Chapter 25 The Word “Miss” Versus The Word “Mrs.”
(Tested Selling Over Telephones) One little word that was worth a thousand dollars. The Voice with the smile wins over the telephone. Handling the maid. Your first ten telephone words are more important than your next ten thousand.
THE CHARLES MITCHELLS, father and son, are owners of the Regal Laundry in Baltimore and members of the Baltimore Advertising Club. I had talked before this group and inspired Charles Mitchell, Jr., to ask that a survey be made of the sales language employed by his telephone operators and drivers. The Regal Laundry, being very progressive, had a monitor system that permitted an observer to “cut in” on a telephone conversation between the Regal telephone solicitors and the prospects. After a mass of data was collected, it was noted that the married women were getting more orders than the single girls. Over the telephone a voice is a voice, and it is difficult to discern between the voice of a married woman and that of a single woman. What, then, was causing the married solicitors to get more business? Was it th e famous “voice with the smile?” This circumstance had us perplexed for several weeks, and then we made this interesting observation. Women Won’t Hang Up On A “Mrs.” It seems that if you call a prospect and say, “This is Mrs. Smith of the Regal Laundry c alling,” the prospect on the other end of the telephone hesitates to hang up. She feels that a married woman deserves consideration, for she is married herself! Besides, what could a single woman tell her about her washing problems? As an experiment, we instructed the entire telephone staff to begin using the word “Mrs.” Affixed to their names, instead of “Miss.” People began to listen to the Regal sales story!
This one word has meant thousands of dollars in extra business. When The Maid Answers
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