There are different ways to boost contact centre sales, and here are some tips to improve your company’s performance immediately.
1. Focus on your people
Long calls work better than shorter ones, so it is important that the sales agents are able to maintain the attention of the customer for a long period of time, this will only work if the customer feels comfortable listening to the agent.
So we need extroverts as agents, people with charisma, ambitious and sociable. These people need to feel confident talking to every type of customer and be able to create a fast and reliable channel of communication.
The energy that these agents will provide needs to be combined with the capacity to listen to the customer, it is vital to value good communication; ask questions instead of simply sharing too much information when the customer did not ask for it. It is important that agents have full command of the brand’s service or product specifications and troubleshooting, and answers need to be provided as the customer requests it.
Agents need to be resilient and tenacious, they need to be driven and be willing to move forward, open to learning and solving problems effectively. Also, emotional intelligence is a key factor to develop top sales abilities. They need to be team focused and also be motivated by their own success.
2. Acknowledge, Bridge and Close
One of the most important parts of a call is objection handling. This approach may be applied by using three steps to handle objections properly: acknowledge, bridge and close.
An objection during a call is when a potential customer mentions they are not currently available to take the call, i.e. they are busy. Therefore, the first step is to acknowledge that you understand the customer is busy, all the while listening and paying attention to the tone of their responses.
The next steps are about bridging the conversation by telling the person how much the product or service you are offering can help busy people, always making a connection by association. Once this connection is made, the pitch and closing the sale are made with the full attention of the customer.
Again, of course it is important that agents are well aware of all the service or product details and information, and that they are prepared for common objections and questions during the call. A great way to overcome these objections is to anticipate as many scenarios as possible, and if agents have these (accurate) anticipated responses it will help build the customer’s confidence.
Remember customers prefer to buy from experts in their field, but experts are only experts when they have all the information and knowhow of the service or product; continuous training is the only way to achieve this.
3. A good opening line
When you are about to make a sales call, it is key to have a good opening line planned ahead to help keep the customers attention and the intention of taking the call.
An upbeat, but polite opening line can make the customer feel that he will benefit from taking the call.
Show courtesy and honesty in the way you talk, and never apologise for calling. The customer needs to feel you are calling because you have something that will help them improve their way of life.
A good way to project confidence is to introduce yourself from the beginning, people feel more secure when they know with whom they are talking. Always say your name, the name of the company and a very short explanation of what the company does.
During this explanation you’ll have to make the customer feel that the call represents unique information from which they will benefit.
4. Motivation is Key
Creating a healthy competition environment can be an effective strategy to achieve sales goals in a call center. This, combined with motivating the agents through a culture of optimism and appreciation, can increase productivity in the workplace in the short and long term.
Another way to encourage agents is to give them constant training and provide all proper equipment and accommodations so they can work comfortably. Provide new tactics and sales strategies to all your agents and reward the ones who achieve their goals while putting them into practice. Have them learn from each other.
Creating an incentive plan based on achievements can provide motivation, especially in the long term.
5. Always sell solutions
As we mentioned before, people love expert approval. This is why it is vital for you to constantly help your agents become experts on the service or product they are selling. When an agent knows and loves what they are selling, the customer can feel immediately drawn to the conversation and even enjoy taking the call.
Agents are calling to provide help, relief and solutions to one or more of the lead’s many problems. Solution selling is about showing the benefit of making the purchase. The agent shouldn’t have to convince the customer by listing all of the product’s features, but should adapt according to the feedback he is receiving, processing and explaining specific benefits a person will gain by becoming a customer.
6. Let them talk
The feedback a sales agent can provide regarding the reaction of a potential customer or rejection to new products or services can help the company understand if their strategies are working correctly or if there is a gap between the customer’s need and the product.
It is important to have constant meetings with the agents dedicated to gathering feedback to better understand the target market’s real needs in order to help achieve your sales goals.
