One of the many use cases of speech analytics software is providing sales trainers and Sales managers with data that can be used to create coachable moments among the sales staff. After pulling data, management can determine what works, what doesn’t, and review sales calls further to find out why that might be.
One example of using speech analytics in this way is to analyze the success of commonly used phrases during sales calls. In some cases, the agents may be reading from a script that they have been trained to use. The phrases are decided by upper management that could be set in their ways. Or, perhaps sales agents who have been in the business for some time have “go-to” phrases that they have grown accustomed to using over the years. With access to speech analytics technology, sales managers are able to see if this truly is the right approach, or whether it’s backfiring.
What we’ve learned by speaking with industry leaders is that people have grown tired of the same old approach. What worked 10 years ago might not work so well now when it comes to capturing the attention of someone on the other end of the line and keeping them engaged throughout the conversation. For example, the following commonly used sales call phrases should now be avoided:
- “Let me talk to my manager” – It shows you don’t have the authority and can convey a lack of agent confidence and knowledge.
- “Sorry, I cannot give you a price” – Even if your business needs to get more details from a customer in order to quote the cost of a product or service they’re inquiring about, this phrase is a turn off and flags callers to question your professionalism and customer care. Try another route such as, “In order to provide an estimate, we’ll need to get some additional information from you and will send you a quote.” This softens the delivery and shows the caller that your agents are taking care of them and be careful to provide them with the best possible service, and accurate estimate.
- “How are you today?” – They know you really don’t care how they are and they are likely to just grunt a “good” or “fine” type response as they start to become frustrated with the call. And are you really expecting them to answer any differently anyway? What if they did start explaining why their day is going so badly- how would you respond? Just skip it.
Using speech analytics allows sales management to test and measure different phrases, used during the introduction and throughout the call, to see what works best. It provides tangible evidence of what the best approach for the specific type of sales call is. This information can be used for ongoing sales agent training to increase sales call success conversion rates.
