23.06.09
Outbound contact centres should remain committed to up-selling and cross-selling, despite concerns over customers' willingness to embrace such offers, it has been suggested.
Writing for Call Centre Helper, OpenSpan founder Francis Carden said timely delivery of appropriate sales pitches can be successful.
Responding to the Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report, which claimed that the number of up-sale calls has fallen dramatically in call centres amid fears over agent and customer frustration, he said failing to build on initial customer transactions is "a shame and huge missed opportunity".
He stated: "Most customers genuinely appreciate it when an agent knows enough about them to offer them something they truly need or can save them time or money."
Mr Carden added that automating the offer look-up process and presenting it to the agent in real time and at the proper stage of the call flow "can dramatically improve up-sell revenue performance".
Last month, The Logic Group reported that UK businesses need to rethink their approaches to keeping customers loyal to their products and services.
Antony Jones, chief executive officer of the firm, said it was "evident" that during a recession, companies need to build loyally and improve "the
customer experience".
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