The courses To Market runs for telephone skills training are normally 2 day and are highly interactive. There are customer service training couses, telesales and telemarketing training available on your premises. They are also run at central venues in the towns of Leicester, Cambridge, Kettering, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Solihull, Peterborough, Nottingham and other parts of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire Northamptonshire and beyond.

However To Market www.tomarket.co.uk is looking at putting on some ‘basic’ one day courses. These would be held at different venues around the country including Manchester, Birmingham, Preston, Cambridgeshire, Warrington,Huddersfield, Plymouth, Oxford and Lincoln.

There will be 3 versions. One is telesales and telemarketing training for those of you responsible for outbound new business development work. The second is for reactive teams so it is customer service training. The third one day seminar on offer is more general telephone techniques so this is aimed at all people who deal with customers so this may include training for receptionists,sales teams,helpdesk personnel as well as many others. Do you think this would be of interest to you or your company.  If so let us know which town you’re in and your company details either via e-mail on the www.tomarket.co.uk website or by posting a thread on this message and To Market will let you course dates in your areaÂ

During To Market’s customer service training courses, one of the sessions features asking the delegates what THEY like and dislike about customer service when they are a customer. After all they’re the professionals and they ought to know !

Collecting all these ideas over the last few years, they’ve now been distilled down into over 100 tips, which fit into 10 key categories. These have then been used as the basis for the 3 pack audio set on customer service available through us at http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=17

And the key point - the main thing - the most important element of customer service - the very single thing you most need to remember is ………………………… (trumpet fanfare)

 

KEEP YOUR CUSTOMER INFORMED.

If you’re looking into something for them, or you’ve got their product in for repair, or they’re waiting for an answer from you, make sure you set yourself a time limit for when you’ll get back to them. And then make sure you do it. You’ll find they appreciate it - always !

Because although you know you’ve not forgotten them and that you’re still waiting on an answer from Pete or Sarah or whoever, they don’t know that. They may assume you’ve forgotten, or more importantly they simply won’t know what to think.

So keep them informed at least daily if that is appropriate.

Â

Ok, so finding new business is a subject we’re asked about a lot at the moment, and there are some practical steps you can take instantly that won’t cost much at all.

First you should make sure you keep the communication channels open with all your clients or customers (even those who are spending less.) You’re in this for the long-term and want to make sure you keep them as things pick-up. It is also really important that you understand how they’re doing, what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.

The next biggest block are those who have spent with you previously, but who are not active trading accounts. I am amazed at how little effort many companies put into ‘lapsed customers.’ They are all winable ! Well maybe not all, but many are ! You know something about them, and what they do - so milk this information to gain maximum advantage.

You may also need to have some internal brainstorming meetings with your team to tap into their ideas. Remember we’re all in this together, and they’ll value the opportunity to help out. You might need to look to promote ‘value’ products, or look for market sectors that are doing well at the moment. You may look to offer free taster sessions if you supply services, or some free ‘added value’ presentations if you sell products.  This may buy you some brownie points for when things pick up.

There are many, many ideas and the companies who will survive are those who adapt fastest and change their behaviour.Â

Right now, many organisations are facing varying levels of decline in business. And because of the speed of the downturn and the severity of it, these are times when your business model has to be critically reassessed. Things that you may never have had to do before, will have to be considered.

Good will come of this, as it will make all of us take stock and appreciate the business we do get.

But if there was ever a time to make your business more proactive, this is it !

You will need to make a much larger volume of calls and approaches, and the sales team that you have involved in field selling, or a phone team dealing with incoming enquiries will need to lead this process.

So make sure you have a quality list or database for them to work from. They will also need training (possibly) to help them adapt to a different role, and they need a robust process to operate. So for instance they need to be able to store notes (on a computer) about each person they call, some notes of the conversation, and equally importantly a field to mark the next contact due. This makes intelligent use of the sales database. Remember that knowledge is power !

We have an audio CD on setting up and managing a telephone based team which covers the issues mentioned above on process etc http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=2 is the link for this product.

�

As you know if you make outbound calls as a part of your job role, the people you contact are likely to be receiving many calls each day, all trying to interest them in a range of products or services.

So, your opening has to be well structured, and well delivered. I believe that your opening should consist of 3 things. You start with your name, the name of your company and the reason for the call. This will all take around 8 seconds. This is a good formula as it ensures you know what you’re talking about ! And of course it lets the other person know what the call is about. You will then get more from the other person - if they understand your motive for calling.

These calls you receive occasionally that start with the line “I’m not trying to sell you anything” are the opposite of this. They’re just rubbish because you know they ARE trying to sell you something !

