Five Strategies for Turning Service Agents into Sales Champions

Today’s c-level executives are turning to the contact center as a means to drive revenue and derive more profitable customer relationships. Once considered a cost center, the contact center is rapidly becoming a significant revenue producer. What is your strategy for evolving your contact center from a service center to a sales-centric culture?

The key is to create a robust revenue-generating environment with all the necessary sales techniques, tools and technologies. Create winning opportunities for your agents by optimizing the way they work and interact with customers to yield increased sales transactions and greater profits.

What is the formula for success in transforming your agents and contact center into a revenue-generating hub? Here are five strategies to consider:

• Start at the Top: Turning your contact center into a profit center can be a major undertaking. This is a program that must be endorsed and supported by the top executives in your organization. Be sure to provide these executives with regular revenue reports and updates to track the program’s success.
  
• Think Beyond CSAT and NPS: You are going to have to adjust your priorities. When measuring your contact center’s key performance indicators, give equal importance to sales-related metrics. Use transaction activity data to identify your top performing agents and share their successful approach with the rest of the team. 
  
• Re-write the Job Description: Great contact center agents do not always make great sellers. When you recruit new agents, look for people who have selling skills. Make sure that all agents know that their job description has been expanded to include the new sales responsibilities.
  
• Show Them the Money: Offer financial rewards through an attractive and attainable incentive program. Many businesses are implementing gamification programs to inject a healthy competitive aspect to their sales program. If you go the gamification route, be sure to include a scoring system that is clear and updated in real time.
  
• Deliver Intelligent Guidance: It will take some time for agents to adopt the new sales techniques. Use Intelligent Guidance technology to walk agents through the proper sales process and keep actions consistent across the contact center. Intelligent Guidance overlays your supporting applications and helps equip the agent with customer information, personalized recommendations, and upsell/cross-sell opportunities – all in real-time.
  

Transforming a contact center into a revenue generating operation can be a daunting task. However, with executive buy-in, the right planning and approach, and the latest technology solutions, it is possible to turn your contact center into a profit-driving business unit. To learn more view this interactive infographic.

More Resources

• Webinar: Rock your Customer Experience! Tips for Success from Award-Winning Contact Centers
  
• Educast: Agents CAN Provide the Effortless Customer Experience
  
• Research Report: Customer Experience Management in Action! Insight to Differentiate YOUR Company & Contact Center
  
• Virtual Training: Contact Center Monitoring: Creating Effective Monitoring Forms