For Higher Reservation Conversion, Get The Caller’s Name
May 6th, 2011If you’ve ever been eavesdropping on one of your reservation agents and cringed when they offered a 20% discount up front, or winced when they hurried a prospect off the phone; you won’t want to miss this 3 part blog series.
Let’s talk about the greeting your agents are using, more specifically let’s discuss how NOT asking for the caller’s name will reduce your conversion.
I know it seems easy, right? Easy maybe but frequently not practiced. Critical – absolutely.
Most greetings are pretty straight forward but I often get pushback from agents on asking for the caller’s name. Most agents don’t feel comfortable asking for the prospects name. But why? ‘Cause it’s kind of awkward right? We’re used to stating our names when we meet in person but for some reason traditional introductory etiquette goes out the window on the phone – pretty ridiculous considering that getting their name is critical, as it sets you up to build a relationship over the phone.
They know your name – you know theirs. Now you’re ready to move forward. Asking their name also sets you up for success throughout the call, why? Because now you’ve established permission to ask questions, you’ve set this call as a dialogue not a monologue. Dialogue and open-ended questions are critical to finding out what the caller wants, giving them exactly what they want and making the sale.
Not asking for their name reduces the likelihood of booking the reservation on this call. Trust me – we have the data to prove it. My suggestion: practice. There’s no secret to asking, just practice, and get comfortable doing it. That being said, I especially like the phrase, “May I have your name please?” It’s simple and it works.
Stay tuned for part 2, the danger of feature flooding.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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