• Reading various company communications like annual reports, 10-K reports, letters to shareholders, and press releases
• Searching the internet for relevant news and information about the company and industry
• Requesting and reviewing company brochures about products and services
• Checking the company’s website for information about performance, products, and recent announcements
• Asking a stockbroker or analyst for company performance reports or insights

The key here is to familiarize yourself with the company and culture you are calling on so that you can discuss relevant issues and ask intelligent questions.   You need to understand the issues facing the industry, and how you have solved those issues for other buyers.

This not only prepares you to respond effectively during the call, but also creates a favorable impression on the buyer by highlighting your preparedness and professionalism

The Discovery Summary is all that; it really is.  Our research shows that many sales are actually made right here.  When the summary is done well it accomplishes all these things:

1. The buyer feels good because he knows that you were really paying attention and listening to what he told you.
2. You build momentum by distilling what has just taken upwards of 60 minutes into a powerful 2-minute highlight reel.
3. You ensure that your understanding of your buyer’s situation is crystal clear and on target.  If, for some reason, you did not summarize the situation accurately, your buyer will correct you.
4. You get to show your buyer that you are a highly competent professional who understands and cares about their situation.
5. You lower your buyer’s resistance and raise their receptivity to your tailored solution.
6. And sometimes it uncovers a nugget that defines the buying gap.

Not bad for a simple summary that takes less than 120 seconds to deliver.  But, like everything else with Bullet Selling, it’s all in the execution.   There are 6 steps to the Discovery Summary process:

1. Transition into the Summary
2. Review Current Situation
3. Review Desired Situation
4. Review Expectations
5. Ask confirming questions
6. Transition to Tailored Solution

An internet service provider whose retention queue takes more than a million calls every month wanted help increasing their retention rate. Within 18 months their rate soared from 46% to 61% adding millions of dollars to the bottom line.

An airline carrier whose call centers take more than 5 million inbound calls a year wanted help increasing their sales conversion rate. Within 6 months the conversion rate increased more than 1% resulting in more than $400,000 of additional revenue every week.

Both these companies put forth tremendous effort to improve the performance of their call center teams, and each company applied a Customer Care process to generate a world-class customer experience on every call.

Catching Them Doing Things Right

The philosophy that propels the OutSell 8-step methodology is the belief that we want to encourage our agents/operators/consultants (associates) to do more of the behaviors that top producers do on the phone. We collect the best practices of the best people and teach them to the rest of the team. We then focus on catching associates doing the right behaviors and transferring the right skills. Once this “success generates success” mentality takes hold, things begin to happen…sales increase, customer service improves, and productivity and efficiency metrics typically improve too.
When a call center organization is performing effectively in the 8 areas, they are going to attract and build employees that can deliver “over-the-top” sales and service performance…over and over…day after day…call after call. You can hear the genuine interest and excitement in the voices of the best call center agents and customers feel it. There is a sense of cooperation between management and the front-line employees and a deep commitment throughout the organization to deliver world-class customer service that leaves the competition behind.

The OutSell 8-Step Call Center Customer Care Methodology

1. Setting and communicating high-performance vision and compelling expectations
2. Installing processes that generate world-class results
3. Generating visible leaders that lead through example from the field
4. Clarifying, identifying and transferring top-performer behaviors to all levels of the organization
5. Instilling a strong “inspect what you expect” work ethic that holds team members accountable to the high performance expectations
6. Increasing honest and actionable feedback including effective recognition, appreciation and natural consequences
7. Reporting important performance data in a simple and highly visible way
8. Building the right behaviors through action steps and follow up

In upcoming posts, we will go through each of these steps in depth.

Here are a couple of strategies to grow your sales in a down economy . . .

1. Develop a System.
Top performers use a process that helps them build solid sales relationships in a systematic and predictable way. I’m not talking about an inflexible process that standardizes every prospect/client interaction. Instead, it’s a loose framework that provides the structure for every interaction. Our process here at Silver Bullet Selling includes the following six steps:

1. Pre-Call Planning
2. Building Rapport
3. Discovery
4. Tailored Solution
5. Addressing Concerns
6. Closing the Sale

2. Set Goals that Drive Sales Activities
For example, a top performer we recently interviewed is a banker with a weekly goal of selling additional products and services to three clients. This banker knows it takes around 12 contacts to make a sale. So, every week she makes at least 40 calls (eight every day) to her current clients.

During the conversation, the banker asks questions to determine her client’s current and desired situation. Then she uses the right products and services of the bank to bridge the two. She closes the call by asking for a referral. Because of her activity, this banker is consistently in the top 5% on the score board.

So two key strategies for moving up regardless of the economic outlook are "system" and "activity." What are your experiences? Give me your own thoughts on driving forward in a down economy . . .