CALL CENTER NEWSLETTER: Presented by Call Center Today
This month, we focus on topics around the “Thanksgiving” theme. The upcoming holiday reminds us of the things that we can be thankful for. It means that we are entering the busiest time of the sales year. This also signals fewer working days because of the holidays.
You’ll also notice that we have a very extensive package of cool new training ideas and other programs for the call center professional. If you manage an inside sales, customer care, telemarketing, or help desk environment, we have a nice package of FREE tips, whitepapers, and other training products you are certain to enjoy.
Enjoy this month’s edition of The Call Center Today Newsletter. Please visit Call Center Today often at www.CallCenterToday.com. And, as always, if you have any questions, or want information on our consulting programs, training workshops, or leadership development, simply email us at mycallcenter@callcentertoday.com.
Sincerely, The Call Center Today Team.
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THANK YOUR CALL CENTER REPS
Giving some praise to your call center reps goes a long way to maintaining a positive attitude and increasing sales and customer service levels. And, it doesn’t have to cost much.
Incentives like a good hourly rate, spiffs and commissions, and even sales contests do a lot to motivate your reps. But, those cost money. And, it’s difficult to continue to sweeten the pot each month. Try handing out vocal rewards as well. What do we mean by that?
People enjoy receiving praise. Especially when they’ve earned it. Make a big deal out of little successes. You can do that in a team meeting or one-on-one. Yet, it needs to be sincere. Some things are obvious, like acknowledging your top reps during a team meeting or in an email to the team. But what about the others that also increased their sales or customer service levels? They should be recognized as well. You were looking for an uplift in activity – that’s what needs to be rewarded. Who knows, maybe that will be the spark to motivate your second tier reps to give it a little extra and become first tier next month!
And, it’s very cool to thank your reps for things they do that are not customer-facing. Some examples might include:
• Thanking people who worked overtime or an extra shift when needed
• Recognizing someone who provided community service
• Noting when a veteran provided onboarding help with a new rookie
• Giving someone a card or email to thank them for offering suggestions on ways to increase sales or improve processes
Like turkey, stuffing, and cranberries at Thanksgiving, you can’t go wrong sharing the right ingredients of thanking your contact center reps. The biggest thing to remember – make your “thanks” sincere.
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GET READY FOR 2010
Seems like not too long ago that you were planning out the 2009 year’s budget. Wow! It’s almost 2010! This year is flying by. What can you do to get ready for 2010? Start looking for the best of the best reps at your contact center.
You’ve probably started hiring additional reps to get ready for the holiday season. That’s great. But, why not make it into a tool to increase sales and customer service in 2010. How? Let’s talk about it.
There are probably a few people on your team that…well…shouldn’t be there. Oh, they probably perform okay. They might take a little more of your time to manage because they cause drama within your team, or they come in late (with good excuses each time). You still need their customer-facing contacts, but you just wish they could be more productive with less effort from you. Now is the time to take a meaningful look at your team.
For the final quarter of the 2009 year, you’ll be hiring extra people. Maybe you’re hiring 5%, 10%, or 20% more reps to cover the increase in calls. When you return to your standard levels in 2010, don’t make the choice based on seniority. Make the choice based on performance and team culture. Use the next two months as an unofficial probationary period. Keep an eye (and an ear) on the new reps. Because of the current job market, new hires are hungry to prove themselves and will be on their best behavior. Make notes about who you would like to keep on the team after the holiday sales season has finished. Then, be sure to follow up and keep the best of the best reps. Not only will your business owners be glad for the extra sales and customer service levels, but you team will feel better because they are part of a group that continues to have higher and higher standards. Everyone wants to be part of a winning team.
Click Here For FREE Call Center Management Tips
FEATURES, BENEFITS, AND PROVE-IT
You may have heard about “features” and “benefits” as the best way to provide a solid sale. Well…it’s true. It really works. Why? Because customers are savvy shoppers and usually have multiple sources to purchase your products from. How can your reps get customers to buy from you? They can talk about features, benefits, and then “prove-it.”
Features are the tangibles of your product. An example is an MP3 player. The feature is that is stores music that you can listen too. That’s a great feature, and it’s one that every contact center rep and every retail store rep will point out to customers. That’s not enough to encourage a customer to buy from you. What is? Benefits.
Benefits are the emotional ties that customers have with the features. For example, an MP3 player allows a customer to listen to the music that they like, WHEN THEY WANT TOO! No more waiting for the radio to play their favorite songs. No more looking around for a CD. No more borrowing someone else’s MP3. It’s their music on their time frame. Plus, an even greater feature is that they can listen to music that brings back good memories. Reps should remind them that they can have their olds school tunes, Indy releases, or that one special song that reminds them of that one special person, all at the touch of their finger on their own MP3. That enhanced benefit really ties their emotions to the purchase.
Now, “prove-it” by having reps share a story that brings it home. Something like “I have an MP3 and I love it. I was hanging out with some friends last week. There was this awkward silence, and I said, ‘Remember that homecoming assembly and the Britney Spears sang that they played. I’ve got it on my MP3.’ Everyone wanted to listen. We all started talking about that assembly and how much fun it was.” Do your reps combine the power of Features and Benefits with Prove-it? Try it and see your sales soar!
Want more information on how to take your sales or customer care departments to the next level? Email us at MyCallCenter@CallCenterToday.com. One of our Senior Account Managers will follow up with you.
NEW CALL CENTER TRAINING WHITEPAPERS
More then a dozen new call center training whitepapers are now on-line at Call Center Today. (www.CallCenterToday.com)
They are FREE and a perfect call center training compliment.
Click here to download these very informative white papers.
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
Training Magazine has its show February 1-3, 2010 in San Diego. Call Center Today will be exhibiting, please join us.
Visit www.TrainingConference.com for more information.
INSIDE SPLASH IS THE CALL CENTER SOCIAL COMMUNITY!
Be sure to register at www.InsideSplash.com. It is FREE. This new social call center community will help you link up to people in the call center world who do exactly what you do. Plus, there are terrific training sessions, plenty of learning on the message boards, and a contest or two happening all of the time.
Click here to explore and engage at Inside Splash.
MORE INFORMATION ON CALL CENTER TODAY
Contact us for more information on call center training and development programs, for inside sales and customer service call centers. Call 888-835-5326, email MyCallCenter@CallCenterToday.com or visit www.CallCenterToday.com
Click here to visit Call Center Today.
CHECK OUT THE FEATURED CALL CENTER TRAINING AUDIO PODCAST
The featured call center training audio podcast is on gaining a customers' full attention on the telephone. Complete with some great music from old television shows from years past, and training, delivered by Dan Coen.
Click here and scroll to the bottom of the home page.
CALL CENTER RADIO AND CALL CENTER PODCASTS
Call Center Radio features guests who specialize in the direct response, contact center, and media industries. Download for FREE a selection of great interviews from the Call Center Radio package. And while you are at the web site store, please visit our call center training audio podcast section for outstanding training podcasts about call center, inside sales, and customer care management and phone skills.
Click Here To Visit Call Center Radio
Click Here To Visit The Call Center Podcast Programs
November, 2009.