What Secret Shoppers Do Not Want To Hear

Many call centers hire an outside secret shopping company to assist them with the training of their telephone reps. Secret shopping employees evaluate hundreds of calls each month, and are able to give the call center much advice on the best, and the worst, ways to say certain things.

Self storage is one of many industries that utilize the benefits of hiring a secret shopping company to help them better their employees. One of these experienced secret shopping evaluators recently noted some of the things she often hears, but can definitely be tweaked. These are a few examples of some of her biggest pet peeves.

The secret shopping evaluator just grits her teeth when she hears a self storage representative simply answer the phone, Hello. The rep does not give their name or even the name of their company. The secret shopping evaluator knows that a proper greeting is of the utmost importance, since it completely sets the tone for the rest of the call. The secret shopping evaluator would advise the manager of this particular employee to professionally answer the phone, Hello.  My name is –.  Thank you for calling XYZ Self Storage. This short phrase lets the customer know that they have dialed the correct number, with whom they have the pleasure of speaking, and it brands the name of the self storage facility.

The secret shopping evaluator also cringes when she hears a phone rep say, Can you give the telephone number you are at, in case we get disconnected? Customers know this is nothing but a lame excuse to get their personal information. If a self storage consultant wants the phone number, they need to just ask for it outright.

Then there is the example of when the secret shopping evaluator hears a customer ask, do you have any 10×20 units? And the sales agent replies No, and is ready to disconnect the call. The secret shopping evaluator knows that just saying, No, is simply not an option! Even if the 10×20 spaces are currently unavailable the sales rep needs to let the customer know what their options are. Maybe the 10×15 has a ten foot ceiling and the customer would be able to stack their things upward. Maybe two 10×10s side beside for the price of 10×20 would be okay. Or maybe the customer does not need a 10×20 unit for two months, and something will become available before then. The secret shopping evaluator will advise the self storage management staff that the employee needs to answer the customer with, No, we do not have any 10×20 spaces at this time.  But what we DO HAVE, and then continue with the call from there.

The secret shopping evaluator winces when she hears a self storage phone representative say, our price is ABOUT one hundred dollars.  The price is not about anything, it is what it is. When the rep phrases it this way it makes the customer think there is always room for negotiation, and if they call back tomorrow they can probably get a lesser price. Much better phrasing is, our price is ONLY one hundred dollars, which is a great rate for this area.

And finally, there are times when the secret shopping evaluator hears a phone rep say, if you want, give your name and phone number. The phone rep needs to take control of the call, and just professionally ask the caller for their information. Saying, if you want makes it far too easy for a caller to just say, NO!

Dania Beach

Delaware Motorcycle Storage

Brooklyn Storage

Tweet This Post 

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

View Staff's Profile      Subscribe via RSS