So be professional, honest and upfront, and then the next thing you do is ask them a question. This is a good device as it brings them into the conversation. They will appreciate this. We cover this during our training on the directing the conversation module. We have also now got an audio learning CD that covers this easy to use 2 stage technique, called “How to get to where you want in communication.” Follow the link to http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=11Â

Of course management of teams should be about using a mix of intuitive observations as well as raw statistics. The intuitive bit you get from the well established principle of MBWA - management by walking about. The quantitative bit is fairly straightforward and is based around just 4 key criteria. And if you ensure you look at each of these 4 numbers daily for each of your team, and in depth monthly you will find you’ve got a handle on what you need to know. The CD http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=26 explains this in more detail : how to set it up, what to measure and the short cuts and tricks to help you stay one step ahead of the team.

The 4 key measures are ;

1.  How many outbound dials they make per hour (over a given period) 

2. How many decision-makers they speak to per hour

3. How many of these decision-makers they convert into the desired outcome (sale, appointment etc.)

4. How many sales/appointments they make per hour

Understanding these numbers will help you with target setting for your team, and it will help you understand each person’s performance profile better (because not every person achieves their results in the same way.) It will also know what to address if somebody is off target and how best to help them

For all of us who communicate with customers on the phone, we all know that we have got to make our pitch interesting. And a motto that many sales people adhere to is that the customer will always be thinking “what’s in it for me ?” Unless we can communicate in a way that addresses this key question, chances are that you’ll never really have their interest.

They’re not really interested in how many colours your product is available in, or the turbo boost function is, or that you have 100 depots around the country - unless they understand HOW THAT HELPS THEM. Furthermore benefits are generally based around just 4 things (so it’s not much to remember) and these are covered on the audio CD “Sell the sizzle, not the bacon” http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=10

Think about your pitch, or sales spiel from the customer’s point of view, and you will find it makes a big difference.   Â

Many people are aware that the single biggest factor in determining whether you get business out of a customer is the strength of relationship you have with the individual.

It is not the quality of your products, nor the pricing, but instead the relationship you have. If they like you they will be more likely to do business with you, and if they don’t like you, they will go out of their way to buy elsewhere.

So it is always disappointing when someone you have a good customer - supplier relationship with leaves. It can often be like starting again. But the tip is to find out where they are going to - especially if they are staying in a similar role. So now you have the existing organisation, and of course you’ll be looking to start again here, plus the new one.

Once they’re settled in, you then phone them with something like the following script ;

You : “You may not remember me, but my name is …….. and I used to talk to you about …… when you were at ABC Ltd.” To which they often reply ;

Them : “Of course I remember you, how are you ?” And now you’re away !

And my advice is even if you find out they’ve already left, you can still track them. Either you ask one of your other contacts within the customer company if they know where they went to. You have got other contacts haven’t you ?!

Or as a last resort try finding them on Google. This is of course much easier if they have an unusual name, but many of them will eventually pop up elsewhere.

Always work your contacts hard, and don’t easily give up on all those relationships that you’ve worked hard to build.

Â

The business environment is challenging at the moment. We all know that. Customers are harder to find and total spend in many sectors is down.

One of the current pieces of wisdom is to cut down on all your indirect marketing, advertising etc. Indirect marketing covers anything where you don’t get a dialogue with your customer. Instead switch all your activity to direct forms of contact. So this may mean bringing your field based sales team into the office to hit the phones. Or make sure your office based sales team have enough people to call, and then let them loose. By focusing on telephone activity you will get a feel for what is happening in your market, who is thinking of spending, who isn’t and an update on their current situation.

By understanding more about what is happening in your market, the easier it will be to find potential customers and to plot future trends. Now is the time to be talking to all customers, past, lapsed, competitor accounts and anyone else who may have a need for your services, either now or in the future. Â

How many times do people try and sell to you either on the phone or face to face by dominating the conversation and trying to do all the talking ? It seems to me that sales people are often trained to simply benefit sell. And yes of course benefit statements ARE very useful.

But actually if you’re selling to a human (and of course you always are) it works much better to engage them in a 2 way conversation. If you get them involved, they will open up more readily and you will find out more.

So as a rule of thumb I think good selling is about 50% talking, 50% listening. Stray too far from this ratio at your peril ! Listening is an underrated part of the communication process. It is part of all the 2 day customer service training and telesales and telemarketing training that To Market carries out. There will be an audio CD available soon on the important topic of LISTENING SKILLS, follow this link to see the present range on communication skills topics http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=TELEPHONE%20COMMUNICATION%20SKILLS