Zombies in the service department, ghosts haunting the lot, skeletons on the sales floor — these spooky scenarios are no match for what you could be doing to give your customers a scare this Halloween. If losing out on leads doesn’t frighten you, here are some tips for sending your customers screaming in the other direction (straight to your competitors).

Ignore Missed and After-Hours Calls
Nothing is more scream-worthy to a customer than a salesperson who doesn’t answer the phone or call them back. Some customers are so determined to give you their business that they’ll call multiple times. But if you want to give them a real scare, just ghost them.

To pull this one off, avoid using a call tracking program that alerts you to missed or after-hours calls. If your goal is to send customers to your competitor, calling them back is the last thing you’d want to do.

Send Your Customers to a Black Hole
Want to really get your customers’ hearts racing? Have their calls routed to a phone number that rings and rings and rings and never gets answered. Better yet, have them bounced from department to department while they’re trying to get a time-sensitive issue resolved. Your customers will jump at the sound of a real human being… if they ever reach one.

Steer clear of a call tracking program that aids call completion in case your customers actually reach the desired person or department. Using a service that can automatically route customers from an interactive menu would keep your customers happy, which is the last thing you want if you’re aiming for screams.

Listen to Call Recordings? Don’t Do It!
Improving customer service? Who needs to bother with that? Don’t concern yourself with evaluating your employees’ calls if you want to send shivers down your customers’ spines. Prospects will run for the hills if they have a bad experience during a phone call.

To make sure your employees keep sending customers elsewhere, don’t use a call tracking program that records calls. Your customer service would improve thanks to training opportunities uncovered by listening to recorded calls — and you might even uncover a few lost leads in the process. Since you’re trying to scare your customers and not keep them, you should definitely avoid listening to calls.

Losing phone business is a scary thought – especially if it can be preventable. But you enjoy the thrill, right? While on the dark side, remember, avoid call tracking, routing, and recording – these qualities will only improve customer retention, CSI, and accountability.

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