Success Stories
Become Your Own “Wildly Successful” Story!
Our clients have had many great success stories, employing the tools and training we have provided. If you would like to create a success story similar to the ones below, give us a call today – 954-729-2160. We can discuss your specific goals and challenges, and propose a plan of action for you.
Express Scripts
Express Scripts is one of the largest Pharmacy Benefits Management companies in the US. At the start of the training initiative, Express Scripts was in the process of reaching out to all its members, requiring them to make a decision to either a) choose Home Delivery for their long-term prescription medications, or b) remain with their local pharmacy. Calls originated from and came into a 200-seat center in Missouri.
At the start, calls had a very low conversion of 31% to the Home Delivery product. Express Scripts leadership was trying various ways to increase this number for more than a year. They felt it should be much higher, considering that Home Delivery offered a 90-day supply for a lower price. It removed the need to drive to a pharmacy, saving time, and Express Scripts used the most accurate medication filler (hi-speed bottle filler) in the US, greatly reducing the chance of an incorrect prescription being sent to a member.
Express Scripts leadership hoped to increase its conversion and increase its “script count,” the average number of prescriptions sent per member contact.
Unique Challenge
- The ES agents (Advisors) already felt like they were working hard and doing a good job. They did not want to feel pushy.
- In their minds, any attempt to move more Members toward a Home Delivery option would have to be the Member’s decision only.
- The floor management team had never been considered a strength of the center.
- Very little coaching of any kind existed at the start of training.
- CCTS saw the big opportunity in helping Advisors to realize that, if they “boldly” presented Home Delivery in a very positive light, members would see it as a value-add and a great decision, both from a convenience standpoint and a money savings.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
CCTS created a new service/sales blended program called The Member Connection Workshop. This was a combined service-to-sales program from CCTS courses, Superior Service, Telephone Sales Mastery Inbound and Telephone Sales Mastery Outbound (although we did not call it a “sales” program).
- Training’s Big Idea: Dramatically improve connections with members on calls. Discuss members’ opinions about their prescription-buying process and boldly suggest Home Delivery, citing its many values and world-class safety record.
- Various high-publicity kick-off events and messaging were carried out to get reps excited.
- The CCTS instructor team rolled out each course at the call center.
- Leadership invited Advisors to come back into subsequent training classes and annouce “immediate success stories.”
- Supervisors helped co-facilitate classes to establish accountability and legitimacy.
- Every leader participated in the Call Center Floor Management program.
- A Power Hour schedule was implemented for all supervisors (view Power Hour video).
End Results
The Advisors responded extremely positively to the training. The center created its own “wild success” story. Over a six-month period, conversion soared from 31% to 70%. In addition, script count increased exponentially, all of which resulted in millions of dollars in revenue increases to the organization (and happier members). Two years later, conversion and script count increases had been maintained due to the floor management team’s commitment to the Power Hour and other floor-coaching initiatives.
Sprint
Four-Year Doubling of Sales Revenue Across 25+ Call Centers
Sprint is a telecom company that provides all telecom, wireless and TV products to consumers from 25+ call centers. Sprint’s goal was to mature its service/sales organization, grow revenue through this inbound channel, create consistent (and higher) results, and reduce employee attrition.
This was a massive undertaking that involved all levels of management, training and staff. During the time of this project, the company’s greatest strength was its willingness to get better and the many ways the company encouraged its telephone reps to continuously improve.
Unique Challenge
- Despite having high quality targets at the start of our work, there were large gaps between expectations and results
- Cross-selling was encouraged but not effectively managed at most centers.
- Senior call center leaders were concerned that cross-selling would reduce quality scores (the misconception that selling attempts offend most customers).
- VThe initial challenge was to convince agents and leadership that effective cross-selling and up-selling was actually good for the customer and would net better quality scores (most customers appreciate the information about other products when it is provided in a customer-friendly way).
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
CCTS built a fully-customized, service-to-sales version of its Telephone Sales Master Inbound and Superior Service programs, calling it “Directional Selling.” Improving the supervisors’ coaching presence on the center floor was also a critical element, if any long-term sustainability was going to occur.
- Training’s Big Idea: Cross-selling – offering additional products that may satisfy other needs or provide more value and convenience – provides the complete customer experience because we are improving customer satisfaction for the long-term, not just for today’s single request.
- All agents at all centers received the training.
- Implementation took about seven months.
- The CCTS team certified trainers at each site
- Some classes were trained by CCTS instructors, but certified company instructors trained the majority of the agents across the enterprise.
- All supervisors participated in the Call Center Floor Management program.
- Senior leadership at each site established and managed a “Power Hour” for every supervisor (view Power Hour video).
- Live coaching on the center floor was new to the sites. Supervisors embraced it.
