I am currently doing some research to put together a 1 day sales training course for non sales call centre staff. The main outcome of the course is to reduce the number of objections which are not converted into sales & increase the number of general enquiries which could be converted into sales leads.
Where do I start & what should I include?
liz howard
3 Responses
some suggestions
Hi Liz,
My Previous experience suggests there are a number of key “blockages” at work here.
Firstly I think you need to help people understand that Selling is not a “dirty word” and that, handled professionally and courteously, people will not mind being sold to and in fact often QUITE LIKE TO BUY!
Secondly you need to get people to REALLY LISTEN to what the customer is saying and Identfy the “buying signals”.
This leads to my third point which is about about ensuring that people have real product knowledge and undertand what “buying signals” they should be looking for in order to promore particular products.
Have quite a lot of experience in this area – if you need any further support please contact me on nick.chinery@irwinmichell.com (and no I’m not selling my services!)
Some more suggestions
As well as the suggestions on buying signals and exploring resistance to selling, you may find it useful to confront some of the issues stopping the staff dealing with objections or converting general queries.
I am working on a similar programme, where service staff are carrying out a sales role, and will be exploring perceptions and sterotyping, in terms of “I wouldn’t pay that, so they won’t”,etc, using specific customer profile data to break down perceptions. Another aspect to be considered is the negative mind talk that comes towards the end of the call, when closing the sale or dealing with objections:how to convert that into positive thinking and the best outcome for sales person and customer.
Still in draft format at the moment, but let me know if you would like any more information.
Lead Generation?
Hi Liz
From what you have written I am making the assumption that your client is looking for a lead generation programme that will get ‘non sales people’ to provide effective leads that ‘stick’ and can be converted into ‘sales’?
I totally agree with Nick that some call centre advisors will see ‘sales’ as a dirty work especially if they have previously worked in a customer service environment. Take some time to get them to look at how often a ‘sale’ will take place without them thinking about it. Get them to think about their interview when they were thinking of joining the company and the fact that they had to ‘sell themselves’ to the person that was interviewing them.
It will also be worth covering the fact that if they are already talking to customer then they will have started to build a bond with them and that it will be easier for them to introduce new products and services rather than passing the customer onto someone else who has to start building that bond from the start.
Think about getting them to listen to some calls that have already come into the business and get them to identify where the lead is and if the customer turned down the opportunity what could have been done to change the customers view, in a professional manner.
Like Nick, I have had a lot of experience in this area (specifically with call centres) so please feel free to drop me an email (neil@train2develop.com) if I can be of any further assistance.
Wishing you every success