Remember Sales Basics When Managing Your Call Center Script!

Here are a few notes to remind us all of what we already know is true!

Many of you send calls to a call center where you hope that Live agents answer the phone and "Nail-the-Sale".  You hope this because generally a Live agent can sell MORE per call than an Interactive Voice Response System (IVR)- and that's what you want - MORE REVENUE PER CALL.  So, let's look at some basic selling techniques we all know - but may have forgotten.


We know that personality will improve your sales performance: People like to do business with people they like. DOES your sales script have personality?  DO your phone reps like your product.  There are a few tricks to make both of these answers YES.

You've heard the terms 'expectant attitudes achieve excellent results'. 'Think positive.'  'Expect to make the sale.'  'Weasel words are a waste. Don't beg (weasel) for a sale!'  DID you know that many front-end offers set your telemarketer up to BEG for a sale from your customers.  The LIVE agent may read the script verbatim but will lose out on the sale most of the time IF the offer sets up the BEG!  Begging offsets great call response many times.

'Consistent calls create consistent cash: Take and make more calls. Stay in your seat longer.'  Many marketers send too few calls to a call center when testing LIVE agents and settle for less than optimized performance at the IVR level because they are afraid to lose money on agents that aren't up to par.  Building a sales team extension of your company may "hurt a little" the first few weeks but a little stamina on your part should lead to "Consistent calls create consistent cash!"  Try not too spend more testing media on your product and less on your LIVE agent center.


'Making decisions makes dough.' Decisions are emotional, so sometimes it is tough for your customers to make the decision to buy your products or services. Remember that a LIVE agent can do what an IVR cannot - think on their feet!  Use this aspect of the LIVE agent and make sure you don't give away all the goodies in your commercial.  Customers are calling in because they had an emotional response to your ad.  Give your LIVE agent one surprise bonus that the can use in the sales script to keep that emotion going on the sales call - this pushes average close rate numbers over the top!

Have you heard the phrase: 'Three times scores three points!'  In a LIVE agent sales center you can put this phrase to good use - especially in boutique shops.  The initial call in to the LIVE agent (1X) with you ideal script pitch, a manager's special for No Sale customers to be pitched within 1/2 hour of the initial pitch (2X) and a Free Sample / Catalog / Video that can be use to set-up an outbound call shortly after (3X).  More and more I am seeing marketers capture only an email address and then later send their NO SALES customers an email.  In my opinion, you didn't use your Inbound Sales Script to the fullest in this case.

If you have a sales script that is 'floundering' call me at Synergixx and I'll show you how to reel in sales gold with it!

Check Out This Narly Video! And Join Me in NOLA!

On February 1st the Electronic Retailing Association descends on New Orleans and hundreds of direct marketers from all over the world will spread like a virus through the city.  On the 3rd at 4:30p many savvy direct marketers will gather in one room to hear a discussion called    Viral Marketing: Real World Word-of-Mouth Tactics (http://www.eragreatideas.org/content/education.php#viral) at which I will moderate a great panel of experts.  The purpose?  How do we sell more product using viral marketing techniques?

While I won't ruin the surprises we have in store for those attending I will share an example of viral marketing that provides insight into the topics we will cover.  Please watch this video for a 1:38 and then read below: Guy Has Glasses Tattooed On His Face
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH1tTlq5-Qk

I'm sure watching the video was no where near as painful as getting that tattoo but I winced the whole way through anyway.  This video is only one of RayBan, as in the popular brand of sunglasses, newest video releases.  Some might say that with 4.5 million views on YouTube alone it is the most successful to date for RayBan.  Even though not all of RayBan’s videos were this big of a hit; “The Kiss”, “Human Zoo” and “Streaker” for example, RayBan is text book example of how online video can reach millions.

Did they sell any sunglasses?  No one has the real answer because without an 800# or unique URL the effect is sales are hard to pinpoint.  But I'd be willing to bet they sold at least 5 pairs of $100 RayBan sunglasses.  (Conservatively:  4,500,000 views X .001 click to video rate X .001 purchase rate).  And we haven't considered yet that the video was uploaded to more video portals than just YouTube so my conservative math is just way too conservative.

1. Did the video increase the brand recognition?
2. Did the video have the same effect as a :30 or :60 second TV video?
3. Did the video reach an entirely new audience that traditional advertising would never hit?
4. What is the life-span of the effect, if any, this video had on RayBan customers, existing or potential? 