End Results
Over a period of three and a half years, sales grew consistently. When the initiative started, the IB service organization was posting $700 million in annual sales. Four years later, sales eclipsed $1.4 billion. These record results occured despite the average product and bundle price decreasing and no increases in advertising over the duration of the initiative. In addition, the company’s employee attrition decreased and employee satisfaction increased. Many of the reps claimed the biggest positive change was the new approach to consistent, daily floor-coaching. They always felt like part of the success
Nautilus Fitness
Customer “Kudos” increased by 220% while Escalations Decreased by 40%
Nautilus builds different types of home fitness machines. After much use, some of these machines will naturally have mechanical issues. The company established a repair center in Washington State to help customers trouble shoot and repair their machines. Despite the fact that the center hired great staff to help customers, their overall call quality scores were too low.
CCTS was asked to improve the overall quality of the IB calls from customers who needed repair help with their machines.
Unique Challenge
- Calls were often long, as troubleshooting some of the machines was extremely time-consuming. Customers would become frustrated. Repair agents would not always know how to keep the customer happy, sometimes after having spent 60 or 90 minutes with them on a single call.
- Troubleshooting sometimes requires going back to basics. The Repair tech needed to ask the customer basic questions (“Is the machine plugged in?”) but knew that the customer would likely snap back, “Of course. It is the first thing I checked. That’s not the problem.”
- Most reps did not come from a similar environment (there are few like this). They were not used to the challenge of sounding encouraging and keeping clients engaged while multiple troubleshooting attempts do not fix the problem.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
Training’s Big Idea: Sound welcoming, understanding and, above all, encouraging and positive, regardless of how long a call may take. Have the attitude, “We will figure this out together.” Also, verbally celebrate the completion of the repair. “Great work and patience by you,” is a great way to thank the customer for their part in the repair process.
- CCTS built a customized version of its Superior Service program, focused on repair.
- Each Repair tech participated in a 1.5-day course provided by CCTS instructors.
- The floor management team completed the Call Center Floor Management program.
- Rather than use a Power Hour (see Power Hour video), leaders agreed to listen to calls from their station and then call the rep over for coaching or walk out onto the floor and deliver a quick blast of coaching.
End Results
Most of the Repair reps embraced the training. They became much more proactive in trying to solve the customer’s issues. Customers responded extremely well to this new level of attention and care. The floor management team started coaching more proactively right away.
The training impacted three very important metrics. Calls escalating to management decreased by 40%. Customer “Kudos” (a customer calling out an employee for excellence) increased by 220%. Over the same period, reps who were designated as “Superstars” (employees calling out other employees for excellence) more than doubled, as well.
Marriott Federal Credit Union
10%-20% Increases in Multiple Product Sales as a Result of Improving the Customer Connection
The Marriott Federal Credit Union in Bethesda, Maryland answered service calls from Marriott’s employee base. They would receive calls from around the world. Agents answered questions about banking products, took payments for credit cards, checked balances, etc. Management wanted the agents to complete the service request effectively and then offer employees an extra banking product (e.g. a savings account, money market, credit card, etc.).
Unique Challenge
When CCTS interviewed the agents, each one stated that these calls were very difficult. “The callers are all mean to us if we offer them any additional products,” was the common sentiment. “Some get downright nasty to us.”
- Claims of mean-spirited behavior from callers (other employees) really surprised the CCTS team.
- One thing about hospitality, it requires employees that are patient, caring and humble in order to effectively deal with travelers in their hotels.
- After extensive call analysis, we did confirm that many of the callers were a little rough on the agents – at the point of the cross-sell offer.
- Callers just wanted to have their request completed and end the call.
- The absence of a connection with the agent made it easy to object about other offers and terminate their calls.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
The goal was to restructure the typical call to make it a) more fun for both employees (agent and caller – the way it ought to be for two employees of the same company), and b) more interactive. The agent needed to learn more about the caller to make the cross-sell feel more appropriate and more targeted.
- Training’s Big Idea: Verbally welcome your fellow employees onto the call. They will thank you with engagement and respect (and some smiles). Then you can learn about them and their life experiences, and offer them the right additional financial products.
- CCTS built a customized service-to-sales program, combining skills from its Superior Service and Telephone Sales Mastery courses.
- The course had a heavy focus on the “Caller Connection,” as well as skills for learning more about the caller’s true banking and financial interests, opinions and needs
- Reps were encouraged to use the skills immediately to make sure they cemented the new learning and changed the way they took calls.
- CCTS delivered a one-day version of its Call Center Floor Management program for the two supervisors.
End Results
Connecting with the caller and cross-selling attempts increased right away. Sales of all banking products increased by 10%-20% as a result. This was all wonderful news, but the reason we included this case study is because of the following funny story. On a follow-up call with the agents, one month after the training (CCTS already knew that the results had started improving), the agents were asked, “What are the callers like now?” The agents started explaining that the callers “have become so much nicer.” Some reps figured that a whole other group of “nicer” employees seemed to be calling them nowadays. None of the agents was sure why the change occurred. We had to laugh. The agents were not taking credit for changing the calls and making them more enjoyable – being more proactive about the connection. The only thing that changed was the agents, for the better. We had to convince the agents that they were the reason for the center’s success. Bravo!
