You only have seven seconds. According to NYU researchers, that’s how long it takes to make a first impression. When prospective martial arts students, current students or their family members are calling your school, it’s important to make those seconds count.
At our martial arts schools, anyone answering the phone is trained on the proper etiquette. This begins by having a standard greeting for answering phone calls. While you should customize your own positive greeting, we have found that this script has earned the best response from callers:
“We’re having a great day at [Your School Name]; this is [Your Name], how may I help you?”
In seven seconds, this greeting communicates four important facts to a new caller:
- The name of the school
- The name of the person answering the phone
- The fact that the school is a positive place
- The fact that the person answering the phone is helpful
Answering the phone with “we’re having a great day” may not always be appropriate, but when delivered in a genuine, enthusiastic way, it usually catches our callers by surprise and makes them laugh, setting them at ease from the very beginning.
The only phone script you will ever need should communicate the four facts we covered above within the first seven seconds. Here are three more important tips for your team members to learn when answering the phone:
- Answer the phone by the third ring. This shows that you value your caller’s time.
- Smile. It will show through your voice and help you be positive and enthusiastic.
- Make sure the current schedules, upcoming events and other important information are posted near the phone so you can avoid having to say “I don’t know” or putting the caller on hold.
As a backup, create a voicemail greeting that is short and upbeat.
Here’s the voicemail message used by one of our schools:
“Thank you for calling [Your School Name]. Your call is very important to us, so please leave your name, number and a brief message and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you and have a great day.”
Excellent telephone communication has a direct relationship with the success of your martial arts school. You only have seven seconds... make them count!
