Yes act quickly – but not in haste !

In any phone team environment things move quickly, and if you manage that team it is important you respond to events quickly. You won’t need me to tell you that someone who is bright, happy and positive when they come into work in the morning can change instantly. One horrible customer on the phone or an order that you were counting on, that has now been indefinitely postponed can test the motivation of even the best phoner !

So when managing your team keep an eye on them as much as you can. So limit the amount of time you spend in meetings, and keep your office door open if you sit near to your team. 50% of your management decision making should be based on the numbers, the facts, the cold hard undeniable evidence. The other 50% should be based on your intuition, your feelings and pure gut instinct. If something feels wrong, even if you can’t put your finger on it, research it, gather facts and then act. Because in many cases your gut instinct will at least be valid. There is an audio CD specifically aimed at telesales, telemarketing and customer service supervisors, team leaders and managers. The link is http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=2

There is also a training course being run in January 2009 for phone team managers. Find out more details by checking out the To Market website at www.tomarket.co.uk. This Midlands based course has previously seen people attend from Birmingham, Cambridge, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Solihull, Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby and Milton Keynes. One lady even hopped on a plane from Scotland.

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