Buckeye Health Plan (Centene Insurance)
900% Increase in Appointments Set and Substantial “Care Gap” Reduction
Buckeye Health Plan, part of Centene Insurance, is an Ohio-based Medicaid/Medicare health insurance provider, with a 150-seat member service center. CCTS is presently working with the inbound reps, rolling out a customized version of our Superior Service program, called “World Class Member Care.”
This case study is about Buckeye’s small outbound group. Prior to the start of the initiative, Buckeye leadership had created an outbound calling team, expecting to improve the company’s overall quality scores. Having a dedicated outreach team was one big way to show Buckeye’s care for its members, checking in with them, making sure they are doing well, and setting up appointments where needed (e.g. if a member missed an Annual Well Visit, the team would reach out and offer to reschedule the appointment for the member). Missing these required visits causes a “Care Gap,” which reflects badly on the provider and its overall quality. The goal for the CCTS training was to increase the amount of appointments set by the team, thereby reducing Care Gaps and increasing quality scores.
Unique Challenge
Most of these calls went out to Medicaid members. Although the agents (Advisors) were happy to offer appointments when needed, they were having a difficult time connecting with the member and few said “Yes” to the offered appointment. Some members did not know that Buckeye Health Plan was their insurance provider. Others did not feel like talking to the Advisor. Others told the Advisors they would set their own doctor’s appointments, but usually did not.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
CCTS pulled skills from both its Telephone Sales Mastery Outbound and Superior Service courses to create an outbound course for the Advisors, called “The Member Connection: Proactive Service“ workshop. Training was broken up over four days.
- Training’s Big Idea: Embrace and “love on” Members, building trust, so they will let you help them take care of their health care issues and improve their health as a result.
- The course provided new skills for the Call Opening, responding to Early-Call Objections, Rapport skills and Offering to set the new appointment for the member.
- All Advisors were trained to be “bolder” when talking about the Member’s situation and recommending that they set the appointment up while on the call.
- The big focus shifted from the appointment to the member’s health. Taking the appointment generally meant taking care of their health.
- Each day, Advisors would participate in the training during the morning hours.
- In the afternoon, they went back on the phones to employ the new skills.
- The CCTS instructor, along with the team’s supervisor, provided live floor-coaching during the afternoons.
End Results
Prior to the training, the Outbound team’s best month ever for appointments was 26. In the first month after the training, the same group of Advisors set 230 appointments. For at least eight months since the training, they have been able to achieve similar results. The best part is that the Advisors are now connecting with Members on viturally every call. If a Member is unhappy about anything health-related, the Advisor is much bolder in showing care and helping the member resolve the concern. Appreciative members now welcome the Advisor’s suggestion to set the appointment (and eliminate the Care Gap).
Amazon
AHT Reduction of 15% while Positive Response Rate Increased by 5%
Amazon has multiple, global centers that communicate with Amazon’s sellers. Sellers have unique questions and needs and they have specialized call centers, usually in their own country. Amazon wanted to increase its PSS (Positive Response Rate) while decreasing its AHT (Average Handle Time). Sellers were not rating their calls high enough. Calls were taking too long, overall. CCTS was invited to train the supervisor teams in Call Center Floor Management at the North Dakota and Slovakia sites.
Unique Challenge
- Most of the supervisors had come from the floor and were fairly new as leaders. Most had limited experience in management prior to becoming supervisors.
- Reps were not used to any type of proactive management
- No floor-coaching of any kind existed at either site.
- The only floor presence by supervisors was for problem-solving purposes and for taking escalation requests.
- Many other initiatives were going on at the same time and the focus on floor management skills might be limited.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
- Training’s Big Idea: Proactive floor-coaching is an investment in your people that will prevent most of the issues which presently cause you to spend most of your day in a problem-solving role.
- CCTS provided Call Center Floor Management workshops to all supervisors at both sites. The response from the supervisors at both sites was excellent
- Implementation of the Power Hour (see Power Hour video) occurred within a week of the training
- CCTS provided follow-up support through weekly and then monthly phone meetings.
End Results
Despite only training the supervisors at the sites and not rebuilding the agents’ phone skills training, all metrics increased far more than through any other initiative.
- Average Handle Time decreased by 15% average between both sites.
- Positive Response Rate increased by 5%.
- First-Call Resolution increased by 6%.
- Expressed Dissatisfaction Rate decreased by 4%.
Amazon met their objectives. Both sites’ supervisors continued to use their new coaching skills, primarily in a Power Hour format. The supervisors were able to spend enough time proactively floor-coaching that they changed the culture and became a big reason for those sites’ continued success.
