Are You Ignoring Your Biggest Sales Engine?

While everyone is running around in a panic about generating new sales, some organizations completely overlook the gold mine they already own, up and running but ignored, the call center. Now, this doesn’t apply to all organizations. Some new entrants to the financial sector have figured out that call centers are the ONLY way to go for sales and customer satisfaction.

With the explosion of cell phones around the world, why would some organizations limit the capabilities of their call centers by insisting that anything to do with sales has to be done face-to-face? This is 2012, and people are shopping, trading, doing almost everything over the phone, so why the restraint on internal call centers?

You can argue that it’s because of identity protection, but if that is the case, why are the new on-line banks and organizations making it big with sales and customer satisfaction? I think the reason is because it’s hard to disinvest in a physical network once you’ve established it. So, to justify the physical network, some organizations mandate that customers visit a branch/office to complete a transaction.

Do the math: a typical call center in an organization can generate up to 50% of the sales and, if staffed properly, can equal the efforts of physical branches/offices. They can also do this with a 10th of the staff and at a quarter of the cost. So, if your organization is focused on cost-cutting and efficiencies through the call center, think about how business is really conducted. It’s on the phone. Don’t ignore your biggest sales engine—the call center—because the opportunities are enormous!

Your thoughts?

Johanna Lubahn is Managing Director of Call Center Services for Cohen Brown Management Group, Inc.