Here is what we do know!  RayBan online video viral marketing has a sort-of-WTF feel to it.  So, you know you have to pass this type of video onto at least 3 of your friends, if not post to your Facebook page.  You know they will make the same faces you did while watching the video so how can you resist passing this along?  Go ahead, pass this viral video along - I'll wait...

...Then join me in New Orleans for answers to the questions I just posed.  And as a free bonus, if you're sitting in the audience you'll get a special tool that "cures out of control viral marketing".

See you there!

23% Open Rate on SPAM???

Below is an email I sent to 200 people.  The subject line of the email read: Test Print Now!

I sent the email out on Monday of this week.  As of this posting I have recieved 46 emails from people asking the same question (slight variations): "I tried to print it, it worked. Now what?" or "I opened this so I guess the test was successful?"  Of course they are referring to the obvious and then realized the content... but they engaged!

After reading the email the Subject Line makes more sense.  But how many people open an email that says Information on Print Advertising?  Just a little electronic experiment I thought I would share with you all.... After all a 23% open rate on an email (SPAM really...) is pretty decent, doncha think?

Yes, My Name Is Charlie - And I'm A Victim of Viral Marketing!

YouTube- "I don't have an account but boy do I still get to watch videos all day!"

Below is a list of videos that have been passed to me via email, Facebook, or text message at least 5X each in the last 2 weeks.  This is a prime example of Viral Marketing used for entertainment purposes only.  People think it is funny to send me video links to things with my name in the title (I find it flattering).  What I think is interesting are all the revisions each of these videos go through once released in the world.

Charlie Bit Me is a good example.  The Original version has a large amounts of views but the AutoTune Remix version, released roughly a year later, is quickly catching up.  When you watch these two videos the important thing to recognize is the AutoTune portion.  Watch it and then type in AutoTune into YouTube and see what you get- this is a new way- ONE TO WATCH- to deliver information.

Charlie Bit My Finger 140,941,980 views

Charlie Bit Me - AutoTune 846,719 views

Now, Charlie The Unicorn is a very weird cartoon, which I have never fully understood and don't find funny.  (Am I the only one?)  Many of the variations on this show are very twisted!  However, it is continuously circulated through the internet with a cult-like intensity.

Charlie The Unicorn 43,178,644 views

Charlie The Unicorn Remade 8,147 views

The Charlie Perfume videos are many in number.  The Original 1970's commercial with the woman in the red dress (whom I was named after) has been "remade" using many different people in our pop-culture world, most recently Cindy Crawford.  These videos and their variations give you a good glimpse into how Brands can use humor and pop-culture to circulate their message into nooks and crannys they would not ordinarily consider.  The trick is how to get the viewers to order.  Watch several of these Charlie Perfume commercials and see how long it takes you to get to an order page. This is where traditional brand messaging is not so disimilar to YouTube - you have to ask for the sale- which neither do very well- YET!

1993 Charlie Perfume Remake - Little Richard and Cindy Crawford 6,672 views 

1970's Charlie Perfume Commercial 13,586 views

And this leads me to another example of the strangeness that is Viral Marketing.  Vince Offer sold a lot of Slap Chops on TV using a very clever 2 minute video.  This video was viewed 615K times on YouTube (as of today).  I'm sure this translated into retail sales- although the tracking is tricky.  But when the Slap Chop Rap hit YouTube almost 8 million people were exposed to this product- those are Oprah numbers.  These are people (many under 25) who would have never seen or taken seriously the TV spot.  These are people that surely saw Slap Chop in a CVS or Walmart and picked it up due to this rap spoof.  Isn't humor one of the main reasons Chia Pets are such a big seller every year at Christmas? Again, the trackability is tricky at this level.  However, if you were to look at the media dollars spent, BEFORE and AFTER, the spoof became a viral marketing phenomenon, I bet you'd be surprised to see the REAL LIFT at the cash register.

Original Slap Chop TV Commercial - Vince Offner 615,600 views

Slap Chop Rap - Spoof 7,584,308 views

In the upcoming months the challenge for all marketers will be to understand what the buzz about viral is all about.  It is as easy as having an name like Charlie and yet as complex as not knowing how many people actually bought your product when 8 million people have seen it.

Coming soon... Should You Leave Comments on YouTube Videos?  The Hansel and Gretel Theory!

Social Networking - What Do We Really Know About "Our Friends"?

