Call Centre Sales Induction gap
Imagine your first day in your new sales call centre job. Your induction training would probably consist of the following:
Day – 1. Icebreaker followed by company history followed by job description followed by product knowledge. Then you may move on to scripts and maybe cover objections.
Day – 2. Review and a reminder of day 1 then straight onto listening in to some live calls in what some call a ‘buddy system’.
Day 2 may end with script and objection role plays and a Q & A covering objections and product knowledge, finishing Day 2 by making your first couple of live calls.
Day 3 may consist of a morning of recap and putting it all together getting you ready for an afternoon of sales calls.
If you get anything even close to this you’re lucky as most call centre companies or managers out there don’t or won’t even offer you this much.
Most new recruits leave approximately one week into their first sales call centre job or for some people one month in.
Why?
Is it the manager? Is it the environment? Is it the stress of sales?
The common call centre sales induction gap
Through all my time working with many different sales call centre teams and managers, the number one factor that increases staff retention and staff engagement is explained below.
Firstly let me ask you the following question:
What percentage of importance would you allocate to each section of your training?
- Induction Training ….. %?
- Product Knowledge…..%?
- Scripts……%?
- Objection Handling….%?
- Coaching for the call centre agent’s focus, needs and goals……%?
As you complete this exercise you may notice thoughts or questions popping up in your mind to how you carry out your staff training of new and existing team members.
In my experience, number five on the above list this is typically the number one area where companies fall short.
The importance of understanding your agents
Your agent’s performance should not only reflect your sales targets and needs, but reflect the mindset of an individual who is coming to work for themselves to meet their needs within work, and their financial needs outside of work.
When you have just one agent who comes to work to not hit targets but smash targets daily to meet their own needs then, and only then, do you start to have a winning formula.
Winning is as contagious as losing, so when you develop a team of self-motivated and company supported winners you’ll wonder why it’s been so much hard work up until now.
Don’t hire staff but instead hire partners.
Establish why your agents want to be on that phone and what drives them to win.
Once you know this you can support and drive the entire team’s success on a more consistent basis.
Recommended further reading: 7 Expert tips for improving sales in your contact centre
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