This is a question I’m often asked by my children. And, lately I’ve realized that adults should be asking me the same question. You see, I have been marketing technology products for nearly 20 years. Sometimes I say things like, “Ifbyphone whispers your rep a message.”
Lately though, I’ve been realizing when I make statement like that, I’m not speaking English; I’m talking like a technology marketer. If I look closely, I can usually see it on the face of the person I’m talking to. Aside from a reminder to myself not to say stuff like that, I thought I’d also use this blog post to explain what I mean by “whisper.”
When I use the term “whisper” I’m not talking about the song “Careless Whisper” by George Michael. I’m not making a reference to one of my favorite James Bond characters. And, I’m not telling secrets speaking “…very softly using one’s breath rather than one’s throat…”
What I am talking about is a short message spoken by an automated voice to the person who takes a telephone call. A whisper message is only heard by the person who answers the call. A whisper message is ideal when communicating information about the caller to the person who answers the phone. For example:
- Dave is online looking for a new house. He finds one and fills out a form that gets emailed to the agent. That form, along with sending an email, also calls the agent. When he agent picks up the phone, an automated voice says, “You have a web lead for 1234 Main Street. Would you like to talk to that lead now?” In this example, only the agent hears the automated message. Dave does not; he hears the phone ringing.
- Betsy’s sink has just sprung a leak. She grabs a phone book, flips it open to “Plumber” and dials the largest ad on the page… Brian, the plumber, is talking a coffee break. His phone rings. When he answers, he hears Betsy’s recorded (and excited) voice say, “My sink is spraying water all over my kitchen! Help!” Since this whisper tells Brian exactly what the emergency is, he takes the call, and gets Betsy’s business.
- Diane is a sales rep for a software company. One day Diane is prospecting for new business when her phone rings. Upon answering, Diane hears an automated voice say, “You have a lead currently on the pricing page of your web site. Would you like to call this lead right now?” Diane, excited that she can stop making cold calls, says, “Yes” and her phone automatically dials the prospect.
In each of these scenarios, the whisper message tells the agent, plumber, and sales rep why the caller is calling. Not only does this prepare the agent for the call, it moves the conversation forward more quickly. You will also notice in each scenario, the agent can decide to take to call or not. And, if the agent decides to take the call, the phone connects the two parties automatically. Ifbyphone provides these types of solutions today using applications such as the easy to set up Find Me application and the highly responsive MyLeadResponder.
Before I start going on about technology, I need to remind myself why I set out to write this post in the first place. Hopefully, this definition of whisper is meaningful. And, if you have a need for this sort of technology, remember the whisper should be meaningful to the agent, plumber, or sales rep. It’s sad when someone leaves a “careless whisper.”
