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Best Practices in Developing Service Representatives for Sales Excellence

Best Practices in Developing Service Representatives for Sales Excellence. Study Overview.

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Best Practices in Developing Service Representatives for Sales Excellence

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  1. Best Practices in Developing Service Representatives for Sales Excellence

  2. Study Overview Best Practices, LLC used a survey and in-depth interviews to identify the winning tactics and lessons learned of service-to-sales call centers that drive revenue growth through superior hiring, training and management. Study Objectives Key Topic Areas • Service/Sales Models • Cross-Sell Techniques • Recruiting Strategies • Cross-Sell Skills • Training Practices • Coaching Techniques • Success Metrics To probe 1) staff selection, 2) training & development, 3) process management, and 4) performance management Factors that are essential for a service center to transform into a service/sales center

  3. Benchmark Class Companies 59 sales and service call center leaders from 57 companies across more than 20 industries participated in the study. Select participants include: American Express AOL AT&T Wireless Bank of America BANK ONE BASF AG Bellsouth BT Financial Group Carlson Leisure Group Citigroup/Citibank Dell Dow Chemical Eastman Kodak Eaton Hydraulics EDS: Electronic Data Systems Fidelity Investments Fleet Bank IBM Lands' End Medtronic, Inc. National Leasing NCR People's Bank Royal Bank SouthEast Telephone Sprint Texas Instruments, Inc The Hartford Insurance Group Travelocity Vodafone Wachovia Wells Fargo West Group, A Thomson Company

  4. Broad Perspectives & Insights Benchmark partners represent a broad cross-section of job titles and industries, overseeing call centers throughout the global marketplace. PARTNER JOB TITLES Sr. VP’s, VPs, General Managers, Directors and Managers in: • Call & Contact Centers • Customer Service & Customer Care • Sales Operations • Technical Support • Training & Development • Quality & Benchmarking • Process Excellence INDUSTRIES PARTICIPATING (Partial List) TELECOM COMPUTERS PUBLISHING CONSUMER BANKING TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS INSURANCE FOOD SERVICES DIGITAL IMAGING SEMI-CONDUCTORS RETAIL SERVICES MUTUAL FUNDS

  5. Call Center Size & Scale Benchmark participants reflect a cross-section of call centers by size of operations. About half have less than 200 reps with the remainder having more than than 200. Nearly 1/5 of the centers managed between 1,001 - 10,000 reps. Call Center Size 1,001-10,000 reps 18% 1-100 reps 42% 40% 101-1,000 reps

  6. Evolution to Cross-sell Excellence The evolution to cross-selling excellence advances across predictable stages of standardization, integration and execution. 6. Integrated Systems Excellence • Structure supports cross sell • Products bundled & allocated • Process excellence • Technology enabled • Performance management • Improvement cycles 5. Manage for Performance • Performance coaching • Assessment • Recognition & Incentives • Career Pathing 4. Align Technology Systems • Cross-sell prompts • Skills routing • Productivity tools 3. Train & Develop • Sales Excellence • Sales Coaching 2. Recruit the Right Reps • Talent targeting skill • Recruitment excellence 1. Articulate the Process • Identification of cross-sell opportunities • Standardization

  7. Integration Excellence Employ an integrated approach to call center performance excellence  continuously refining structure, process, selection, training, and performance management elements that drive cross-selling effectiveness. Benchmarks of Excellence • Strategy: Set cross selling as a critical business objective • Structure: Fit with culture and deployment • Leadership: Prepare line management to lead sales and change • Recruitment: Target right talent and rejuvenate with sales competencies • Process Excellence: Integrate standardized sales process with products, technology and performance management • Training: Revamp training to make sales cornerstone of orientation • Performance Management: Realign performance systems with sales coaching, metrics, goals, reviews and career path “The sales people are our top people. They are the ones who raised their hands and said they wanted to do both service and sales … These people love their jobs. They have higher performance rates, higher success rates, higher employee satisfaction and higher customer satisfaction.” Sr. Vice President Financial Services Call Center Operations