Platinum Fundraising
Sales Results Tripled (and more) and Sustained for 18 months +
Platinum Fundraising sells its highly successful fundraising program to schools and non-profit organizations. Client generally do far better with Platinum’s fundraising solution than all other fundraising options they try. When we met Christy and Tony, the owners, they had recently formed an outbound call center.
Note: Platinum Fundraising is a really cool fundraising organization in Ft Lauderdale and incredibly dear to us, as the owners have become great friends. We spend a ton of time at this site and love all of the people. It’s been so much fun watching them grow and succeed.
Platinum Fundraising sells its highly successful fundraising program to schools and non-profit organizations. Client generally do far better with Platinum’s fundraising solution than all other fundraising options they try. When we met Christy and Tony, the owners, they had recently formed an outbound call center. There were three OB reps and one fairly new sales manager (first management job). Prior to this, all sales work was conducted in person, by reps in the field. The outbound center’s sales people averaged three sales per week. The goal was to at least double sales and sustain it, with hopes of growing sales even higher. At the start of our work, sales were flat. Three sales people, nine total sales per week, had become the norm.
Unique Challenge
- The most unique challenge was the lack of coaching and management structure. Since the center was so small, everyone wore many hats and coaching was not done consistently. This had to change if the new sales approach was going to work, long-term.
- The sales people approached calls with somewhat of a “cheerleader” mentality; lots of enthusiasm and friendliness, along with tons of sweetness.
- Missing was the boldness and strong emphasis a sales person’s voice needs. “Your fundraiser will be a great success if you use our formula and work hard to accomplish it.”
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
- Training’s Big Idea: Make sure your own “personal amazing” is coming across on every call. Knowing that a) no one wants to do fundraising (but they must), and b) Platinum has the best program for fundraising, sound impressed with the program as you present it and be bold about helping raise money for the kids and all their needs.
- Training’s Big Idea for leadership: Accountability leads to personal bests. Reps increase their respect, loyalty and love for you when you help them achieve personal bests. Bring out their awesome. Job enjoyment will always be high.
- The first course trained at Platinum was Call Center Floor Management for the small leadership team
- The implementation of a more effective coaching strategy, both one-on-one and spontaneous floor-coaching, started the following week.
- Throughout the month, multiple one-two hour training sessions were conducted by CCTS for the reps on all topics of selling, voice control, boldness, leaving “call-to-action” voice mail messages, etc.
- Throughout the initiative, reps continued to use the original script provided by Platinum, only with the improved tone and bolder approach.
- The script was modified and changed as needed over the next 18 months.
- For over a year, CCTS continued to provide as-needed coaching and training for reps and leaders.
End Results
Platinum sales increased dramatically. They were able to hire and grow the rep team to a total of about ten reps. Sales per week quota grew from the original three sales to nine. Most sales people were able to regularly hit this goal. Some of the stronger reps were able to achieve 20-30 sales per week. The best part is the level of confidence heard in these strong, effective (but still sweet, friendly and caring) sales reps. They love the work they do and their numbers have increased dramatically as a result of their better selling and better managing efforts.
Another great side note is how gratifying it has been to watch the leadership team go from good to great in the time we have worked together. They have built and sustained a strategic coaching vision and plan that would improve the results in any call center where it is applied.
West Marine
Sales and Average Order Value Increases of 15%
West Marine operated an inbound sales center in St Petersburg, Florida. This included about 100 sales people who took sales calls and provided service for existing customers. Customers would inquire about everything from a spinning rod to an inflatable boat to a complete navigation system. Sales people were supposed to sell, but most did classic “order taking” only.
They did very little to influence the sale or even participate proactively in the dialogue. West Marine wanted to increase both its Sales Per Hour and Average Order Value.
Unique Challenge
The biggest challenge at the start of the initiative was the generally low expectations of sales performance. Although the leadership team had some veteran Supervisors, many sales people were regularly missing sales targets.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
The great opportunity was to more effectively connect with the caller. Many of these sales people were boaters, themselves. CCTS believed it would be easy to coach and encourage the reps to become more active on calls. The focus of the training would be for the reps to get to know the customers, why they boated, what they needed (beyond their initial inquiry) and then present a cross-sell product. In addition, the training would hit hard on call fundamentals, making every call great so customers would be happy they called West Marine.
- Training’s Big Idea: Talk “boating.” Think about the obvious products of interest and suggest one.
- CCTS built a fully-customized version of its Telephone Sales Mastery Inbound program.
- CCTS trained all the reps with its own instructor team.
- CCTS also delivered Call Center Floor Management for all front line staff.
- A Power Hour was implemented by senior leadership (Power Hour video).
- There was a lot of excitement about the training and the agents responded very well.
- Many agents had immediate success, both in cross-selling and closing more business.
End Results
Through a four-month training initiative, the center increased Sales Per Hour by 15% and it increased its Average Order Value by 15%, resulting in a significant increase in revenue to the organization, plus happier, more well-equipped customers. The training proved that the sales people were much more capable than they realized. As a result of the floor-coaching hour, results were sustained long-term.
