Call Center Management Featured Article
In Teaching Call Center Skills, Don't Forget Selling
Even if you’re hiring experienced agents, chances are you’re spending a lot of time training. Soft skills are important. So is empathy. Company policies and product information are also critical. Then there’s technology: if agents aren’t properly trained about how to use your platforms, they won’t be effective. But in this chaotic mix, don’t forget to teach agents one of the primary reasons for their employment: to sell.
Cross-selling and Upselling
Even if you don’t consider your contact center a sales center, upselling and cross-selling should be some primary goals of call center staff. They’re in a perfect position to sell: they are hearing customer needs and wants live over the phone (or over chat or SMS). Many customers are in buying mode. It’s the perfect time to make the right sales pitch, particularly if agents are given the skills and tools to do so. In fact, call center agents may be in a better position to sell than salespeople in some cases, since they’re more focused on the customer and not hitting target numbers, according to a recent article by Moe Ghani writing for Forbes.
“In my experience, when you begin to focus more on the customer, something changes in your performance — you start selling more,” wrote Ghani. “This unconscious change occurs because you’re focused on a great outcome rather than the sale as the only outcome. You want the customer to walk away happy and satisfied, whether they buy or not.”
Focus on the Customer Experience
Agents are already trained to focus on customer outcomes, which gives them a leg up in the sales process. Despite increased knowledge of the importance of the customer experience in the selling product, many sales departments remain primarily focused on their quotas. By making the call center a sales asset, call center management is able to focus on the right moment in the customer journey to make a sale.
“Companies spend a lot on the customer experience, which includes websites, optimal call center staffing, research into product operation, etc., “wrote Ghani. “The salesperson is on the front line of the customer experience effort. They have direct contact with the customer and may even be the customer’s first impression with the company.”
Edited by Maurice Nagle