FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHING
First impressions are everything in the highly competitive hospitality industry. You’ve spent a fortune redesigning your foyer to get the customer traffic flow perfect, completed refresher training for your staff in meet and greet procedures, and hired specialists to CX optimise your website… but have you remembered that 68% of the time your customers’ first impression is still via your phone and is the first voice they hear? A tailored message-on-hold service promotes a positive first impression of your venue that builds trust, implies friendship, and confirms your professionalism.
It is effective subtle branding for a club and is so much more than just a call direction service.
Here’s why professional voice messaging is still so vital:
1. First point of contact
More often than not, the first point of contact that a customer will have with your club is still through a phone call. Part of every venue’s customer service strategy begins with an efficient phone system and a satisfactory calling experience, so this is where you get to make a great first impression.
We assume, in our tech savvy world, that phones seem like an outdated point of contact for clubs, but phone calls are still the primary channel (68%) for customer contact.
And let’s face it, for a significant percentage of our customer demographic in clubs, phones are definitely the preferred communication choice over websites.
2. “Corporate accents” boost clarity
A professional communication strategy should offer the same professional standards on phone messages that you have when interacting with a club member in person.
Amateurs who don’t enunciate clearly, talk too fast, or are just hard to understand, make it difficult for customers of all backgrounds to understand what is being said. Misunderstandings can add a degree of frustration to a call.
The easiest way to make a favourable first impression is using a clear, professional, yet friendly voice; something that comes with years of practice and training.
3. Familiarity and consistency
Quality communication is at the heart of human interaction, and it can make or break any business. The voice used on your phone system, phone directory service and on hold messaging all need to match. Even matching automatic evacuation announcements from a known and comfortable voice reduces negative reactions.
Different voices imply disorganisation and can make it harder for customers to concentrate on the prompts.
Having a consistent voice, and a tight script, brands your venue in a more positive way and subconsciously adds an element of trust to your messages.
4. Utter Professionals – industry specialists
Managing Director at Utter Professionals, Steve Carline, (Actor, Radio and TV presenter) has a long history working with clubs. He has a reputation for being so very easy to work with and a deep understanding of what the club industry expects.
Heard daily on 2GB, Steve and his company, Utter Professionals, can assist with phone system prompts, on-hold messaging, and pre-recorded emergency instructions. Utter Professionals has offered a series of no-obligation free recordings for the club industry, including recordings for COVID-19 operations, natural disasters and even a respectful recording of The Ode read by a World War 2 veteran. These are just a few of the ways he has assisted clubs to present themselves more professionally over the years.
Utter Professionals will draft your script to suit your needs and will change any part of your program whenever you want (and within one business day!) with a low-cost quarterly subscription.
If you have spent bundles of money on all the first contact points at your club and are still using an employee with a “nice voice” for your phone messaging system, you have missed a real opportunity to professionally brand your club.
Contact Steve Carline to discuss how Utter Professionals can assist your venue >>>
Phone: (02) 9523 9888
Web: www.utter.com.au
