Marketing Advice


Whoever answers your phone is running your reputation


In this Marketing Advice column, Colin Sinclair McDermott, aka the Online Print Coach, tackles how making a first impression when answering a phone can make the difference on if a customer stays or goes.


I


was coaching a sign business owner a few months ago and asked him a simple question:


when did you last call your own company? He had never done it. Not once in fourteen years. So, we did it together, right there.


He dialled his own number on speakerphone. It rang nine times. When someone finally picked up, the greeting was a mumbled “yeah?” followed by the sound of something metallic running in the background. No company name. No warmth. Nothing that told a potential customer they had reached a professional operation. If this sounds a bit far-fetched, why


don’t you try it now? It’s more common than you think. Most


owners pour their energy into the quality of the finished product and the installation. But the reputation of the business is often shaped in the first fifteen seconds of a phone call by whoever happens to be nearest the handset.


Your front door is a voice In a sign and graphics business, the phone is still where the majority of new enquiries come in. A customer who has seen your van,


spotted a job you did on a shopfront, or been given your name by someone they trust will pick up the phone before they visit your website. That first voice they hear is your


brand. If it sounds distracted, disinterested, or unprofessional, no amount of beautiful wide-format work is going to recover the damage. Here is the uncomfortable truth: That


person answering the phone is not just taking a message. They are auditioning your business.


And most of the time, no one in the building has ever been told what to say.


The complaint that builds loyalty The same applies when things go wrong. A customer calls with a problem,


| 28 | May/June 2026


maybe a colour match is off or a delivery arrived late, and the person who takes that call has a choice. They can get defensive, pass the blame, or make the customer feel like an inconvenience. Or they can own the moment. I have seen businesses turn their most


frustrated customers into their most loyal ones simply by handling the complaint with speed and honesty. When someone calls with an


issue and hears “I am sorry that has happened, let me find out exactly where we are with this and call you back within the hour,” you have just done more for your reputation than any social media campaign ever could.


Mystery shop yourself My challenge to every owner reading this is simple. Call your own business tomorrow morning. Better still, get a friend to do it. Ask them to enquire about a basic job, a set of vehicle graphics or a fascia sign, and then ask them to report back on exactly how it felt.


If you want to take it further, give your


team a structure to follow. The greeting should include the company name and a genuine offer to help. When handling a complaint, the


priority is to listen first, acknowledge the frustration, and commit to a specific next step with a timescale. When setting expectations on a new


enquiry, be clear about what happens next and when they will hear from you. None of this requires expensive


training. It requires a conversation with your team about what that first 15 seconds should sound and feel like.


You do not get a second first impression You have invested years building your skills, your equipment, and your client list. Do not let all of that be undermined by a mumbled “yeah?” and the sound of a trimmer in the background. The person who picks up the phone is the face of your business. Make sure they know it.


www.signupdate.co.uk


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