How To Choose A Good Call Center For Your Company
While certain companies may find a receptionist more than enough to answer the phone, other companies may require significantly extensive call management. Any company that finds its phones ringing off the hook may want to consider hiring external call centers to handle their incoming as well as their outgoing calls.
Hiring a call center can do a lot for your company in the way of saving precious employee time and resources and boosting growth management. Call centers do more than just answering your phone calls during office hours. They offer you a comprehensive package that includes handling after-hours inquiries, total customer service, technical support and collection of orders.
It’s important to remember that the call center is the face of your company. Considering the chosen call center will be the first point of contact the customer has with your company, it is vital that you take a lot of care in choosing the right one for your needs. There are several different types of call centers so even before you start your search you need to decide to determine the volume of calls the call center will be expected to handle as well as the costs and the types of calls.
The best place to begin your call center search is on the Internet. If you browse through a Call Center Guide or the Call Center Directory, you will be able to compare between a whole list of call centers that are located in your area as well those right across the world.
Different call centers charge differently; some charge per dedicated client service rep while others charge per minute. Getting free quotes from different call centers who offer different service packages will help you ascertain a reasonable price for the kind of services you require.
When evaluating the services extended by any call center it is important to first determine that the call center comprehends your industry and can offer the specific services required by your industry. If your business requirements include participating in Web chats with clients or replying to service-oriented e-mails, ascertain that the call center will meet these needs. There are several call center consultants that help companies find out the different call center services that are available for companies of various sizes and in varied industries.
Once you’ve short-listed a few call centers based on their costs and services rendered, it is important to compare the performance of the selected call centers. Performance levels of all centers can be determined by several standard traffic measurements, also called performance metrics. Some of the most important questions to ask when determining performance metrics include:
What is the average amount of time a caller is required to wait while waiting in a queue?
What is the average talk time (ATT) or the typical amount of conversation time?
What is the average handling time (AHT) or the typical amount of time spent dealing with the customer? The AHT is equivalent to the ATT plus time spent wrapping up as well as time spent holding on.
What is the number of calls that an agent answers in one hour? In call center lingo this is referred to as CPH.
What is the Service Level of the call center or the percentage of calls that are attended to within a specific time frame?
What is the amount of time that an agent spends while processing customer requests whilst not actually talking to the customer? This is referred to as NR- Not Ready Time or ACW- After Call Work.
What is the percentage of calls that a customer abandons the call completely due to having to hold on for a long time in a queue? This is called Percentage of calls abandoned or Total calls abandoned and happens in call centers that do not sufficient staff to handle the high volume of calls.
What is the percentage of alls that resolve the customer’s issues entirely? Resolving it completely means that the customer does not find it necessary to call back regarding the same problem at least for a specified minimum period of time. This is called First Call Resolution or FCR.
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Does The Fear Of Cold Calling Stop You From Calling Prospects?
Knowing how important a positive attitude is, the typical sales person thinks positively all the way to work. He affirms that he is excited about all the cold calls he is going to make. Having heard how powerful visualization is, he might even visualize himself making cold call after cold call and having tremendous success. Surely this will be the day he takes over the sales world and attracts new customers and business like crazy.
When we take a peek at this same sales professional in his office just an hour later, we hardly believe our eyes. Instead of calling one prospect after another (as his attitude convinced us he would), we find him taking care of busy work on his desk instead. If we could see the thoughts going through his head, they’re decidedly different than those we heard this morning:
“You can’t make that call now. You don’t feel comfortable. Go get a cup of coffee and get ready for the call. Look at your desk. How do you expect to generate any more customers with your desk in such disarray? You need to get organized before you go collecting any more customers.” etc., etc.
Perhaps you’re familiar with The Third Man, by Graham Greene. The story begins with Holly Martins arriving in Vienna at the end of World War II. He’s been offered a job by an old high school chum named Harry Lime. Right after his arrival, he learns that Harry was killed in an auto accident.
To make a long story short, the rest of the story revolves on Holly trying to understand the truth around Harry’s death, while simultaneously trying to win over Harry’s beautiful, former girlfriend. If you see the movie version, you won’t see the character that plays a critical role until the last few minutes of the story.
Why do I mention this classic story? I mention it because it reminds me of the sales process. Typically, the highlighted characters in any sales training are the salesman and the prospect, but the character that portrays a critical role is almost never mentioned simply because it isn’t visible. Similar to The Third Man, the character may not be seen, but the effects of that character are blatant and destructive.
Plenty of sales trainers will talk about the relationship between the sales professional and the prospect, but they fail to ever mention “the third man” in the sales world. This third man is so rarely spoken of that most sales people don’t have the slightest idea how to deal with it, and because of that, they fail to make most of the sales calls that they actually desire to make.
So who is “the third man,” this critical player, in the sales business? Fascinatingly enough, this critical player isn’t real in the sense that you can see it. But you can definitely see its negative effects. It’s sometimes referred to as an inner committee. I often refer to that voice inside our head as “the trouble thoughts.”
