Cross-selling/up-selling is a strategic focus for centers that seek to add value to their customer interactions. Technology is a crucial resource when setting these strategies in motion. It plays a part in every stage of the process – from hiring/training agents to management contacts to evaluating results.
Technology prepares agents for success.
During the hiring process, technology supports pre-employment skills assessment, job competency simulations and competency tests to help companies screen for sales ability.- Training modules promote soft skills development and increase comfort with selling while conveying product and service information.
- Workforce management systems account for the additional workload created by sales initiatives.
- Rewards and recognition applications track performance, encourage continuous improvement, and acknowledge superior effort.
Technology manages the contact to success.
Effective cross-selling/up-selling starts with customer identification – the reason for the contact (if available) and any history regarding past interactions, offers, and outcomes.
- The routing and skills capabilities of the ACD, IVR and/or CTI direct callers to the best resources to explore cross-selling/up-selling opportunities.
- Once a contact reaches an agent, call handling can be guided and monitored by a “rules engine” that determines what to offer and triggers resources that walk agents through the sales process. This engine can be spread across a customer relationship management system, knowledge management system, consolidated desktop application and/or home-grown scripting tool or database.
Technology assesses performance.
- Workforce management enables analysts to track the incremental cost of an initiative for comparison against incremental revenue gains.
- Quality monitoring helps provide targeted feedback on selling skills and facilities capture of “best practices” calls for training and positive reinforcement.
- Reporting and scorecards provide a balanced view of agent performance by evaluating sales success against productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction metrics.
- Customer satisfaction surveys monitor customer reaction to ensure sales initiatives are well-received.
- Speech analytics can provide systematic, quantifiable, statistically significant measurements on the efficacy of the “rules engine” as well as the agents’ compliance with protocol and ability to generate revenue.
In short – technology planning goes hand-in-hand with business planning when you take the plunge into cross-selling/up-selling. Contact us for assistance.