning news broadcast with demonstrations of how customers are being turned off by how companies are handling their phone inquiries. The same subject has been covered in this column a number of times.

When it comes to improving sales productivity, how does customer service play a role? Generally, it doesn't come into play when a salesperson is interacting with a prospect. The issue of negative customer service occurs when a salesperson is not involved, but when other staff associates play a role. We can truly say that most of the issues of poor customer service have to do with the telephone. This was demonstrated in the CBS broadcast.

What's our problem in the hospitality business? How we answer the phone (or don't answer the phone). Automated voice answering devices and the "hold" button are big parts of the problem. It costs a company much less when a call is answered and handled via an automated system than when handled by live people. There does not seem to be a problem when a call is answered by automation, and handled that way to the satisfaction of a customer. But when someone calls and really needs to speak to a live person to handle an issue, the poor customer-service problem begins. Once we complete the 10-button response system and think we are finally getting to talk with someone, we are put on hold forever.

In addition to the telephone, there are so many other ways we can turn off people and it directly affects sales. After all, the whole hotel is the sales department. Everyone—in one way or another—is involved in improving sales. Maybe we seem to have forgotten that hotel employees, in all departments, need continual training in customer service. There are so many little things that are important in making guests and prospects for business satisfied.

Nancy Friedman, Telephone Doctor, has a customer service training company and has trained corporate executives and all types of employees on this subject. She has appeared on many television shows speaking about how customer service relates to business and improving customer sales. She would say that customer service IS part of the selling process.
For easy reading and quick tips on how to cure your business communication skills, take a look at Friedman's new book "54 Golden Nuggets: The Best of the Telephone Doctor."

Howard Feiertag is on the faculty of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Va. Contact him at howardf@vt.edu.