ICMI's Customer Management Insight - April 2008 - (Page 33)

S T R AT E G Y service center can be disruptive, to say the least. How do you preserve service levels while achieving sales goals? This is where hiring is key, so it was surprising that only 16.9 percent of respondents to the ICMI survey added prehire testing to determine agent skill-sets for cross-selling and upselling. Recruiting also needs to be considered, says Tara Reynolds, vice president of Customer Marketing and Acquisition for Prudential’s Individual Life Insurance business. Prudential has a very small direct sales program, as it relies heavily on getting leads out to its face-to-face sales channels. Among its hundreds of service agents, only 30 actually handle sales—and then only with customers who choose to work over the phone rather than with a local agent. “Recruiting might be a bigger challenge for us if the sales activity were to grow, says Reynolds. ” “While we offer a very competitive package, we’d have to consider our ability to source aggressive representatives who are more comfortable with a sales versus a service culture. ” It’s true that a great service rep doesn’t necessarily make a great sales rep. But it’s not that service reps can’t be trained for sales, says Stanfill. A good many of them can, but the transition isn’t always easy. A common mistake that managers make is to give perfectly good, bright service reps sales scripts, rather than training them to serve by selling. Take Stanfill’s “fries with that” example. If a customer orders a salad, it’s not likely that a rep will be be able to sell him fries — but asking if he’d like apple slices or a yogurt with his order is more likely to appeal to the customer. To recruit agents who can service and sell, you need to screen candidates for the Four Cs: cultural fit, character fit, career fit and com- M The Top 20 Strategies for Stellar Sales Performance Although many best-of-breed companies do not use the same processes or strategies to attain peak performance, there are more commonalities than differences among top-performing companies, according to Mary Murcott in Driving Peak Sales Performance in Call Centers. Here are the top strategies she identified: 1. Determine your center’s minimum peak sales potential using macro-gap analysis. 2. Focus on fewer performance measures. Set one business outcome KPI per function. 3. Validate supporting KPI performance drivers using correlation and regression analysis. 4. Use micro-gap analysis to show individual sales reps the way to their “personal best. ” 5. Hire top-performing sales reps by using validated assessment tools. 6. Develop a detailed and rigorously followed sales training and coaching process. 7 Explore structural and systemic revenue opportu. nities, reducing the number of times the rep must say “no” to a sale. 8. Do not tightly script top sales performers. 9. Utilize skills-based routing to drive sales calls to the best sales reps. 10. Rethink channel profitability. Selectively move IVR calls back to sales reps. 11. Deselect the bottom performers through minimum sales standards and higher risk/reward compensation programs. SOURCE: Driving Peak Sales Performance in Call Centers 12. Reinforce the reps’ faith in the company’s product value and delivery systems. 13. Build a dynamic performance database. 14. Allow the reps access to as much customer information as possible. 15. Construct incentive systems that can change lifestyles. 16. Remove environmental irritants (such as marketing and advertising surprises and poor communication). 17 Design a CRM strategy and implement selective . customer- and call-type tools that enhance sales reps’ ability to cross-sell and upsell. 18. “Connect the dots” between reps’ performance and the company’s success. 19. Tighten the bond between the sales reps and supervisors using recognition and advanced leadership training. 20. Drive changes through a series of prioritized and well-orchestrated projects using project management methodology. icmi’s insight www.icmi.com | APRIL 2008 33 http://www.incoming.com/WebModules/Products/PubDetail.aspx?ProductId=479 http://www.icmi.com

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ICMI's Customer Management Insight - April 2008 Operations: Small Call Centers, Big Potential Ad Index Contents Editor's Page Contact Center Spotlight People: Assessment Tools Recommended Reading Technology: Speech Recognition Special Feature: Best of Show Strategy: Service-to-Sales Success Expert's Angle - High Volume, High Stakes: A Better Strategy for Hiring Experts Angle - Secrets of Recruiting Success/Job Brands: Changing Applicant Reactions to Your Openings Experts Angle - Speech Analytics: Uncovering the Voice of the Customer

ICMI's Customer Management Insight - April 2008

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