Increase Sales With This Simple Call Center Training Technique

As direct marketers, we spend a great deal of time and money developing programs to make the phone ring. But it’s the call center agents that truly make the cash register sing.

Thus, I like to spend a great deal of time training customer service reps (CSRs) to be powerful brand advocates with the ability to make a difference with all customers. Personally I hate calling a company and hearing some disinterested rep deal with my order in a lackluster way. It tells me that the company I’m dealing with doesn’t get that the people manning the phones are the voice of the company.

A simple CSR training program can solve the lackluster attitude and increase conversion.

CSR’s should be training to think on their feet, rather than interacting with customers and prospects by reading a script. Of course, good call center software with a scripted environment can be beneficial, but even the best scripting can’t beat a well trained CSR’s instincts. It’s important to hire reps that can work this way, and then mentor and monitor them on an ongoing basis. A word of caution: Analyze call times to ensure youre reps aren’t burning up phone time with the personal touch.

My CSR training programs are quite simple. You don’t need elaborate monitoring equipment. Simply use a cassette recorder and some basic monitoring equipment you can buy at Radio Shack to record the CSR’s calls for a day, then listen to the tapes. Break the reps into teams of three or four and sit in a room together and listen to the day’s calls. Teach the reps to listen actively and objectively to the calls. Let them coach each other on the cues and buying signals that sometimes get missed in real time. If you spot a missed buying signal, stop the tape — I encourage all of the reps on the team to stop the tape if they hear something — and roll play how the rep could’ve made a difference in converting the call.