Express Scripts
Express Scripts is one of the largest Pharmacy Benefits Management companies in the US. At the start of the training initiative, Express Scripts was in the process of reaching out to all its members, requiring them to make a decision to either a) choose Home Delivery for their long-term prescription medications, or b) remain with their local pharmacy. Calls originated from and came into a 200-seat center in Missouri.
At the start, calls had a very low conversion of 31% to the Home Delivery product. Express Scripts leadership was trying various ways to increase this number for more than a year. They felt it should be much higher, considering that Home Delivery offered a 90-day supply for a lower price. It removed the need to drive to a pharmacy, saving time, and Express Scripts used the most accurate medication filler (hi-speed bottle filler) in the US, greatly reducing the chance of an incorrect prescription being sent to a member.
Express Scripts leadership hoped to increase its conversion and increase its “script count,” the average number of prescriptions sent per member contact.
Unique Challenge
- The ES agents (Advisors) already felt like they were working hard and doing a good job. They did not want to feel pushy.
- In their minds, any attempt to move more Members toward a Home Delivery option would have to be the Member’s decision only.
- The floor management team had never been considered a strength of the center.
- Very little coaching of any kind existed at the start of training.
- CCTS saw the big opportunity in helping Advisors to realize that, if they “boldly” presented Home Delivery in a very positive light, members would see it as a value-add and a great decision, both from a convenience standpoint and a money savings.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
CCTS created a new service/sales blended program called The Member Connection Workshop. This was a combined service-to-sales program from CCTS courses, Superior Service, Telephone Sales Mastery Inbound and Telephone Sales Mastery Outbound (although we did not call it a “sales” program).
- Training’s Big Idea: Dramatically improve connections with members on calls. Discuss members’ opinions about their prescription-buying process and boldly suggest Home Delivery, citing its many values and world-class safety record.
- Various high-publicity kick-off events and messaging were carried out to get reps excited.
- The CCTS instructor team rolled out each course at the call center.
- Leadership invited Advisors to come back into subsequent training classes and annouce “immediate success stories.”
- Supervisors helped co-facilitate classes to establish accountability and legitimacy.
- Every leader participated in the Call Center Floor Management program.
- A Power Hour schedule was implemented for all supervisors (view Power Hour video).
End Results
The Advisors responded extremely positively to the training. The center created its own “wild success” story. Over a six-month period, conversion soared from 31% to 70%. In addition, script count increased exponentially, all of which resulted in millions of dollars in revenue increases to the organization (and happier members). Two years later, conversion and script count increases had been maintained due to the floor management team’s commitment to the Power Hour and other floor-coaching initiatives.
Buckeye Health Plan (Centene Insurance)
900% Increase in Appointments Set and Substantial “Care Gap” Reduction
Buckeye Health Plan, part of Centene Insurance, is an Ohio-based Medicaid/Medicare health insurance provider, with a 150-seat member service center. CCTS is presently working with the inbound reps, rolling out a customized version of our Superior Service program, called “World Class Member Care.”
This case study is about Buckeye’s small outbound group. Prior to the start of the initiative, Buckeye leadership had created an outbound calling team, expecting to improve the company’s overall quality scores. Having a dedicated outreach team was one big way to show Buckeye’s care for its members, checking in with them, making sure they are doing well, and setting up appointments where needed (e.g. if a member missed an Annual Well Visit, the team would reach out and offer to reschedule the appointment for the member). Missing these required visits causes a “Care Gap,” which reflects badly on the provider and its overall quality. The goal for the CCTS training was to increase the amount of appointments set by the team, thereby reducing Care Gaps and increasing quality scores.
Unique Challenge
Most of these calls went out to Medicaid members. Although the agents (Advisors) were happy to offer appointments when needed, they were having a difficult time connecting with the member and few said “Yes” to the offered appointment. Some members did not know that Buckeye Health Plan was their insurance provider. Others did not feel like talking to the Advisor. Others told the Advisors they would set their own doctor’s appointments, but usually did not.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
CCTS pulled skills from both its Telephone Sales Mastery Outbound and Superior Service courses to create an outbound course for the Advisors, called “The Member Connection: Proactive Service“ workshop. Training was broken up over four days.
- Training’s Big Idea: Embrace and “love on” Members, building trust, so they will let you help them take care of their health care issues and improve their health as a result.
- The course provided new skills for the Call Opening, responding to Early-Call Objections, Rapport skills and Offering to set the new appointment for the member.
- All Advisors were trained to be “bolder” when talking about the Member’s situation and recommending that they set the appointment up while on the call.
- The big focus shifted from the appointment to the member’s health. Taking the appointment generally meant taking care of their health.
- Each day, Advisors would participate in the training during the morning hours.
- In the afternoon, they went back on the phones to employ the new skills.
