5 Ways to Completely Ruin a Sales Call

James can't-close

 

Why You Aren't Closing the Deal

You spend hours and hours of your time working with a customer and are so close to making a sale. You can feel the excitement rushing. You can hear the numbers crunching. You know it’s almost there. And then poof! It’s gone.

Inside sales is not an easy job. Marketing your product, finding the right prospects, communicating effectively; these are all important aspects when it comes to closing. Customers are busy. They are hesitant. They don’t want to be bothered. They want to be respected and listened to. And if you are not taking the right steps, it’s easy to lose a good prospect.

Let’s Observe James

James has been a sales representative for a call center for over 2 years. Even though he has been doing this for a while, James sticks to the basics. He doesn't do any more than is required from him and has difficulty adapting to new scenarios. And because of this, James seems to be lacking in his contribution to the business’s overall sales. Let's take a look at where he is losing customers' interest and how he can improve.

 

1. Doing The Bare Minimum

Sales calls can be very strenuous. Cold-calling and emailing clients every day and narrating the same script over and over again gets exhausting. It is important to keep your spirits high and have a good attitude. James often finds himself reading the same script off to his customer in a dull fashion. “We provide… and it will be useful because… Would you like to buy some?” He does this without considering where the customer is coming from and how they can best use the product he is marketing.
doing the bare minimum
ignoring customers

 2. Ignoring Your Customer

Instead of asking customers questions about their backgrounds or how they may use this product, James just gets straight to the point. This is the product, this is what it does, will you purchase it? He does not try to tailor the script to include a customer’s specific needs or situation. Other times, customers ask questions he doesn’t know the answers to, and he nervously gives up. He doesn’t follow up with answers or solutions.

Additionally, James works remotely, and therefore, has only a set amount of hours to complete his call list. This leads to missed or dropped calls where either he received calls on his time off or the equipment stopped working. Bad phone service can do that and it’s a major detriment to working in sales, where your attention to the customer is everything.

 

3. Not Being Trained Enough

As a remote agent, James needs to know how to handle phone calls and how to promote the product. This means that just sales training is not enough. He should also be familiar with the technology and software being used. Unfortunately for James, the call center phone systems and software are complicated to use and he hasn’t received enough training. He often forgets how to add call notes or record calls. Also, he tends to transfer them to the wrong extension or location.
not being trained enough
quality-assurance

 

4. Not Paying Attention to Quality Assurance

More than anything, James doesn’t make the extra effort to study his calls, his performance, and to improve. Call center quality assurance is important to keep in mind when running a call center. How are your employees — that is, call center or customer service agents — performing? What areas need improvements? How can you increase their accountability? Not investing in good customer service practices can greatly influence sales and profits. These are challenges we will examine, so keep reading. We will discuss tactics that work and lead to successful quality assurance!

 

 5. Calling and Emailing Too Many Times

What James does do, however, is repeatedly call and email clients who do not answer his calls. To complete his call list by the end of the day, he calls customers 3-4 times a day and emails them 2-3 times afterward. All of this excessive effort to force them to answer. However, what this does instead, is cause frustration and push customers away. Receiving 5 calls and 2 emails can easily put a customer off and you can be sure of losing that business.
Emailing or calling too much
promo code box

Don’t Be Like James, Instead Strive to be Solution-Focused

Every customer is different and their needs vary as well. It is, therefore, important to do everything you can, as an agent or a call center manager, to ensure that your customer is attentive and satisfied. Ask questions, generate a quick customer profile, make call notes. Customers need to be enticed and excited about your product or service. They need to know that not purchasing your product is going to be their biggest mistake! More importantly, they need to know you care. Pay attention to your customers and let them know that you want to make their life easier with your product.

Customer service agents perform well when their tasks are not draining or complicated. A good attitude and genuine care for the company goes a long way. Be enthusiastic and passionate about the product or service you are selling. Develop a good knowledge base so you can answer any customer concerns or queries. Follow-up and make adjustments when required.

Related: 18 Tips to Increase Call Center Sales

benefits of call recording

As managers, you want to ensure your agents do not waste their time doing unnecessary tasks. Sorting through or learning complicated software or user systems can lead to time being wasted. Invest in an easy-to-use phone system and call center software, with useful and relevant features that are easy to locate and use. This way, your agents can spend more time on the quality of their calls.

Another reason to invest in a good phone system is to utilize the many features they offer. Most phone systems come with call forwarding, call recording, and call transfer. Some even allow you to make notes on calls and see call activity and reports. These are helpful when conducting quality assurance. Managers and supervisors can analyze reports, study recordings, and train (or re-train) their employees accordingly. These practices can help to increase good customer interactions and service.

Features like call forwarding and time of day routing make sure no customer call is missed. Call forwarding allows you to forward calls to the desired number where you know it will be answered. Similarly, time of day routing redirects calls to an alternate number during specific times of day.

crowd cheering

So, What Can You Do To Better Your Call Center’s Numbers?

First, train your employees well. Second, purchase a good phone system.

Global Call Forwarding can boost your company’s customer relations with easy-to-use phone systems and relevant features. By purchasing a local or virtual business number with us, you will be opening many lines of communication for your customers. Virtual phone numbers are becoming increasingly popular because they allow you to make calls through the internet, therefore, creating a global presence that doesn’t tie you to a physical location.

Outbound calling, one of our premium features, allows you to make outbound calls with a caller ID matching your virtual phone number, allowing customers to see that you are indeed “local.” This feature also has the benefit of reducing long-distance fees. These numbers build credibility and add to your company’s professional image. With call recording and activity logs, you can increase and better your customer interactions. We also provide call forwarding, time of day routing, and simultaneous ringing to avoid missing incoming calls.

As the manager of a call center, you want to ensure your employees have the best tools at their disposal. Whether it is good communication skills or usable software systems, they need to be able to do their best. Help them do their best by signing up with Global Call Forwarding today!

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