CX RIOT RADIO

Owning the call isn’t aggressive. It’s compassionate. Because the customer is stressed. They’re unsure. They don’t know what to do. Certainty creates safety. “Here’s what we’re going to do.” That sentence changes everything. DO THIS TODAY: Add one certainty phrase to every call.

  It’s 12:38 a.m. Neon light hums over a wet parking lot outside a 24-hour pharmacy. Rain beads across a windshield. A woman sits in her car, seat tilted back just enough to breathe. Engine off to save gas. Phone mounted. Battery at 12%. She’s not off work. She’s between pings. That’s the gig economy. Not the keynote speech version. Not the glossy “be your own boss” ad.  The real one that smells like fast food wrappers and overheated brakes. The one where your manager is a notification sound. And yes, it’s seductive. Work when you want. Log in at 2 a.m. Log off at noon. No permission slips. No shift swaps. No supervisor watching the clock. That part is real. But autonomy inside a system you don’t control is not power. It’s conditional freedom. The Illusion of Independence Traditional employment can feel suffocating. Micromanagers. Spreadsheet tyrants. HR scripts and time clocks. For a lot of people, gig work feels like an escape hatch. And it is, in a narrow lane. There’s no b...

In the trades every inbound call has two possible outcomes: Either the CSR leads the conversation… …or the customer does. And when the customer leads? You usually get: long calls confusion stalled decisions price-only conversations lower booking rate But when the CSR leads with confidence and kindness… You get: trust clarity forward motion better booking rate happier customers This is Call Control. Not aggressive. Not salesy. Not pushy. Just professional leadership on the phone. So let’s talk about how CSRs can control calls, without ever sounding like a bully. First: What Is Call Control? Call control simply means: The CSR guides the direction of the conversation so the customer feels taken care of. Not dominated. Not manipulated. Not pressured. Guided. Because the customer didn’t call to lead. They called to get help. And when nobody leads? The call turns into drift. Drift kills booking rate. Where Call Control Goes Wrong A lot of CSRs think call control means: ❌ talking over the cus...

When someone says, “That sounds expensive,” what they’re really saying is: “I don’t fully understand the value yet.” Price objections are value problems in disguise. Stop lowering price. Start raising certainty. DO THIS TODAY: Teach CSRs to explain why your service exists, not just what it costs.

If you run a plumbing, HVAC, or electrical company, you already know the type of call I’m talking about. The price shopper. They call and get right to it: “How much do you charge to…?” Drain clear. Water heater. AC tune-up. Whatever. And most CSRs freeze. They either: panic and blurt out numbers talk themselves into a corner or reflexively discount to stay in the game You don’t have to discount to win price shoppers. Because most “price shoppers” aren’t actually hunting for the lowest bid. They are hunting for the: safest option clearest answer least risky choice They just use price as the language for fear. So let’s talk about how to handle price shoppers, without racing to the bottom. First, Understand What a Price Shopper Really Is Most customers aren’t accountants. They’re humans trying to avoid: being overcharged being ripped off hiring the wrong company making a bad decision So they use the one question they know how to ask: “How much is it?” It’s not really about the price. It’s...

Most customers don’t remember what we said. They remember how we made them feel. You can read the perfect script in the wrong tone, and still lose the job. But bring the right tone? Suddenly customers relax. They open up. They trust. They book an appointment. DO THIS TODAY: Coach tone first. Words second.