The Phone Can Be Your Best Business Partner

With all the email and social networking people are doing these days, it's easy to forget what a great tool the telephone can be for building a business. A good reminder comes from Yodle.com, a local internet advertising company, wants to remind you of a few key phone etiquette rules you need to follow in your small business.

• Answer the Phone. Seems obvious but small businesses only answer 36% of their incoming phone calls! If you can’t always grab it when it rings, hire a receptionist or have calls forwarded to your cell phone.
• Build trust and comfort to close the deal. Be friendly – you’re happy to hear from new leads! Listen to what the callers’ needs are and be ready to describe how your service can help. Ask questions about their situation (be interested!). Then, be patient with their responses. Be as accommodating as possible. Sometimes consumers value convenience over cost – and customer service goes a long way.  
• Missed calls?  Make sure you’ve got a professional voicemail. Have a personal greeting – not a computerized one. Your greeting should be exclusively for your business. Be sure to sound professional and appreciative. And remember - response time is an important factor as well – if you don’t get back to customers who leave messages, they’re likely to go with one of your competitors. 

What tips do you have to share? Please leave a comment.