More Floods

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Working in an emergency industry like ours, you cannot control how often water damage events occur. What you can control, however, are the efforts you make to capture every single lead that comes your way. This is a part of the vision at More Floods. We help contractors like you implement seamless operational systems and effective marketing strategies, so they can capture more of the floods that come their way.

One strategy we believe in is making an exceptional first impression. That very first phone call between your employee and a homeowner or insurance agent could be the deciding factor that turns a lead into a job or sends the lead looking elsewhere for better service. It isn’t enough to assume your employees will understand how to answer the phones properly. Here’s how to train your employees to answer the phone and make an excellent first impression.

Create a Script

We all want our employees to sound natural and friendly on the phone. For this reason, some employers may bristle at the suggestion of providing a script to their employees. Unfortunately, without appropriate guidance, our employees often sound unprepared and uncomfortable on the phone.

Don’t think about a script as something that will make your employees sound robotic. Instead, think of it as a tool that will equip your employees to talk confidently on the phone every single time. Work together with your employees to create a script for answering the phone. What information should they communicate right away? What questions should they ask? What information should be reviewed before hanging up? Use their suggestions and your knowledge to create a warm and natural sounding script for all phone calls.

Create a Check Off Lists

If you’ve been reading our blog for any amount of time, you’ve likely picked up on our love of a good check off list. It’s important that pertinent information is communicated during that first call with a potential client or insurance agent.

The client needs to understand clearly how the process works, including when they can expect a crew and how quickly work can begin on their home. At the same time, your employee needs to gather a lot of information from the client, including basics like address and phone number, and more detailed information about the extent of the damage.

A check off list insures that nothing gets missed, and we believe it should be a foundational system at every water damage restoration business. Create your own check off list by running through each piece of information that should be communicated during an initial call or take advantage of the check off lists provided to all More Floods members. Once you have your list, make following it easy. Keep a stack of copies next to every phone and require your employees to complete it everytime the phone rings.

Practice Makes Perfect

Even with the proper resources, talking on the phone can feel uncomfortable and nerve wracking for some employees. The best way to help your employees feel more confident on the phone is the require them to practice. This is why we suggest using role playing in all employee training sessions.

Role playing is a low pressure way to address the more nuanced aspects of talking on the phone. Employees can feel free to take risks and make mistakes without worrying about consequences. Use this time to talk about things like tone of voice, clear speaking, and avoiding certain slangs. Keep practicing with your employees until they feel they are ready to answer the phones without supervision.

Use Goals to Stay on Track

During the hustle of running a business, it’s easy to lose track of the small tasks that fill each and every day. In the time we’ve spent talking with independent contractors, we’ve been amazed to learn how many struggle to make sure their phones are being answered. Phones ring without being answered on a regular basis, which often means that leads for water damage restoration jobs get lost to another company.

At More Floods, we suggest setting goals with your employees to encourage them to stay on top of answer phones. Some good goals might include answering every phone call within two rings, capturing a certain number of leads each month, or turning in a specific number of phone call check-off lists at the end of the week. Remember, good goal setting should include a reward. Offer an incentive to employees who are committed to making sure the phones are being answered at your business.

We work with independent contractors in the water damage industry to address the problem areas in their daily operations. From answering the phones to getting paid, we have proven systems that make running your business feel automatic. To learn more about becoming a member, click here or call 1-866-667-3356.

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