3 Questions Your CSR Should Ask To Maximize Marketing Dollars
The two big factors facing local service businesses when it comes to growing their business is leads coming in and customer service reps scheduling jobs for their technicians. If you spend a bunch of money on marketing but your CSR team can not convert the leads into appointments, your company will not be able to grow. Sure you could just pay for more leads, but you are not maximizing your systems and end up just throwing money at problems instead of solving the constraint.
In this article, we will discuss 3 questions to add to your CSR call script to help maximize call bookings. As digital marketing consultants, we listen and audit calls for local service businesses across the country and we have found that these 3 questions can increase your booking rates by 10-30%.
Question 1
What is the problem you are looking to solve?
Essentially we want to get to the “why” of their call.
- Why are you calling right now?
- What issue are they currently facing?
With carpet cleaning, for example, they may have a pet stain or allergies.
For HVAC, it could be that their hvac unit is not working or they are uncomfortable in a room in their home.
Once you uncover the reason for their call, you can properly address their issue with the proper solution you provide. We see CSR’s miss this all the time and act more as order takers as opposed to sales people. Customers want to be heard and want to know that the service you offer will solve their problem. If you do not know their problem, you leave it up to them to decide.
Also, a good marketing company will audit your calls and use this question as a way to create more content for your website. Good marketing uses keywords, great marketing uses your customers words. When you can answer questions the way your customers are asking them it helps them know you know what they need.
Question 2
Did you have a day in mind you were looking for service?
Once you give a price or answer the prospect’s questions, immediately follow up with this questions to transition the conversation into dates. By simply asking if the customer has a date in mind, we have seen an increase in 15% booking rates.
So many companies hire basic admin “order takers” for this position and expect them to just book appointments.
Track your calls to jobs booked with this simple strategy:
Have your csr make a line on a piece of paper for each call they get, if they book the call, have them put a slash through the line. At the end of the day have them send you their “numbers”.
For example:
20 calls
10 jobs booked
50% conversions rate.
A recent service titan study found that the average conversion rate from calls to jobs booked is 62%, while most smaller companies (5 techs and smaller) are around 25% calls to jobs booked rate.
You can generate calls and leads, but if you can not convert you will struggle to grow.
Question 3
Ask for their email to send an estimate or summary email for their records.
Not only will this allow you to follow up with the prospect via email, it will also give you a reason to call them in a couple days to make sure they received your email.
Common objections are:
- Need to talk with spouse
- Gathering prices
- Gathering information
Once you secure their email address, you can create blog posts or content to combat these objections, for example:
Need to talk with spouse -> detailed overview of services and estimate
Gathering prices -> ultimate pricing guide for [insert service]
Gathering information -> ultimate buyers guide for [insert service]
Digital Marketing That Leads to Booked Jobs
Unfortunately, many digital marketing companies focus on impressions and cookie-cutter tasks to gain more exposure. Yes leads are good and you need leads to grow, but if you do not convert those leads into appointments, you are wasting marketing dollars. If you are looking to work with a digital marketing company that actually cares and tracks jobs booked on a month-to-month basis, set up a 30-minute strategy call to discuss your business.