The Quality Conversation is the key to turning service into sales

By Bob Davis

We were three weeks into a service-to-sales project in a large customer contact center when I overheard the following comment from an agent passing the training room on her way to the break room.

“I wasn’t hire to sell. I don’t care what they say,” the agent said. “I am not going to do it!”

This is not an uncommon reaction to change. My company, Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA), has been helping organizations turn service into sales for many years. We have found that this is a journey to win the hearts and minds of the agents—a journey that is well worth taking.

For example, we helped the billing department of one company move from zero sales to 90,000 sales in just six months. We helped the tech support organization of another company move from .02 sales per 100 calls to 1.8 sales per 100 calls—a 900-percent improvement!

How exactly do you obtain gains like these?

The main way to get there is to engage in what we call The Quality Conversation. If you don’t build a strong emotional connection with customers while solving their technical problem or billing issue quickly and efficiently, your chances of turning the service call into a sale are very small. On the other hand, if you use the following elements of The Quality Conversation on the call, your chances of converting the call to a sale increase greatly:

• Show genuine interest in the customer.
• Handle the call with sincere enthusiasm.
• Engage in full discovery of not only the issue at hand but also the customer’s wants, interests and needs.

The Quality Conversation seems quite simple. The big question is, what prevents agents from carrying it out?

First, you have to address the natural reaction to change. Any time you ask people to change how they do something, they react in stages:

1. Denial (“I can’t believe they’re making us do this.”)
2. Anger (“This really makes me mad. I’m not doing it.”)
3. Bargaining (“Can’t we just keep doing things the way we’ve always done for while?”)
4. Depression (“Why even try? I’ll never be able to do this.”)
5. Acceptance (“Well, it’s mandatory. I might as well learn how to do it.”)

If you understand and expect these stages of reaction to change, you’re better able to help team members move quickly to acceptance of a Quality Conversation initiative.

The other key to changing a team from a service orientation to a sales orientation is to understand comfort zones. People tend to keep doing what they are comfortable doing, regardless of whether or not it produces results. The role of the supervisor or coach is critical. The job is to help agents stay outside their comfort zone using The Quality Conversation approach until they are comfortable with it.

Here are some effective techniques for moving from service to sales:

1. Make a strong transition statement. Once agents have taken care of the issue at hand, they need to make a smooth transition statement. This means saying something like, “Now that we have fixed your billing issue, let me ask you a couple of questions to determine if we can add even more value on this call.” If agents make this statement confidently, the customer will usually react positively. This will help agents move to acceptance of the change, because they’ll see that it works.
2. Move to full discovery. Instead of just making a product pitch, agents must ask questions that will allow them to truly understand how they can add value for the customer. RCDA has been working on service-to-sales transitions with cable providers using this approach. Agents become amazed when they see how full discovery focuses on customer wants, interests and needs and consequently creates a positive experience for the customer. The agents see for themselves how willing customers are to answer discovery questions from the agent who drives that positive experience. The customers talk about their wants, interests and needs as related to their phone and Internet service—and how additional products and services can add value. In the end, the process helps customers sell themselves.
3. Coach for sustainability. Coaching from supervisors is critical during the roll-out of a Quality Conversation service-to-sales transition. They need to reinforce all of the new behaviors on a daily basis or the agents will revert back to their comfort zone—doing their job the old, familiar (albeit less effective) way. Side-by-side coaching, skill transfer, small group practice sessions, commitment sessions, and following up on those commitments are all key to succeeding with a service-to-sales transition and sustaining it.

More information on The Quality Conversation and how to make your service-to-sales transition work, visit RCDA’s website at www.robertcdavis.net.

Bob Davis is the president of Robert C. Davis and Associates (www.robertcdavis.net), a consulting firm in Alpharetta, Georgia, specializing in improving sales, customer service and retention results in customer contact centers across North America. Bob is also co-founder of Surpass (www.surpasscalls.com), a highly specialized outsource customer contact center serving the needs of business clients across the country.

Project success story: USA TODAY

Client:
National Customer Service (NCS), USA TODAY

Internal Brand:
HEROES

Duration:
12 months

Challenge:
NCS is responsible for the success of two call centers which handle all inbound customer service and outbound retention calls for USA TODAY. The two call centers are located a continent apart with one center being operated by an outsourcer that handles calls for a disparate group of clients. The call centers were doing an adequate job of addressing subscriber concerns and inquiries, but lacked processes to ensure that high-quality conversations were taking place with each and every caller. Recognizing that each call is a valuable sales tool, NCS engaged Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) to implement a sales model capable of increasing subscriber retention, increasing the number of subscriptions paid through EZ Pay, and boosting new subscription sales.

