How Do You Increase Inbound Sales?

Transcript

Hi there, this is Blair from BravaTrak.

I've been thinking about how inbound service centres can tap the opportunities they have for cross-selling and lead generation. I've previously mentioned that the performance potential for growing revenue through inbound contact centres can be dramatic.

To develop a strategy for tapping this opportunity, it's worthwhile identifying the factors that create it in the first place. And the simplest formula for sales performance is 'Performance = Ability x Motivation'. These are the two factors; Ability and Motivation. Let's illustrate.

Let's take a look at 2 scenarios; an inbound sales centre, and an inbound service centre. Now, for a sales consultant working in an inbound sales centre, their primary revenue generation opportunity is sales conversion. They will have been trained in the company's sales process, so they already have the ability to perform.

However, if their sales conversion is on the low side, they're probably not motivated to apply the sales skills they already have. There may be no positive consequences for doing so. Instead, it might be easier for them to go straight into the system and ask for the information required to be entered.

Provided they ensure they meet all the quality and compliance requirements, they'll avoid any negative consequences. But, they won't have taken the time to understand the customer's needs, so both the customer and their company loses. This is a motivation issue.

On the other hand, for an agent working in an inbound service centre, their primary revenue generation opportunity is cross-selling. Most Customer Service Representatives haven't been trained in cross-selling. So they often don't have the ability to perform.

Additionally, because selling involves rejection and most CSRs are uncomfortable with that, they're not motivated to hold cross-selling conversations to any great extent. Again, both the customer and the company loses.

In both situations, agent motivation to hold a sales conversation must be addressed. But with inbound service centres, it's also critical to train CSRs in an approach to cross-selling with which they feel comfortable.

That's my take. What do you think?