Client Success Story

Selling Through Service

Background

Employees working in the client’s contact centres were delivering great customer service: however they had difficulty closing sales and selling value-added products (insurance, car hire, hotels etc). The client’s answer, to run traditional ‘selling’ programmes, produced no discernable improvements. Our subsequent involvement discovered that many agents felt uncomfortable ‘selling’ to customers and didn’t see this as their role.

The Solution

Working closely with the client’s Training and Centre management teams, we designed a bespoke development workshop entitled ‘The Seller’s Guide’. While closing sales and selling value-added products was the prime outcome, the two-day workshop (delivered alongside their team leaders) focused on helping agents recognise that having rung the contact centre, customers were looking for advice and help, and that the role of the agent was to identify their needs and guide them through the sale. This reassured the agent and achieved the end goal of increasing sales.

In addition to co-delivering workshops, team leaders took part in an intensive coaching workshop that enabled them to support, motivate and give feedback to their teams in the workplace.

The Result

The client closed 12% more sales, insurance sales increased by 17% and car hire by 11%. The programme also won a prestigious National Training Award.

Huntswood’s View

Key to the success of ‘The Seller’s Guide’ is the involvement of team leaders. From workshop design, to delivery and workplace coaching, team leaders were actively engaged in all stages of the programme. This investment of time and money underlines the importance the company places on the undertaking and its commitment to developing its people.