- The CCTS instructor, along with the team’s supervisor, provided live floor-coaching during the afternoons.
End Results
Prior to the training, the Outbound team’s best month ever for appointments was 26. In the first month after the training, the same group of Advisors set 230 appointments. For at least eight months since the training, they have been able to achieve similar results. The best part is that the Advisors are now connecting with Members on viturally every call. If a Member is unhappy about anything health-related, the Advisor is much bolder in showing care and helping the member resolve the concern. Appreciative members now welcome the Advisor’s suggestion to set the appointment (and eliminate the Care Gap).
Sprint
Four-Year Doubling of Sales Revenue Across 25+ Call Centers
Sprint is a telecom company that provides all telecom, wireless and TV products to consumers from 25+ call centers. Sprint’s goal was to mature its service/sales organization, grow revenue through this inbound channel, create consistent (and higher) results, and reduce employee attrition.
This was a massive undertaking that involved all levels of management, training and staff. During the time of this project, the company’s greatest strength was its willingness to get better and the many ways the company encouraged its telephone reps to continuously improve.
Unique Challenge
- Despite having high quality targets at the start of our work, there were large gaps between expectations and results
- Cross-selling was encouraged but not effectively managed at most centers.
- Senior call center leaders were concerned that cross-selling would reduce quality scores (the misconception that selling attempts offend most customers).
- VThe initial challenge was to convince agents and leadership that effective cross-selling and up-selling was actually good for the customer and would net better quality scores (most customers appreciate the information about other products when it is provided in a customer-friendly way).
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
CCTS built a fully-customized, service-to-sales version of its Telephone Sales Master Inbound and Superior Service programs, calling it “Directional Selling.” Improving the supervisors’ coaching presence on the center floor was also a critical element, if any long-term sustainability was going to occur.
- Training’s Big Idea: Cross-selling – offering additional products that may satisfy other needs or provide more value and convenience – provides the complete customer experience because we are improving customer satisfaction for the long-term, not just for today’s single request.
- All agents at all centers received the training.
- Implementation took about seven months.
- The CCTS team certified trainers at each site
- Some classes were trained by CCTS instructors, but certified company instructors trained the majority of the agents across the enterprise.
- All supervisors participated in the Call Center Floor Management program.
- Senior leadership at each site established and managed a “Power Hour” for every supervisor (view Power Hour video).
- Live coaching on the center floor was new to the sites. Supervisors embraced it.
End Results
Over a period of three and a half years, sales grew consistently. When the initiative started, the IB service organization was posting $700 million in annual sales. Four years later, sales eclipsed $1.4 billion. These record results occured despite the average product and bundle price decreasing and no increases in advertising over the duration of the initiative. In addition, the company’s employee attrition decreased and employee satisfaction increased. Many of the reps claimed the biggest positive change was the new approach to consistent, daily floor-coaching. They always felt like part of the success
Amazon
AHT Reduction of 15% while Positive Response Rate Increased by 5%
Amazon has multiple, global centers that communicate with Amazon’s sellers. Sellers have unique questions and needs and they have specialized call centers, usually in their own country. Amazon wanted to increase its PSS (Positive Response Rate) while decreasing its AHT (Average Handle Time). Sellers were not rating their calls high enough. Calls were taking too long, overall. CCTS was invited to train the supervisor teams in Call Center Floor Management at the North Dakota and Slovakia sites.
Unique Challenge
- Most of the supervisors had come from the floor and were fairly new as leaders. Most had limited experience in management prior to becoming supervisors.
- Reps were not used to any type of proactive management
- No floor-coaching of any kind existed at either site.
- The only floor presence by supervisors was for problem-solving purposes and for taking escalation requests.
- Many other initiatives were going on at the same time and the focus on floor management skills might be limited.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
- Training’s Big Idea: Proactive floor-coaching is an investment in your people that will prevent most of the issues which presently cause you to spend most of your day in a problem-solving role.
- CCTS provided Call Center Floor Management workshops to all supervisors at both sites. The response from the supervisors at both sites was excellent
- Implementation of the Power Hour (see Power Hour video) occurred within a week of the training
- CCTS provided follow-up support through weekly and then monthly phone meetings.
End Results
Despite only training the supervisors at the sites and not rebuilding the agents’ phone skills training, all metrics increased far more than through any other initiative.
- Average Handle Time decreased by 15% average between both sites.
- Positive Response Rate increased by 5%.
- First-Call Resolution increased by 6%.
- Expressed Dissatisfaction Rate decreased by 4%.
Amazon met their objectives. Both sites’ supervisors continued to use their new coaching skills, primarily in a Power Hour format. The supervisors were able to spend enough time proactively floor-coaching that they changed the culture and became a big reason for those sites’ continued success.