Do you FB?  Do you Tweet?  YouTube Junkie?  Cyber Date at all?  DVR much?  Or do you just hang out with your APPS?

December 2009 - Fortune Small Business Magazine  Pg. 88 -

13.9 BILIION  = minutes Facebook users spent on the site in April - a 700% increase from April 2008.
     WWCS? - I am a very active FB user and have probably contributed to this amazing increase.  Last April I could barely use my toaster correctly. This year I judge my coolness factor based on the number of FB friends I interact with daily (not really but maybe...).  Facebook lead me to Twitter- Twitter to YouTube- and I have APPS for all 3.  As I finish up an article on Facebook Is What Cheers Used To Be (coming soon) I pose the question:  How many of those 13.9 billion minutes were productive versus neutral entertainment?

According to Fortune, out of 2,000 random Tweets analyzed- 38% were conversational and 43% were deemed babble!
     WWCS? - If Tweets are 140 character babbles, is Facebook a more extensive, audio/video populated version of babble/chit chat?  Why are we spending so much time on Facebook doing something that is as effective/ineffective as chatting in the local bar with strangers?  Especially, when you consider that 87% of adults say they prefer dealing with others in person instead of via computers or smartphones.  Is non-memorable chit-chat better accepted in bytes then over a bite?

There must be something to all this YouTube exchange and Tweeting because 95% of business decision makers worldwide use social networks to some extent.

I get asked all the time, "How do I make money using a social network or blog or Facebook?"  When looking at the above polling numbers it might seem as though no real money can be made in this fickle medium which offers little more focus than an hour at Chili's on a Friday night. However, there is money to be made when harnessing these emerging, and warp-speed growing, mediums correctly. 

So, the next time you are using your APP to log on to Twitter and post a '140 word quip' ask yourself this question: "Is what I am about to say pop-culture relevent,  antagonistically interesting, freakishly Cultish, or funny to the masses under 25?"  If the answer is yes then you are closer than ever to making some moula in cyber-space.

I'll be posting more on this topic in the next few weeks as I prepare to Moderate this Hot Topic in New Orleans at ERA in February.  http://www.eragreatideas.org/

By the way, what's the appropriate sign of in the Internet world?

TTYL?
Charlie

Newspaper Dips / Online Print Rises - $$$ STILL BIG!

Here are some snapshots from an article written by a great friend of mine, Marsha Friedman.  It talks about the status of print and online print and its ability to generate good results in this tight economy.  I found her article RIGHT ON!  I've extracted a few sections that I think you'll find as interesting.




The Value of Web-Based Press Shines As Newspaper Readership Declines   by Marsha Friedman
If you’re an old newspaper hound, it’s not a pretty sight.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), the standard-bearer of newspaper and print publication circulation reporting, just reported a couple of weeks ago that newspaper circulation for the six months ending Sept. 30 dropped 10.6 percent from the same period in 2008, with a 7.5 percent dip on Sundays.

SNAPSHOTS:
Oct. 1, 2008-Mar. 31, 2009: down 7.1 percent on weekdays, down 5.3 percent on Sundays.
Apr. 1, 2008-Sept. 30, 2008: down 4.6 percent on weekdays, down 4.9 percent on Sunday.
Oct. 1, 2007-Mar. 31, 2008: down 3.5 percent on weekdays, down 4.5 percent on Sundays.


Conversely, as newspaper circulations take a nose dive, online readership of newspaper Web sites is on the rise. Newspaper Web sites attracted more than 74 million monthly unique visitors on average in the third quarter of 2009, more than one-third (38 percent) of all Internet users, according to a custom analysis provided by Nielsen Online for the Newspaper Association of America. The sites collectively tallied more than 3.5 billion page views during the quarter, with users spending 2.7 billion minutes browsing the sites over more than 596 million total sessions.  This is a 17 percent increase over the 62 million unique visitors the same sites drew in 2007. In fact, for the first time in history, the stats now show that more people are getting their daily news online, and not from their daily printed newspaper.

While 74 million is a good number of unique visitors, the news-based Web sites are growing in influence and prestige, as well. At the end of the day, print and Web combined means more eyeballs for your story.


Charlie Says: The irony is more people overall are consuming the news than ever before.

Charlie Says: Your product should be in print/online - especially during these tough economic times.  TV/Radio can be accidental.  Print/Online is purposeful!  People buy on purpose! 

