Telesales and Spring Training:  Time to stretch the Sales muscles

Pitchers and catchers have reported and the remaining team members are trickling into Spring Training.  Always a great time of year:  the sales year has launched, the Sales Kick Off meeting is history, and now it is time to get down to some serious business.  Time to stretch your sales and management muscles and focus on the telesales business at hand.

In the spirit of the baseball season (and the prospect of another World Series), I like to start the season by brushing up on my selling skills.  And what better resource than sales books with a baseball theme?

My favorites?  Baseline Selling by Dave Kurlan and Management by Baseball by Jeff Angus.  Worth reading, rereading or, at the very least, digging into a few chapters.

Check out these chapters: 

Baseline Selling:  ‘Chapter 3:  In the Zone – The Psychology of Sales’.
Dave Kurlan writes ‘When you step to the plate in sales, you want to have your game face on by being sure of yourself, confident in your product and presentation, and certain that your prospect needs the solution that you can provide.” This chapter is packed with ideas and exercises that prepare you to step to the plate with confidence.

Management by Baseball:  ‘Chapter 6:  Charting Hits:  Optimizing Player Performance’. Jeff Angus says ‘To win, you have to improve player performance – and do it continually.  You do this using four specific practices….Experimentation, OMA (Observe, Measure, Analyze), Applying, and Coaching.”

Play ball and keep selling!

Who are your Telesales and Customer Care All Stars?

Last night’s All Star game was an exciting game, right up to the last inning.  For baseball fans and non baseball fans alike, it provides an excellent backdrop for recognizing the performance of your top telephone representatives.  Be sure to take advantage of the All Star break to shout out the contributions of your All Stars, whether top individual performers, top team contributors, subject matter experts…....the list is endless.  Seasonal, themed recognition is easy to create and the media coverage provides a supporting backdrop.

Put a Little Fun in the Game of Teleselling

In his book “Management by Baseball”, Jeff Angus highlights FUN as the key ingredient for Rule 14.99 (page 231).  ‘Fun drives effective change.  An organization that wants to drive change has a better chance if it promotes playful attitudes and ideas....’ ( Jeff Angus’ blog). 

A teleselling environment is an ideal environment for introducing stress-reducing fun into the game of selling. 

If you are looking for suggestions on how to add FUN to your telesales meetings and training offerings, grab a copy of The Big Book of Sales Games by Peggy Carlaw and Vasudha K. Deming. 

What’s in your (tele) background?

In this week’s column, Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory (‘Public safety hang-ups’, April 18, 2007) tells a great story about the Scottsdale, Arizona Police Department and its unique recruiting efforts.  It is posting ‘help wanted’ signs in the men’s rooms of major baseball stadiums. 

What struck me was the last paragraph.  Greg Carlin, the chief recruiting officer for Scottsdale PD, said he had received one call from someone who was in Fenway Park and it was obvious the call was being made from the bathroom.

This got me to thinking ‘What’s in my background?’ How many times have I tried to carry on a conversation with a customer service rep or sales person and the background was distracting or, worse, getting in the way? 

When your company makes or receives calls from customers and prospects, be sure the background reflects the professionalism of the call.  If you find it doesn’t, buy a sound machine or a fan.  Anything that masks the chatter and the noise. 

What’s in your tele background?

Read Brian McGrory’s complete column:  Brian McGrory’s 4/18/2007 column