Our last article shared an overview of five principles auto dealers should use to manage inbound calls. Specifically, successful inbound call handling includes:
- Answering the call
- Understanding the caller’s needs
- Showing the value of your auto dealership
- Building a relationship with the caller
- Setting an appointment for the caller to come into the dealership
But these principles are only helpful to the extent that you can train your employees to implement them. That’s why we want to share call handling training tips so you can equip your staff to manage inbound calls effectively. This is a big subject! We will cover multiple tips for each of the principles listed above and will do so in a two-part series.
8 Call Handling Training Tips for Answering Calls & Understanding Callers
Call handling is an important skill for auto dealership employees to learn and develop. These tips will help you train your staff to answer calls and understand the caller’s needs. These are foundational elements of a good call experience. Only when you do these things well will you be able to proceed with the other principles of call handling (showing value, building a relationship, and setting an appointment).
Tips for Answering the Call
The following call handling training tips specifically relate to answering the call (and what should happen if you can’t).
1. Choose the Right Technology
Choosing the right technology and training your employees to use it is one of the most important starting points for effective inbound call handling.
For example, cloud phone systems like DealerPhones allow your employees to answer calls while on the go, send text messages, receive missed call alerts, and more. Employees should be trained to understand how the technology works and how to get the most out of it.
And you don’t have to create this training on your own. At Clarity, we offer robust support, including a client portal with guides, tutorials, and demos to help train your team.
2. Standardize Your Greeting
Train employees to offer a consistent calling experience by standardizing your greeting to those who phone in. Ideally, your greeting will include the dealership and the person’s name so the caller knows they reached the right place and gets a personal welcome.
For example, your greeting may be, “Hi, you’ve reached DEALERSHIP. This is NAME. How may I help you?” This article has other great templates you can use to standardize your greeting.
3. Get Their Name Right
An important call handling training tip is to get the caller’s name and to use it often during the conversation. Train employees to ask the caller’s name immediately and repeat it to ensure they are saying it correctly.
4. Set Expectations for Returning Calls
In a perfect world, all calls would get answered immediately, but that’s not realistic in busy automotive dealerships. Therefore, you’ll want to have procedures for returning missed calls.
Technology like DealerPhones can assist by sending texts and emails to alert your staff about missed calls or voicemails. Managers can also oversee things by reviewing the missed call report and ensuring all calls have been returned within the expected timeline.
Tips for Understanding the Caller’s Needs
These call handling training tips will guide your employees in understanding the caller’s needs.
5. Establish a Call Process
Creating a call process will ensure that employees consistently follow company procedures on every call. To establish a call process, consider the types of inbound calls you get at your dealership. For example, some callers might have questions about your current inventory, others may inquire about a specific vehicle, and others may call to validate information or negotiate a price. For each ‘bucket,’ establish a call process for how the employee should handle that call and then train them for each scenario.
6. Ask the Right Questions
You’ll also want to equip your employees with the right questions to ask for each scenario. The key is to find the right questions so you can get the answers you need in as few questions as possible.
For example, if the caller has questions about your current inventory, you’ll want to train your employees to ask questions that will help them narrow down the best vehicles for that caller. For example, “What kind of vehicle do you drive now?” “How do you currently use your vehicle—for work or leisure, short trips or long trips?” and “What do you need in a new car?”
Similarly, suppose the caller is inquiring about a specific feature. In that case, you may ask questions to understand why they are interested in that feature, if their current vehicle has it, and if it is a ‘must’ for their new car. For example, a person asking whether a vehicle has a backup camera may be concerned about safety. You now have a window to discuss other safety features they may be interested in, like backup sensors, side view assist, and parking assist.
7. Build Listening Skills
Listening to the caller is key to understanding their needs and building a relationship. And it’s a skill that can be taught, practiced, and strengthened over time. Some specific listening skills that will help your employees understand the caller’s needs include:
- Let the caller speak. When trying to understand their needs, you should train employees to listen more than they talk. With technology like DealerPhones, managers can join the call as it is happening or listen to recordings to evaluate this and share feedback.
- Be patient. Listening requires patience. Employees must learn to resist the urge to interrupt. It involves a mindset shift of viewing what the caller says as more important than what you have to add and is something you can train and teach employees.
- Practice active listening. Active listening includes things like repeating what the caller has said, using affirming words (like “okay,” “I understand,” etc.), and paraphrasing what they’ve said.
8. Summarize and Confirm
The final training tip for understanding the caller’s needs is to train your employees to summarize and confirm the information they have received from the caller. The reason is that the next inbound call handling principle (which we will cover in our next article!) is to show value. Summarizing and confirming the caller’s needs is the important pivot point where you can then move on to provide answers and deliver value. When employees are trained to give a quick summary, the caller will know they are understood and be more receptive to the response.
More Call Handling Training Tips Coming Up!
So far, we’ve covered the first two principles of inbound call handling – answering the call and understanding the caller. These are the foundation for a good call experience, and there are many things to consider! Review the list of tips above and determine what you may need to add or improve in your current employee training. We’ll be back next time with tips that focus on training your employees to show value, build a relationship, and set appointments.