  8. Staffing Strategy Effectiveness Training incumbents – when done well – is considered more effective than hiring new reps. However, more partners view hiring new reps as highly effective. “Rate each staffing or performance strategy for its effectiveness in developing high-performing service/sales reps to cross-sell.” Ineffective Ratings Effective Ratings Moderately Highly Moderately Highly 22% 8% 28% 20% Train incumbent service reps 50% 72% Hire new sales-oriented reps 12% 33% 33% 34% 66% 22% N = 57 companies

  9. Portion of Reps Likely to Sell Benchmark partners have learned a hard lesson. Only a limited percentage of service reps can be expected to be both willing and ready to sell. Management Perspectives “We found most service reps do not like the idea of 'sales', so we renamed 'sales' to customer awareness and stressed that their role was to add value or provide solutions to our customers.” -- Telecom VP “We refer to it as cross-servicing, rather than selling. You are serving a customer need by providing new products. The service extension simply involves a new product.” -- Financial Services VP Call Center Reps by Change Orientation 60% Willing but not ready to sell A 20% not ready or willing to sell 20% Ready and willing to sell C B

  10. Identifying Sales Competencies Employ behavioral-based sales success factors in pre-employment assessments and interviews to screen for high potential sales reps. High Performance Competencies • Active listening • Strong communication skills • Flexible personality • Effective interpersonal skills • Ability to leverage technology • Problem-solving • Team-oriented attitude • Upbeat, positive personality • Strong organizational skills • High motivation level • Autonomous work style • Competitive attitude • Take charge approach • Persistent personality Life-Theme Screening

  11. Assessment & Selection Lessons Learned Managers reflecting on assessment and selection success factors most frequently mention sales motivation and service positioning. Key Lessons Manager Comments “Reps must believe that sales is a natural extension of servicing an account.” “Language is key; we renamed ‘sales’ to customer awareness.” Position sales as an extension of service (35%) Interest in selling is very important (43%) “Do not force a rep into a sales role; the results will be poor and the rep will be unhappy.” Selection & Recruitment Lessons Experience is not critical (8%) “Experience does not equal skills.” “Do not give experience too much weight.” Note: % in ( )’s reflect the % of the 48 respondents who commented in this area. Not all lessons learned are listed; therefore, numbers do not add up to 100%.

  12. Cultivating Sales Talent Align recruitment and selection systems to stock the talent pool with people who have a propensity for sales and service. Benchmarks of Excellence • Targeting The Right Talent Pools • Identifying Sales Competencies & Success Factors • Screening For Sales Stars • Early Expectation Setting • High Impact Performance Interviews • Converting Incumbent Employees • Recruiting for High Retention • Innovative Tactics To Find & Retain Top Performers “I actually have a waiting list to get into this (sales) environment . . . .” “The referral program is a wonderful source of new people. . . .” “We train our site leaders to look carefully into their communities to figure out where there may be good recruiting sources . . .” -- Call Center Executives

  13. Selection Requirements Analysis Character traits such as self-confidence, self-awareness and motivation emerge as the most important selection criteria, in addition to resiliency characteristics such as stress tolerance. “Rate the importance of each requirement for selecting service/sales reps.” IMPORTANCE RATINGS Slightly Moderate Very Not At All 5% 95% Personal attributes 29% 66% 5% 2% Relationship-building skills 14% 86% 12% 39% 47% 20% 7% 80% Stress tolerance 34% 46% 13% 25% Call center/services experience 75% 47% 28% 9% 16% Assertiveness 30% 2% 70% 28% 45% 25% Sales experience 31% 69% 21% 10% 45% 24% Product/service knowledge 45% 55% 31% 14% 29% 26% Education 9% 42% 40% 51% 9% 49% Industry experience 52% 48% 32% 36% 16% 16% N = 57 companies