Approach: With the support of top leadership at USA TODAY, RCDA launched the HEROES (Helpfulness, Empathy, Respect, Ownership, Empowerment and Service) project. HEROES was a fully customized training, consulting, and coaching program aimed at changing the way in which NCS personnel view their respective job functions. By incorporating RCDA's robust sales models into the HEROES call flows, NCS reps were able to get to heart of subscriber concerns, needs, and desires. Once the effectiveness of the HEROES process was demonstrated, RCDA launched a full-scale certification program aimed at promoting project sustainability. Through its carefully designed assessment methods, the certification program allowed NCS and RCDA to recognize outstanding performers as well as uncover any lingering areas of weakness within the organization.

Results: The HEROES project revolutionized the way in which NCS handles subscriber touches. Prior to the project, NCS reps were making little or no attempt to "save" subscribers who wished to cancel their subscriptions. After implementing the HEROES process, reps are consistently retaining 40 percent of subscriptions associated with cancel calls. NCS reps also used the HEROES process to generate four times as many EZ Pay subscriptions. But the dramatic results do not end there. By training and coaching the outbound reps in the HEROES process, the average number of sales per hour jumped from 0.9 to 3.4 for an increase of more than 275 percent. The certification process proved to be the key ingredient to sustainability because it motivated NCS personnel to continually demonstrate mastery of the HEROES process. With a significant amount of advertising and subscription revenue tied to every retained and satisfied subscriber, USA TODAY has added millions of dollars to their bottom line as a result of this project.

Project success story: Morris Communications

Client:
Morris Communications (Shared Services Center in Augusta, GA)

Internal Brand:
Customer One

Duration:
18 months

Challenge: Based on the overwhelming success of the pilot outbound retention center that Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) helped build for the Florida Times-Union, Morris Communications hired RCDA to assist with the new Shared Services Center in Augusta, GA. The center's innovative mission was to make outbound retention calls to subscribers of several different newspapers from one central location.

Approach: RCDA has assisted in every phase of development at the Shared Services Center. After a period of training and coaching, the retention reps began by calling subscribers of the Augusta Chronicle. As the project advanced, RCDA provided consistent on-the-job coaching to these reps and their supervisors. As the team became more effective in applying the robust sales model, they began making retention calls for an increasingly large number of newspapers.

Results: The Shared Services Center now handles the outbound retention calling for 17 Morris newspapers. The reps call subscribers who are deep in grace, and on average, sell renewals to 50 percent of the subscribers they contact. The Shared Services Center now generates $140,000 worth of collections per month and has been a touted as a success story throughout the Morris organization.

Project success story: Florida Times-Union

Client:
Morris Communications (Florida Times-Union)

Internal Brand:
Customer One

Duration:
18 Months

Challenge: For years, the Morris Communications newspapers relied on conventional methods to attract renewal subscriptions. They sent second notices to subscribers at the beginning of grace and then hoped that the subscribers would return the notices with a check for a renewal. About 90 percent of subscribers do in fact respond with a check to the second notice. For the remaining 10 percent of subscribers, a third notice has little effect. Morris has found that only 13 percent or subscribers renew their subscriptions in response to a third notice.

Leaders at Morris were well aware that it costs far more to attract new subscribers than it does to retain old ones, and the company engaged Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) to help them build a pilot outbound retention center for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville.

The goal for this center is to call the 10 percent of subscribers who respond to the second renewal notice, and to use a robust sales model to encourage these subscribers to renew their subscriptions over the phone.

Approach: RCDA assisted with the hiring of 16 part-time retention sales reps and their supervisors for the new retention center. RCDA then trained and coached the new reps to call subscribers five days before carrier stop.

The retention sales reps use a robust sales model to discover why a subscriber might wish to cancel, as well as the subscriber's wants, interests, and needs. Each call includes a targeted offer and an effort to collect payment over the phone.

Results: The retention sales reps achieve from 1.22 to 3.32 collections per hour, with the average being around two collections an hour per retention sales rep. This is particularly remarkable because they make these calls without the aid of an auto-dialer.

Overall at the Florida Times-Union, permanent stops are down by 26 percent, grace expense is down by over $200,000 per year, and collections exceed $100,000 per month.

Project success story: The Miami Herald

Client:
The Miami Herald

Internal Brand:
Herald SAVES

Duration:
6 months

Challenge: The Miami Herald has had a dedicated retention team for several years. While this team was doing an adequate job of providing service to subscribers, reselling subscriptions, and renewing subscriptions for future service, leadership felt the department was underperforming its true potential. They decided to engage Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) to create a training program and culture change that would bring about the consistent application of a robust sales model.