Charlie Says: At Synergixx our print budgets have only gone UP this year - even with the newspaper decline- because those that look for news are very qualified buyers!

Who is integrating your traditional print ads with online print ads?  At Synergixx we do it daily... ask us how!

What's In An Offer? Besides My Free Bonus?

It's 4th quarter again!  And this means everyone is rushing to test new shows for 1st quarter!  Hurry.  Hurry.  Test. Test.  But have we considered if we have anything to really OFFER?

We all know what's up with our economy, the world, the war, politics, real estate, stock prices, gas, prices, internet fraud and diet failures... same stuff as always just more compacted and in our face this year.  And what we also know is that selling products is becoming more difficult because our audience is more savvy and less tolerant than ever before in history.  In the last two weeks I have reviewed over 13 different commercials trying to make the 4th quarter test cycle and while most of the products are really GREAT - I'm not sure why I should CALL NOW - aside from collecting some free gifts.  9 of the OFFERS were Just Pay Shipping + 2 Free Gifts.  This is not good as it is a form of "training our consumer to tune out".

What's in an OFFER?  (ALOT)

While reading the 25 OFFERS below, think about any OFFERS you have out in the world.  These can be product offers, service offer, branding offers, lead generation offers, TV/Radio offers, web offers, and so on.  

• Can any of them be tweaked, twisted, altered, trashed, revamped, super-loaded or "pimped out"?  
• Can you identify the OFFERS below that are working and that are flat-lining?
• Can you figure out which OFFERS are being used in TV, Radio, Print, and Online?
  

 Here we go:

1. Call us today for a free report on debt management.
2. To get started log on and type keyword: No Tummy.
3. Learn how this amazing program can save you time and money.
4. Save an animal's life for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.
5. Get a free consultation on the e-diet that's right for you.
6. Enroll in our online classes and increase your earning potential.
7. Call us today at 888-8888 and ask for our Web discount.
8. Subscribe now for free tips for doing your own taxes.
9. Log on and read how to drop a full dress size by Thanksgiving.
10. Hurry Up. Reserving your free laptop is just a click away.
11. Watch this video on how you can stop smoking within 4 hours- and forever!
12. Does your child suffer from ADD? Take this simple test.
13. Buy this product today and start losing weight tomorrow. (Or in 7 - 10 days with the super saver delivery.)
14. Get an excerpt of this self-hypnosis audio CD emailed to you in the next 5 minutes.
15. Call now for a free 30-minute consultation.
16. Take our Identity Theft Security quiz.
17. Learn how you can afford a bigger home than you thought!
18. What factors should I consider before starting my own business?  We'll tell you for free!
    
19. Call today and find out what the I.R.S. doesn't want you to know.
20. What are the telltale signs of anxiety for children and teenagers- it's all in this free online report?
21. Buy a Discount Pass and never pay full price again!
22. How can a new air purifier pay for itself in six months?
23. Use our online calculator and see how much you can save using our system.
24. Add to cart.
25. Buy now! 

You'll notice that none of these offers mentioned price, extra free gifts or trial offers. They may be a part of the OFFER but the point is that your OFFER MUST BE MORE that just free trials and bonus gifts. What are you promising the consumer? How are you affecting their life NOW? Why is your product and your free gifts any more trust worthy or relevant than the one the consumer saw five minutes ago? There is a safety net in testing products with tried-and-true OFFERS but in a year when 1 in 30 new product launches are actually making it into roll-out we must stop being safe and go back to being innovative.

Check out websites I think have it going on - and OFFERS to match!

https://carexpresstrial.com/ (OFFER: Save 50% on Health Care)
http://www.smartcruiser.com/ (OFFER: Stop Surfing. Start Cruising!)
http://winit.womansworldmag.com/ww/ (OFFER: Enter to Win!)
http://www.moneyfromhome.com/ (OFFER: Get PAID by check, direct deposit or PayPal- Scam Free!)

DO I endorse the websites?  No.  Are they doing something right in the marketing world?  Yes.

Don't get me wrong... tradition is tradition and we should hold on to our Trial Offers, Soft Offers, and Hard Offers.  Make these traditional offers part of an A/B test.  But let's get a little "unsafe" with our offers and see if we can reinvigorate our consumer's response rate.  Remember, 40-60% of your respondents go online BEFORE they call you... here is a hint:  your OFFER should trap and entice them both Online and Offline- even entangle them in between the two.

 Look for my next post on BACK-END OFFERS GONE AWRY!