  14. Sales Retention Rates High Average Client Low Client currently ranks in a leadership position for new-hire retention (inverse of Attrition) among 17 companies reporting in the Financial Services & Travel Sectors. Client lags the leadership benchmarks for incumbent retention but is above the class average. “Estimate the Retention Rate (for the first year) for: Newly Hired Service/Sales Reps Incumbent Service/Sales Reps. GAP 99 99 99 95 100% 100% 90 90 90% 80 90% 75 80% 80% 64 70% 70 60 70% 61 60% Percent Reps Retained in a Year Percent Reps Retained in a Year 60% 50% 50% 40% 24 40% 30% 20 15 30% 11 20% 3 20% Financial Travel All Financial Travel All N = 49 companies

  15. Selection Requirements Analysis Character traits such as self-confidence, self-awareness and motivation emerge as the most important selection criteria, in addition to resiliency characteristics such as stress tolerance. “Rate the importance of each requirement for selecting service/sales reps.” IMPORTANCE RATINGS Slightly Moderate Very Not At All 5% 95% Personal attributes 29% 66% 5% 2% Relationship-building skills 14% 86% 12% 39% 47% 20% 7% 80% Stress tolerance 34% 46% 13% 25% Call center/services experience 75% 47% 28% 9% 16% Assertiveness 30% 2% 70% 28% 45% 25% Sales experience 31% 69% 21% 10% 45% 24% Product/service knowledge 45% 55% 31% 14% 29% 26% Education 9% 42% 40% 51% 9% 49% Industry experience 52% 48% 32% 36% 16% 16% N = 57 companies

  16. Training for Sales Excellence Re-engineer orientation and training systems to provide incumbent and new employees with the skills required to conduct sales in a service center. Benchmarks of Excellence • Marrying sales and service curriculum • Approaches to service-oriented sales • High-impact approaches to sales training and development • Creating role model behaviors that last • Ensuring supervisors are effective sales coaches “Selling is not a natural function. It must be taught.” “Different people ‘get it’ different ways.” “They can’t just learn it on their own. They need specific training and coaching on how to cross-sell, how to up-sell. It does not just come naturally.” Call Center Sales Executives

  17. Sales Process Standardization 7. Close Sale & Follow-up 1. Greeting 2. Customer Information Gathering 6. Ask For Sale Standardized Sales Process 5. Present Product & Price 3. Fact Finding 4. Identify Customer Needs Standardize the sales process to increase training effectiveness and help expand the cross-sell opportunity within the call center. Employ templates and standards of excellence that support a systematic cross-selling approach.

  18. Career Path Development Employ “career pathing” to help agents gain critical cross-selling skills, grow and advance to most sought-after jobs. Skill Development Skill Mastery Career Path Sales and Management Jobs Ongoing Training Orientation & Training Career Path Planning Entry-level Job Job Rotation Planning Performance Achievement Assignments Planning Competency Development

  19. Training Effectiveness Analysis Personal, real-time coaching, OJT & shadowing are rated more effective than remote techniques (e.g., computer-based or self-paced.) “Rate the effectiveness of each approach to training and developing service/sales reps to reach sales proficiency.” Ineffective Ratings Effective Ratings Highly Moderately Moderately Highly 2% 9% 7% 27% 64% 91% Personal monitoring/coaching 2% 8% 37% 53% 10% On-the-job training 90% 3% 48% 40% 12% Sales call shadowing 88% 9% 2% 17% 15% Peer mentoring 47% 36% 83% 81% 19% 13% 6% 47% 34% Classroom training 20% 4% 76% 24% 47% 29% Role playing 62% 31% 7% 53% 9% 38% Computer-based training 31% 15% 39% 46% 54% Self-paced training 15% N = 57 companies

  20. Action Learning Supports Cross-Selling Action learning deploys rapid cycles of training, on-the-job practice, and real-time coaching to foster service-to-sales behavior among reps. High-performing partners favor this training process, which is geared to instill winning sales behaviors. Full Performance - Weekly Performance Coaching Work on Floor - 30-90 Day Intensive Coaching Additional Training - Learn, Practice, Coach, Master “In The Nest” - Practice, Coach, Master Initial Training - Role Play and Simulations

