Ever gone out to the mailbox or to your email inbox and found a message meant for you or someone in your home, but something wasn’t quite right?
Maybe the sender used your maiden name or your formal first name instead of the nickname you’ve used for years. Or maybe it was addressed to your ex, who you divorced years ago, or worse, to a deceased family member.
In the split second it took to read the address label, one unintended message came across loud and clear — whoever sent this doesn’t value me as a person or a customer. That piece of mail or email likely ended up in the trash or in your deleted file before it was read.
Today’s customers expect you to personalize every step of their buyer’s journey. Errors break trust and lead them to take their business elsewhere. Wrong or out-of-date information doesn’t just frustrate customers. It leads to returned and undeliverable packages, bounced emails and inaccurate marketing and sales analytics.
Your company invests a great deal of valuable time, resources and money developing marketing messages with the intent they’ll resonate with your audience. To ensure customers don’t toss them in the trash or delete them, take the time to ensure the information in your database, mailing lists or CRM system is current and accurate.
You can accomplish this in many ways, but the simplest is a data verification call.
When done properly, a data verification call ensures you have the most up-to-date information on file. Because it also shows customers you value them and their personal information, it strengthens trust and gets your foot in the door for future sales.
But before your company representatives start calling to verify information, you need the right script in place to ensure you get the most from this contact with customers.
People are wary of phone calls, even from someone claiming to be from a company they’ve done business with. Be prepared to offer a call-back number, so they can verify you are who you say you are. Once they’re comfortable talking to you, let them know this is just a courtesy call to verify the information you have on file because you want to continue to provide them highest level of customer service.
Do not ask them to provide information. This will likely make them nervous. Just read them the information you want them to verify and ask if they would like to make any changes. Once you’ve verified or changed their customer info, ask if there is anything you can do to improve your service. Since they probably won’t have anything in mind, give an email address or website where they can provide suggestions, which opens the door for more customer interaction.
The days of customers loyally sticking with one brand long-term are gone. To keep customers today, you need to provide personal service that leaves them feeling like they’re important to your organization. A simple verification call can strengthen that relationship and get your foot in the door for future sales.
To get a free copy of a script you can use for your verification calls, go to____________.