Is Your Call & Contact Center Strategy a Thing of the Past? EVOLVE. The 21st Century Call Center

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1 Is Your Call & Contact Center Strategy a Thing of the Past? EVOLVE The 21st Century Call Center

2 The 21st Century call center In today s world, people can make reservations with a few taps of their fingertips from wherever they are. Technology has become so automated that reservations seem simpler than ever, while call & contact center service has become much more complicated. With customers craving more transparency, dynamic and customizable packaging, and timely responses, call & contact centers have to work and think differently than before to earn their sales and offer better service. By the time someone has reached out to your call & contact center, they want to talk, not just book...this makes the 21st Century Call Center more important than ever in the bookings process. Automation doesn t decrease the need for call & contact centers. It makes them much more critical. Now more than ever it s important that the voice on the other end of a caller s line be informed, enthusiastic, and ready to deliver results for your center on a consistent basis. It s vital to have a culture that is sales-focused, not just service or transaction-focused; it should also have clearly mapped out processes and measurements to make sure your call & contact center is a streamlined and profitable business. It s essential to step away from impersonal, outdated strategies and management styles that ignore today s consumer needs and choose to turn your centers into modern machines. To be a successful and profitable call & contact center, you must focus on three main areas: people performance profits 1 2 3

3 1 your people are your greatest asset A caller s attention is gained or lost in the first 15 Seconds 1 How do your sales agents make you more money? Your people are your most vital asset. It s your people that give potential customers their first personalized experience of your company. That s truly what it comes down to: giving customers an experience they value, from the very first phone call all the way to the end of their stay. To do this, your agents must be memorable, confident, and in control. Ask yourself if you are optimizing your people to their best capability with these tips: LISTENING Train your agents to truly listen. Hearing is what you do when your mother nags at you. Listening is being fully present with your customer to bring them to buy. LEADERSHIP Strong leadership drives results. Does your staff respond positively to your leaders or do your coaches need coaching too? Strong leaders focus on individual, performance-based coaching. Get your team aligned so it functions smoothly on every level. BUYING ENVIRONMENTS The days of the pushy salesperson are over. Selling doesn t work. Buying environments connect directly to your brand, and your agents ability to build them actually encourages customers to buy more frequently and at a higher price point. FOCUS Raise your staff s awareness about key performance indicators and get them tuned into what really matters. Agents become more driven to succeed when they have clear goals and an understanding of the results their efforts produce. 1 Approximate length of time it takes to form a first impression via thin-slicing (psychology). Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking. New York, NY: Back Bay, 2007.

4 2 optimize, test, and analyze performance Contribution toward profit per room night: OTA-merchant $16.41 voice $37.91 Voice yields a contribution toward profit per room night that is 2x greater than the OTA-merchant model. 2 The margin difference is significant to your bottom line. Are your operations efficient enough to reduce costs and increase ROI? Efficiency across all levels is the foundation for increased revenues and high performance in call & contact center environments. You must continuously optimize performance in order to find the holes where profit slips through. Look to your people first are they equipped with the right tools, messaging, and access to information that they need to be successful? Make sure your technology systems are aligned and up-to-date, since your people and online travel sources pull from that data. As you monitor your systems and processes, be proactive in assessing what works, toss what doesn t, and always look for more innovative ways to drive top line sales. CALL CONTROL If a call is a tennis match, do your agents know where to aim? Give them systems to stay in control of the call at all times. Teach them to listen and respond directly to customer wants and needs to get the win. QUESTIONING Train your staff to ask the right questions to reveal customer desires, and ensure they know how to deliver the answers. When your agents tailor a pitch for the customer, it raises your value proposition against the pay price and drives conversion. RELEVANCY Stay current with consumer buying trends and with what questions customers are asking your agents. Take the necessary steps to track these questions and create easy access to buying-oriented answers. Today, access to information is power. Give your agents the keys. CONNECTION People buy from people they like. Are your agents order takers or driven sales professionals? Make the sales manner crystal clear for your agents to adopt and relevant to the customers you serve. 2 Estis Green, Cindy, and Mark V. Lomanno. Distribution Channel Analysis: A Guide for Hotels. Rep. McLean, VA: HSMAI Foundation,

5 3 capture profifififfiit & maximize opportunities People Call because they want to Talk If talk time is your biggest concern, you need to change your focus to what you really want REVENUE CAPTURE Continue to evolve your call & contact center by focusing on what you need most: profit. Capture extra revenue by streamlining internal processes and taking advantage of high performers already within your ranks. When you are overwhelmed by measurements and statistics, trim the fat to focus on key elements you can start to change now. Profit follows process, so set up the processes that work best for you and continue to grow your people. Most importantly, don t run your voice services like you did five or even two years ago...constantly monitor and evolve your systems to capitalize on new revenue opportunities. SKILLED BASED ROUTING Maximize revenue opportunities with skilled-based routing. Give the right calls to the right people to find more efficiency and profit in your existing team. Mine the talent you already have to reach new levels of success. CALL FLOW ALIGNMENT Don t glaze over scheduling. Put effort into how everything lays out to guarantee your call flow patterns are aligned with your schedule. Take advantage of your profit windows and cut waste. STATISTICS Don t spread yourself thin analyzing every statistic you track. Get clear on which figures really impact your bottom line. Five of the top seven include sales conversion, revenue per call, abandon rates, quality assurance, and adherence. EVOLUTION Ensuring you aren t stuck in an old mindset that no longer benefits your call & contact center is your greatest opportunity to raise revenues. Keep current with industry trends, optimize what works, trash what doesn t, and always focus on your goals.

6 Call Centers Have Not Become a Thing of The Past. But Many are Stuck There. choose to evolve With the onset of mobile technology and consumer desire for instant answers, call & contact centers are now more critical than ever. Let us help your call & contact center be relevant, profitable, and adaptable in today s ever changing industry. We offer: Call Center Assessments & Consulting Customized Training Programs Reservation & Sales Coaching Leadership Training & Workshops INFO@ASPIREMARKETING.COM Aspire helps organizations ignite change and drive results. They design the exact solutions that companies need to stand out and awaken the potential of their people. Aspire s 3-pronged approach has helped over 5,000 companies in 11 countries exceed their goals through identifying gaps and creating solutions to fill them. Most companies are done at the end of an assignment, while Aspire is just getting started. They stick around to give organizations the tools they need to continuously drive measurable results. Over the last 19 years, more than 1 million people have learned to think differently, challenge the status quo, and expect results through Aspire s programs.