  21. Cross-selling Maturity Index Performance Management Alignment Recruit and Train for Cross Selling Call centers mature and advance through a predictable lifecycle of cross selling and up selling. Performance systems evolve to reflect issues critical to the lifecycle, call center platform breadth and product portfolio complexity. Immature System: Ad hoc referrals & product offers Mature System: Process, technology & performance management integration Proactive Service = People, Process, Structure, Management and Technology Alignment Multiple Product Offers Cross-Sell Process Standardization

  22. Structures Used For Cross-Selling Sales models split evenly with 45% pursuing a generalist model in which all reps sell and 45% pursuing some type of sales specialization. “What structure or model best describes your call center’s approach to organizing service/sales reps?” Service/sales reps in separate location Other 10% Cross-Sell Functional 45% specialize to grow expertise 12% Generalist: All reps cross-sell 45% Co-Located Specialist 33% Service/sales reps in same location as service-only reps N = 57 companies

  23. A Deployment Model One approach has sales stars at the nucleus of the call center with sales-willing service reps working alongside them. Service-only reps support standard service requests. Some call centers in the system also are service-only. Co-located Sales Specialist Model • Sales Stars at nucleus of sales centers • Sales Stars handle 4-5 products • Sales Willing handle only one product • All other customer service reps are enabled to cross sell • Compensation is differentiated for each group Sales Stars: 5 product focus Sales Enabled Service: Sell When Possible SERVICE CENTER Sales Willing: Single Product Focus Sales Stars: 5 product focus SERVICE CENTER SERVICE CENTER

  24. Commonly Used Cross-Sell Techniques Active listening and probing are the most commonly used cross-sell techniques. Over half of benchmark partners also use purchase pattern and value-adding techniques. “Check every technique that service/sales reps use to convert a service call into a sale.” 86% Actively listen and probe to spot unmet needs 56% Observe purchase patterns and suggest products 54% Identify savings by adding services/products that expand volume or avoid charges 46% Make special offers or discounts during specified time periods Observe life event triggers (e.g., anniversaries) to offer new products/services 39% 31% Use billing/payment resolution to offer additional products 12% *Other 10% Solicit referrals to place new products/services *Other includes leveraging the relationship, using regular customer contacts for additional sales, using top management for sales, and referring to an intermediary for advice. N = 57 companies

  25. Cross-sell Productivity Enablers Employ integrated process, training, selection and performance management enablers to increase cross-selling effectiveness. Selection Orient & Train Process & Tech. Mgt. Perform- ance Mgt. Talent Targeting Training & Development Enablers • Targeting • Direct Marketing • Screening • Interviewing • Sales Training for Agents & Managers • Sales Standardization • Six Sigma for Sales • Sales-Oriented Selection Performance Coaching Enablers • Data-Mining Training • Sales-Oriented Selection • Train-the-Trainers • Masters & Mentors • Process Assessment • Black Belts • Perf. Coaching • Career Pathing Process Enablers • Target Profiles • Nomination Process • Screening • Interviewing • Product Bundles • Transition Triggers • Lifecycle Triggers • Configurators • Perf. Assessment • Call Closing Technology Enablers • Data Mining • Psycho-Demographs • Screening • Simulations • Simulations • Sales Certification • Pop-up Prompts • Skills Routing • Perf. Reporting • Knowledge Mgt.

  26. Success in Lifecycle Timing of Cross-Sales Benchmark partners report equal levels of success at cross selling during either pre-purchase or point of purchase or during customer support calls. “During which customer lifecycle milestones or touch points do your reps have the greatest success in cross selling or up selling?” 40% 40% Companies Succeeding At Each Milestone 24% 16% 9% 7% 4% Pre-purchase inquiry Point of purchase Start-up / registration Collection Account support/ customer service Purchase anniversary N = 57 companies

  27. Manager Accountability Practices Compared to direct sales organizations, sales managers in services environments have relatively loose accountability. More than 60% are not held accountable for rep retention rates or sales yields. “How are hiring managers held accountable for the performance of their new services/sales reps ?” Retention rates/yields reviewed 39% 34% No accountability *Other 25% Incentive compensation linked to new hire performance 15% Incentive compensation linked to rep tenure 10% *Other includes other accountability factors such as service (4), team sales performance (3), and other performance objectives (2). N = 57 companies