Approach: The Herald SAVES (Satisfy And Value Every Subscriber) project was designed to spark an intense focus on providing excellent customer service geared toward solving problems and increasing subscriber loyalty. The program emphasizes EZ Pay and long-term renewal opportunities. It also establishes an expectation of superior service on every call. For this project, RCDA authored customized training manuals for the retention reps and their supervisors. Since training material will quickly fade from memory if it is not consistently applied, RCDA has reinforced the training by providing consistent follow-up coaching to the reps and supervisors. RCDA has also helped initiate a culture change which redefines how the supervisors spend their time. Supervisors are now urged to spend half of each shift on the floor providing side-by-side coaching support to their reps.

Results: In less than six months, the Herald SAVES project has produced a 110-percent increase in collections per hour per rep (CPH). Prior to this project, reps were averaging 1.38 CPH. They now average about 2.90 CPH, and even greater gains are expected. A detailed ROI analysis that considers the increased commissions as well as the training and coaching costs associated with this project indicates that increasing CPH from 1.38 to 2.90 delivers an additional $1.1 million per year to the Herald's bottom line.

Project success story: Landmark Communications

Client:
Landmark Communications
(News & Record in Greensboro, NC)

Internal Brand:
WIN The News & Record Way

Duration:
12 months

Challenge: The News & Record, like many US newspapers in mid-sized markets, was experiencing substantial circulation decline. Unwilling to accept the consequences of this decline, leadership at the News & Record hired Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) to train and coach their inbound and outbound reps to apply a robust sales model with the goal of generating more EZ Pay conversions and cancellation saves.

Approach: Leadership at the News & Record understands wisely that converting subscribers to EZ Pay is a key element to retention success. RCDA trained and coached reps to apply the robust sales model to effectively position EZ Pays. In addition, the reps were trained and coached to have quality conversations with subscribers with the goal of boosting over-the-phone collections. RCDA has found that making calls early in grace is an ineffective use of resources since many of these subscribers fully intend to renew their subscription. Prior to this project, the News & Record had eight reps making calls to subscribers early in grace. We changed this practice so that the reps only made calls to subscribers who are deep in grace. The reps then used the extra time to make outbound calls aimed at selling new subscriptions.

Results: As a result of this project, The News & Record experienced a ten-fold increase EZ Pay conversions. Additionally, the retention reps were able to increase their individual production from an average of one collection per hour to three collections per hour. The cross-trained reps also had much success selling new subscription as evidenced by a remarkable 60-percent pre-paid order rate on new subscription calls. This quality approach to new subscription sales has led RCDA to believe there are huge opportunities in the newspaper industry to improve the way it currently sells new subscriptions.

Project success story: Dallas Morning News

Client:
The Dallas Morning News

Internal Brand:
Work Better Here

Duration:
12 months

Challenge: Leadership at The Dallas Morning News engaged Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) to support its retention effort by establishing an outbound call center. This decision was based on the tremendous success that RCDA had demonstrated in helping other clients establish new retention centers. The retention reps make calls to subscribers who are deep in grace and present compelling offers of renewal and EZ Pay conversion.

Approach: RCDA assisted The Dallas Morning News in all aspects of the new retention center. The process began with the hiring of a retention supervisor and 14 part-time retention reps. RCDA helped write the recruiting materials as well as helped screen, interview, and ultimately hire the candidates for this position. Once the team was hired, RCDA conducted training using materials customized for The Dallas Morning News. In order to reinforce the training and ensure that a world class sales culture is developed, RCDA provided follow-up coaching to the retention team each week for a year. The primary goal of the project was to ramp collection results over a three month period until the team achieved and sustained an average of three collections per hour per rep.

Results: RCDA helped the Dallas Morning News convert 70,000 carrier-collects to office-pay. After this was accomplished, RCDA worked with the reps and supervisors on handling retention calls. Currently the newspaper is achieving 3.2 saves per rep per hour and collecting thousands of dollars each night.

Project success story: Knight Ridder

Client:
Knight Ridder (Customer Care Center C3)

Internal Brand:
FOCUS

Duration:
9 months

Challenge: The Knight Ridder Customer Care Center (C3) in Miami, FL handles inbound calls for 22 Knight Ridder newspapers. Leadership at Knight Ridder has come to realize that the 4.5 million calls that this center receives each year should be seen as an asset and not a liability. They have engaged Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) to help the company capitalize fully on this asset by teaching and coaching the C3 reps to follow a robust sales model.

Approach: RCDA's concept of a robust sales model is one that is new to the newspaper industry and seeks to leverage the results that can be obtained by having high quality conversations with subscribers. In addition to many other skills, RCDA trained the C3 reps in the importance of asking great discovery questions, communicating the compelling features of the paper, and creating bridges between the subscribers' desires and the paper's benefits.

Results: The FOCUS (Finding Opportunities in Circulation by Upselling Subscribers) project doubled the EZ Pay rate for C3. In addition, the saves rate for inbound cancellation calls has increased dramatically.