You would be hard pressed to find a sales professional who isn’t familiar with those trouble thoughts that talk him out of making calls now and convince him to wait for a better time to make sales calls or cold calls. The definition of just what is a better time to call varies. It can be when one won’t bother his prospect, when one won’t interrupt his prospect, when one is better rehearsed or better organized, when one has more courage, when one has more confidence, when it’s not so early, or when it’s not so late.
Perhaps the most frightening aspect in this entire call reluctance scenario is that most sales professionals believe they are alone. They wouldn’t dare speak about their fear of cold calling or about all the reasons they postpone making sales calls because they think they are the only ones doing that. Consequently, they believe there is some secret they have yet to learn before they can make all those calls they need to make.
Again, they’re waiting… waiting for that secret to be revealed – the secret that will make all their prospecting fears go away.
From my own sales experience, I’ve learned that the best time to call a prospect is as soon as I think about calling him. Waiting for a better time usually results in one of two things – never finding the right time to call that prospect, or waiting so long that by the time the call is finally placed, the prospect is already doing business with someone else and no longer requires the suggested product.
Effectively teaching sales professionals how to overcome the fear of cold calling and to “seize the phone” doesn’t necessarily require a lengthy process. I prefer to compare that process to a baseball player going up to bat, and naturally having the goal to hit the ball, run to each of the bases, and finally cross over the home plate and score.
Getting to first base involves coming face to face with that critical player, the voice that talks one out of making all those calls. By revealing that voice as the liar that it is, sales people discover they can move on to second base.
Moving to second base requires learning how to detach oneself from the persistent voice that nags and distracts but never points one in the right direction. By effectively dismantling the seeming hold that fear has on them, sales professionals can move on to third base.
Getting one’s feet firmly planted on third base occurs when sales people see more to their business than the exchanging of goods and money. By opening their eyes to recognize the potential ongoing value they create and the good that unfolds simply by contacting others on the telephone, they learn the greater aspects and opportunities of their business.
Finally, all sales people need to learn that getting to home plate is only accomplished when they take their foot off of third base. They must come to grips with the fact that the sales process is a continual cycle, that everyday they must walk out of the dugout of fear, pick up a bat of immeasurable value, put themselves in the game and start playing.
Always the biggest obstacle in any sales person’s career is himself. When sales people learn how to get that critical player inside their own head out of their way, the potential is truly unlimited.
Author and Sales Trainer, Tammy Stanley directs The Sales Refinery, a sales training firm that assists sales professionals generate more business through powerful marketing, selling and leadership strategies.
Get her FREE report, “7 Keys to Easier Prospecting” at http://www.fear-of-cold-calling.com
The Importance of Acknowledging Prospects
This morning I received one of those calls that I hardly look forward to getting. You probably have had calls just like this:
Hello Mrs. Stanley, this is ABC carpet cleaning company, and we’re currently in your area cleaning carpets for other homeowners, and we’d like to offer you a free cleaning for any room in your house of a 10X10 area. We also clean couches, chairs and throw rugs. We’d like to come in and give you a free estimate for all the carpet areas in your home as well as any couches or chairs that you’d also like to be cleaned. We’re going to be right in your neighborhood this Wednesday. Does two o’clock work with your schedule?
Did you cringe just reading that? When I get a call like that I can’t tell if I’m listening to a recording or a real person. I probably don’t need to mention that I’m not fond of conversations with recordings, which is why I often choose to hang up the phone instead of giving a sales representative like that more time.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a script that I mind so terribly as a script that doesn’t include the one thing that makes a prospect feel important – questions! Hey before you waste your breath talking about carpet cleaning, wouldn’t it make sense to discover if your prospect has any carpet?
Asking your prospect a question or two makes your prospect feel acknowledged. Acknowledgment is something that all humans desire, and many are starved for it. What would happen in your business if you implemented some ways to better acknowledge your prospects and customers?
A number of years ago it occurred to me that I gave away all kinds of recognition to the women on my sales team, but I had never given any kind of special recognition to my customers. Just before Mother’s Day, I sent out each customer in my database a lovely but inexpensive bracelet and a really clever letter that expressed how grateful I was to have her as a customer. I remember the bracelets costing less than $3 a piece, but by my customers’ reactions, it was like I bought them the moon. In the end, it wasn’t the gift that mattered. And there was even something greater than the thought – it was the recognition, the acknowledgment that touched them so deeply.
All people desire recognition, even those who tell you they don’t. Keep that concept close at hand as you build your sales business. Then remember that one of the best ways to acknowledge prospects and customers is to ask them questions. In addition to making them feel acknowledged, you afford yourself the opportunity to better respond to their needs.
This reminds me of the little boy who asked his mom where he came from. The mom then went into a detailed explanation about how babies are born. After she was done, her son said, “Oh, ‘cuz my friend Johnny comes from Texas, and I was wondering where I came from.” I hope that made you laugh. Now consider how laughable it is that we assume what our prospects, our customers, and our recruits need or want without even investigating the situation with a few questions.