  28. Hours per Month Spent on Coaching Half the supervisory class spend less than 10 hours/month coaching their reps, but a fourth spend at least triple the time on coaching. “How many hours per month, on average, does a service/sales rep supervisor spend coaching/training their service/sales reps?” 54% 28% Companies Providing This Level of Coaching 16% 11% 11% 4% 4% 2% 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 Hours per Month Spent on Coaching Service/Sales Reps N = 57 companies

  29. Sales Span of Control Focus sales spans of control to enable greater coaching time. Savvy benchmark partners shrink 20:1 service rep to manager ratios to a 10:1 sales manager to sales rep ratio. Senior sales reps can serve as peer mentors to extend coaching capabilities. SERVICE MANAGER SALES MANAGER Sr. Rep = Peer Mentor SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SALES REP SALES REP SALES REP SALES REP Focus coaching loads to accommodate sales complexity SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SALES REP SALES REP SALES REP SALES REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SALES REP SALES REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP SERV. REP

  30. Performance Management Impact Ongoing coaching and incentives are the most frequently used techniques and are rated the most effective. Targets and sales quotas also are highly regarded approaches. “Rate the effectiveness of each performance management technique employed to optimize the performance of service/sales reps.” Ineffective Ratings Effective Ratings Highly Moderately Moderately Highly 10% 2% 8% Ongoing sales coaching 40% 50% 90% 10% Sales incentives/recognition 6% 4% 30% 60% 90% 13% Targeted selection process 87% 55% 13% 32% 16% 84% Clear sales targets & quotas 36% 48% 14% 19% 2% 81% Initial sales training 20% 61% 8% 11% Sales performance rankings 21% 80% 47% 33% 19% 2% 23% Sales-focused orientation 49% 77% 28% 4% 19% Career development & sales mastery training 47% 24% 29% 71% 26% 3% N = 57 companies

  31. Spectrum of Cross-sell Metrics Employ metrics to focus, track, monitor and grow cross-selling performance. Across industries, diverse measures have emerged to manage cross selling. Performance Measures • Cross-sell close ratio • Dollar-based cross-sell revenue • # of cross-sell products • Cross-sell profits per day • Cross-sell referral rates • Cross-sell profit per rep • # of transfers and greetings    • Cross-sell sales per staffed hour • % reps meeting cross-sell targets • Client tenure or churn • Wallet share of customer • Overall spending of customer “Don’t measure sales with a service mentality.” (e.g. with Average Handle Time) “We track behavior but we don't measure outcomes. We need to put measurements in place to track results.” Call Center Managers, Travel Services & Financial Services Sectors

  32. Usage Patterns - Performance Metrics The most common measures for monitoring service/sales reps performance are number units sold, customer satisfaction and average handling time. However, some voiced stern criticism of traditional metrics, e.g. AHT, for use with sales. “Which performance measures do you use to monitor and measure the performance of service/sales reps?” Number units sold 89% Customer satisfaction 89% Average handling time 89% Sales revenue 82% Conversion rate (sales/offer) 80% Percent of reps meeting sales targets 79% Average products/customer 69% Percent of accounts penetrated with up-sell offerings 65% Share of customer 55% N = 57 companies

  33. Key Findings & Insights From many insights, observations and lessons learned, the following five key findings emerged from the study: • Integration Management: Employ an integrated approach to call center performance excellence  continuously refining structure, process, selection, training, and performance management elements that drive cross-selling effectiveness. • Selection Excellence: Align recruitment and selection systems to stock the talent pool with people who have a propensity for sales and service. • Training & Development:Re-engineer orientation and training systems to provide incumbent and incoming employees with the skills required to conduct sales. • Process Excellence:Standardize the cross-selling process to enhance productivity and make the process scalable for large call centers. • Performance Management:Re-align the performance management system  including coaching, appraisals, reviews, measurement, goals, scorecards, and recognition systems  to place cross-selling as a strategic objective for the service center.

  34. Transforming Contact Centers into High-Performing Sales Channels Attendees at Driving Sales through Customer Service receive 15% off this report if purchased during the meeting.

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