Nautilus Fitness
Customer “Kudos” increased by 220% while Escalations Decreased by 40%
Nautilus builds different types of home fitness machines. After much use, some of these machines will naturally have mechanical issues. The company established a repair center in Washington State to help customers trouble shoot and repair their machines. Despite the fact that the center hired great staff to help customers, their overall call quality scores were too low.
CCTS was asked to improve the overall quality of the IB calls from customers who needed repair help with their machines.
Unique Challenge
- Calls were often long, as troubleshooting some of the machines was extremely time-consuming. Customers would become frustrated. Repair agents would not always know how to keep the customer happy, sometimes after having spent 60 or 90 minutes with them on a single call.
- Troubleshooting sometimes requires going back to basics. The Repair tech needed to ask the customer basic questions (“Is the machine plugged in?”) but knew that the customer would likely snap back, “Of course. It is the first thing I checked. That’s not the problem.”
- Most reps did not come from a similar environment (there are few like this). They were not used to the challenge of sounding encouraging and keeping clients engaged while multiple troubleshooting attempts do not fix the problem.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
Training’s Big Idea: Sound welcoming, understanding and, above all, encouraging and positive, regardless of how long a call may take. Have the attitude, “We will figure this out together.” Also, verbally celebrate the completion of the repair. “Great work and patience by you,” is a great way to thank the customer for their part in the repair process.
- CCTS built a customized version of its Superior Service program, focused on repair.
- Each Repair tech participated in a 1.5-day course provided by CCTS instructors.
- The floor management team completed the Call Center Floor Management program.
- Rather than use a Power Hour (see Power Hour video), leaders agreed to listen to calls from their station and then call the rep over for coaching or walk out onto the floor and deliver a quick blast of coaching.
End Results
Most of the Repair reps embraced the training. They became much more proactive in trying to solve the customer’s issues. Customers responded extremely well to this new level of attention and care. The floor management team started coaching more proactively right away.
The training impacted three very important metrics. Calls escalating to management decreased by 40%. Customer “Kudos” (a customer calling out an employee for excellence) increased by 220%. Over the same period, reps who were designated as “Superstars” (employees calling out other employees for excellence) more than doubled, as well.
Platinum Fundraising
Sales Results Tripled (and more) and Sustained for 18 months +
Platinum Fundraising sells its highly successful fundraising program to schools and non-profit organizations. Client generally do far better with Platinum’s fundraising solution than all other fundraising options they try. When we met Christy and Tony, the owners, they had recently formed an outbound call center.
Note: Platinum Fundraising is a really cool fundraising organization in Ft Lauderdale and incredibly dear to us, as the owners have become great friends. We spend a ton of time at this site and love all of the people. It’s been so much fun watching them grow and succeed.
Platinum Fundraising sells its highly successful fundraising program to schools and non-profit organizations. Client generally do far better with Platinum’s fundraising solution than all other fundraising options they try. When we met Christy and Tony, the owners, they had recently formed an outbound call center. There were three OB reps and one fairly new sales manager (first management job). Prior to this, all sales work was conducted in person, by reps in the field. The outbound center’s sales people averaged three sales per week. The goal was to at least double sales and sustain it, with hopes of growing sales even higher. At the start of our work, sales were flat. Three sales people, nine total sales per week, had become the norm.
Unique Challenge
- The most unique challenge was the lack of coaching and management structure. Since the center was so small, everyone wore many hats and coaching was not done consistently. This had to change if the new sales approach was going to work, long-term.
- The sales people approached calls with somewhat of a “cheerleader” mentality; lots of enthusiasm and friendliness, along with tons of sweetness.
- Missing was the boldness and strong emphasis a sales person’s voice needs. “Your fundraiser will be a great success if you use our formula and work hard to accomplish it.”
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
- Training’s Big Idea: Make sure your own “personal amazing” is coming across on every call. Knowing that a) no one wants to do fundraising (but they must), and b) Platinum has the best program for fundraising, sound impressed with the program as you present it and be bold about helping raise money for the kids and all their needs.
- Training’s Big Idea for leadership: Accountability leads to personal bests. Reps increase their respect, loyalty and love for you when you help them achieve personal bests. Bring out their awesome. Job enjoyment will always be high.
- The first course trained at Platinum was Call Center Floor Management for the small leadership team
- The implementation of a more effective coaching strategy, both one-on-one and spontaneous floor-coaching, started the following week.
- Throughout the month, multiple one-two hour training sessions were conducted by CCTS for the reps on all topics of selling, voice control, boldness, leaving “call-to-action” voice mail messages, etc.
- Throughout the initiative, reps continued to use the original script provided by Platinum, only with the improved tone and bolder approach.
- The script was modified and changed as needed over the next 18 months.
- For over a year, CCTS continued to provide as-needed coaching and training for reps and leaders.