What are some questions you could ask your prospects that might narrow down whether or not they’re prospects worth spending time with or not? What are some questions you could ask your customers that might improve your sales presentation or customer service?
Tammy Stanley directs The Sales Refinery, a sales training firm that assists sales professionals generate more business through powerful marketing and selling strategies. Get your FREE report, “Simple Secrets to Attracting More Business” at http://www.tammystanley.com/ezine_offer_g.htm
The Secret to Setting Appointments with Prospects
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…
-Charles Dickens, English novelist (1812 – 1870)
Talking to prospects on the phone is like reading those first few lines of Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities. The key is to avoid being the worst, being foolish or incredulous, and to prevent the season of darkness and the winter of despair.
Now imagine the following:
You hear your telephone ringing. You pick it up only to discover a salesperson on the line. She says,
“Hello, this is Angel Smith with ABC House Cleaning Service. We clean your house so you don’t have to. We’ll be in your neighborhood this week giving free estimates for our services. We can come by your house on either Tuesday at 10:00 A.M. or Wednesday at 3:00 P.M. Which works best for you?”
Okay, gut reaction — how do you feel? What do you want to say?
I’ll tell you what I would want to say. I would want to say,
“If you think you can get an appointment with me by cornering me with that tale of two dates, think again. Hey! I’m the customer. I get to choose the date, not you. And by the way, there’s nothing amazing about giving a free estimate.”
That’s what I want to say, but because I’m pathetically polite, I’d chicken out and say, “Neither.” And then I’d just hang up.
I know plenty of sales people still try to close their prospects that way, and plenty more are taught to sell and close like that, but I flat out disagree with that method. When a salesperson uses a script like that, what he is really saying is:
Hello, I’m with ABC Cleaning Service and I’ll go wherever I can to get an appointment. I want to make some sales this week, so do you want to buy from me on Tuesday or on Wednesday?
Wouldn’t you think it foolish for a sales person to use that script? Well believe me, most prospects are savvy enough to hear between the lines of phrases like “We’ll be in your neighborhood,” and “We have an opening on Tuesday at 10:00 or Wednesday at 3:00.” Prospects are quite familiar with the tale of two dates.
When a sales person uses phraseology like that he is obviously trying to push the prospect in a certain direction. But prospects often resist, once a salesperson pushes. The key is to find out what your prospect wants. Once you know if your prospect wants what you’re selling, setting a time to get together shouldn’t be any different than setting a time to get together with a friend.
The other day I got a call from my insurance agent. He wanted to get together with me for a cup of coffee this week. When it came to picking a time to get together, he simply said, “So what morning works for you this week?”
On Monday I called a friend of mine I’d hadn’t seen in a few weeks. When I called I asked her if she could meet me sometime this week, she said, “Sure. When?” I said, “Any chance we could meet in an hour?”
If you look over those conversations, they both included selecting a time to get together with someone, but there was no pressure and no resistance. Indeed, I quickly suggested Thursday morning to my friend Mike, and my friend, Sue, told me she could meet me in 45 minutes.
I suggest that the reason those appointments were easy to set was because the conversations surrounding the appointments were real. When you’re real with your prospects, you’ll find it far easier to generate interest and appointments. You don’t have to put on a “salesman hat” and speak like a salesman. It isn’t necessary.
If a prospect wants what you are selling, there’s absolutely no need to corner him into a tight place with your tale of two dates unless you have a strange desire to resemble Dickens’ character, Madame Defarge (not exactly a likable person). That technique is old and truly worn out. Your prospects don’t want to feel manipulated; they want to feel like they can trust you. Trust will generate a sale far faster than manipulation.
Just this week our refrigerator went kaput. Naturally I had just spent a small fortune in groceries, so it became imperative that we go get a new refrigerator right away. We went to one of these huge places and started looking for a brand our repairman had suggested. Why did we want what our repairman suggested? Because he manipulated us? Of course not. We wanted what he suggested because we trust him.
While we were looking, a salesman came up and asked if he could help us in any way. I told him that we had to get a new refrigerator because the compressor in our refrigerator had died. I then told him that our repairman had told us that compressors typically last 15 – 20 years, but ours had only lasted 9.
How the salesman responded stopped me in my tracks. He said, “No, the manufacturers don’t design refrigerators like that anymore. You know, they realized that when they make them last that long, it’s bad for their business. So, these days they only design them to last 7-9 years.” HUH — pure unadulterated honesty coming from a sales person in the appliance division?
What do you think I did? I looked at his name tag. Five minutes later when we were ready to buy (no, he didn’t hover over us while we shopped), I searched the place looking for Cheech. Why? I trusted him.
Could it be that the secret to setting appointments and getting a sale is exchanging manipulation for simple honesty? AH! The epoch of belief, the season of Light, the spring of hope!
Tammy Stanley directs The Sales Refinery, a sales training firm that assists sales professionals generate more business through powerful marketing and selling strategies. Get your FREE report, “7 Keys to Easier Prospecting” at http://www.fear-of-cold-calling.com