<b><b>Charles Smith, head of customer and market information at Phoenix, reports on a survey carried out by the firm on how well sales staff handle phone calls. The results show that housebuilders are missing a golden opportunity</b></b><br><b>Most housebuilders have six figure marketing budgets and many run well into the millions. The majority of advertising cash is still poured into local newspapers with the resulting footfall being managed by site sales staff. But what happens when the time and effort going into a site's marketing leads to a telephone call? Are the calls being professionally and consistently managed? </b><br><b><b>Phone poll</b></b><br> To separate fact from fancy, Phoenix telephoned 100 developments by well known housebuilders and waited to see what questions they asked. <p></p><p>We wanted to know how well the calls were handled and to find inspiration on the best way to gather and manage customer information. If the site was using an answer machine we put the phone down and called back. If they were still using an answer machine by the third call we left name and address details only.</p><p> Obvious questions for site staff to ask are name and address, and it certainly makes sense to request a phone number …