End Results
Platinum sales increased dramatically. They were able to hire and grow the rep team to a total of about ten reps. Sales per week quota grew from the original three sales to nine. Most sales people were able to regularly hit this goal. Some of the stronger reps were able to achieve 20-30 sales per week. The best part is the level of confidence heard in these strong, effective (but still sweet, friendly and caring) sales reps. They love the work they do and their numbers have increased dramatically as a result of their better selling and better managing efforts.
Another great side note is how gratifying it has been to watch the leadership team go from good to great in the time we have worked together. They have built and sustained a strategic coaching vision and plan that would improve the results in any call center where it is applied.
Marriott Federal Credit Union
10%-20% Increases in Multiple Product Sales as a Result of Improving the Customer Connection
The Marriott Federal Credit Union in Bethesda, Maryland answered service calls from Marriott’s employee base. They would receive calls from around the world. Agents answered questions about banking products, took payments for credit cards, checked balances, etc. Management wanted the agents to complete the service request effectively and then offer employees an extra banking product (e.g. a savings account, money market, credit card, etc.).
Unique Challenge
When CCTS interviewed the agents, each one stated that these calls were very difficult. “The callers are all mean to us if we offer them any additional products,” was the common sentiment. “Some get downright nasty to us.”
- Claims of mean-spirited behavior from callers (other employees) really surprised the CCTS team.
- One thing about hospitality, it requires employees that are patient, caring and humble in order to effectively deal with travelers in their hotels.
- After extensive call analysis, we did confirm that many of the callers were a little rough on the agents – at the point of the cross-sell offer.
- Callers just wanted to have their request completed and end the call.
- The absence of a connection with the agent made it easy to object about other offers and terminate their calls.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
The goal was to restructure the typical call to make it a) more fun for both employees (agent and caller – the way it ought to be for two employees of the same company), and b) more interactive. The agent needed to learn more about the caller to make the cross-sell feel more appropriate and more targeted.
- Training’s Big Idea: Verbally welcome your fellow employees onto the call. They will thank you with engagement and respect (and some smiles). Then you can learn about them and their life experiences, and offer them the right additional financial products.
- CCTS built a customized service-to-sales program, combining skills from its Superior Service and Telephone Sales Mastery courses.
- The course had a heavy focus on the “Caller Connection,” as well as skills for learning more about the caller’s true banking and financial interests, opinions and needs
- Reps were encouraged to use the skills immediately to make sure they cemented the new learning and changed the way they took calls.
- CCTS delivered a one-day version of its Call Center Floor Management program for the two supervisors.
End Results
Connecting with the caller and cross-selling attempts increased right away. Sales of all banking products increased by 10%-20% as a result. This was all wonderful news, but the reason we included this case study is because of the following funny story. On a follow-up call with the agents, one month after the training (CCTS already knew that the results had started improving), the agents were asked, “What are the callers like now?” The agents started explaining that the callers “have become so much nicer.” Some reps figured that a whole other group of “nicer” employees seemed to be calling them nowadays. None of the agents was sure why the change occurred. We had to laugh. The agents were not taking credit for changing the calls and making them more enjoyable – being more proactive about the connection. The only thing that changed was the agents, for the better. We had to convince the agents that they were the reason for the center’s success. Bravo!
West Marine
Sales and Average Order Value Increases of 15%
West Marine operated an inbound sales center in St Petersburg, Florida. This included about 100 sales people who took sales calls and provided service for existing customers. Customers would inquire about everything from a spinning rod to an inflatable boat to a complete navigation system. Sales people were supposed to sell, but most did classic “order taking” only.
They did very little to influence the sale or even participate proactively in the dialogue. West Marine wanted to increase both its Sales Per Hour and Average Order Value.
Unique Challenge
The biggest challenge at the start of the initiative was the generally low expectations of sales performance. Although the leadership team had some veteran Supervisors, many sales people were regularly missing sales targets.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
The great opportunity was to more effectively connect with the caller. Many of these sales people were boaters, themselves. CCTS believed it would be easy to coach and encourage the reps to become more active on calls. The focus of the training would be for the reps to get to know the customers, why they boated, what they needed (beyond their initial inquiry) and then present a cross-sell product. In addition, the training would hit hard on call fundamentals, making every call great so customers would be happy they called West Marine.
- Training’s Big Idea: Talk “boating.” Think about the obvious products of interest and suggest one.
- CCTS built a fully-customized version of its Telephone Sales Mastery Inbound program.
- CCTS trained all the reps with its own instructor team.
- CCTS also delivered Call Center Floor Management for all front line staff.
- A Power Hour was implemented by senior leadership (Power Hour video).
- There was a lot of excitement about the training and the agents responded very well.
- Many agents had immediate success, both in cross-selling and closing more business.
End Results
Through a four-month training initiative, the center increased Sales Per Hour by 15% and it increased its Average Order Value by 15%, resulting in a significant increase in revenue to the organization, plus happier, more well-equipped customers. The training proved that the sales people were much more capable than they realized. As a result of the floor-coaching hour, results were sustained long-term.