Yes I have the secret.

It’s all about counting calories and installing an App for my phone that does the counting for me. So long as I keep to around 1,500 calories a day, I’ll lose weight.

Before you say anything, I know this is not revolutionary. It’s been known for decades.

The morning of my discovery I told my wife.  Claire responded “I’ve been telling you that for ages, and you’ve ignored me every time. As soon as it’s your idea it becomes a revelation”

Doesn’t that just prove the value of coaching and helping your coachee discover their own way forward rather than telling them what to do all the time.  Coaching helps them to own their ideas and design the solution.  Self-discovery is remarkable.

Now my wife is watching eagerly as I control my calorie intake and use my phone app to monitor each day’s calories. Since it was my idea, I seem to have inherited plenty of drive…at the moment.

I’ll keep you posted.

A tale of two carts from Paul Archer on Vimeo.

In 2 minutes Paul shares a story of 2 carts on an InterCity train and how the sales people differed enormously in the way they sold their wares. Some lessons for us all

One of my favourite programmes on TV is the Gadget Show. An hour of the newest, shiniest, must have gadgets. I love it.

And that’s the point about cross selling. Sometimes, as customers, we don’t know what the newest, shiniest, must have product is. So salespeople or customer service people mustn’t be afraid of just telling them what the latest product is.

Naturally it must be relevant to the customer first and you need to put it across as a brand new offering, something new, and you’ll probably get your customer excited.

Here’s some ideas:

• Use a customer story to present the “something new” product. Show how a previous customer was initially sceptical and then realised the fabulous benefits once they started to use it. Stories must be real, involve characters, have a challenge to bridge and enjoy a solution at the end.
• Use the “Amazon – others found this product to be useful too” approach or bundling of products together.  Amazon are world renowned for this cross selling strategy and it works as people are influenced about what others say or do. Mention that many of my customers also found this product of benefit as well.  This bundling of products approach can work really well if you’ve done your homework on what you sell. Can you link them together in some way, do they complement each other, have similar benefits?
• Use the “are you sure” approach when they initially baulk at the something new product. A quick “are you sure” with the right tone, smile and eye contact can often persuade them away from their knee jerk reaction to being presented something else.

There’s some ideas to help you promote the “something new” product. Something for the weekend sir?

Wise words to handle sales pressure from Paul Archer on Vimeo.

In a couple of minutes Paul relates some best practice from a sales top performer on how he handles the pressure. Some simple yet effective words

In this 900 word article, I explores the four different types of coaching interventions that Call Centre Sales Managers use to drive up their team’s performance but argues that each agent has their own preferred learning style and this should dictate the coaching mode used most often with that agent.

Plus some useful tips to perform coaching at your highest level.

Learning styles and coaching

We’re all very familiar with Honey and Mumford’s Learning Styles piece of work from the 1980’s which describes the four varying styles of learning that we all have. My preferred style is a reflector since I like to look back on my learning events, take my time when learning, think things through, listen to others and I hate being dropped in at the deep end.

Others might prefer an activist style where being dropped in from a thousand feet would suit them, happy to learn from mistakes, can easily see what their mistakes have been and can figure out an alternative way in mini seconds. They just seem to want workshops to soar at a hundred miles per hour.

You might prefer a theorist style with a desire to look at all the detail and background to the training topic and to see where theories and models can benefit your learnings.

Or finally the pragmatist who, by now, has got bored with this piece because they don’t see the benefits and how it can help them.

Have you ever used these learning styles to help you maximise your phone based sales coaching? You may not have thought about it but it makes perfect sense.

Most phone sales centres or call centres or Inside Sales Operations as our friends across the Pond call them, use a variety of coaching interventions. These are:

1. Live side by side coaching in the call centre
2. Recorded call coaching in privacy
3. 1to1 coaching with metrics and KPIs
4. Group listening sessions followed by facilitated group discussion on best practice

If you have a choice which one you use with your phone salespeople, then choose the one that fits their learning style.

Side by side coaching

For activists – definitely go for live side by side coaching. Here’s some tips to make this coaching better for them:

• Decide on a theme to work on during the side by sides and listen out for this area during your observations.
• Ask your agent for their preferred theme to focus on
• Focus mostly on feedback and keep it snappy, then ask them what they can do differently.
• Use GROW but start on reality by giving them feedback on the reality that you just observed, then launch straight into options, giving them a chance to comment.
• Keep the feedback to around 2 minutes, then get on the next call.
• The beauty of live side by side is that you get to see the actual challenges they’re facing which are non-skill based, normally system or process, so empathise with them and take some action to improve these.

Recorded feedback sessions

For reflectors – give them more private recorded call coaching sessions. Here’s some tips to help you here:

• Give them slightly longer with the “how well did you do” question, look away a little more, give them space to think.
• Let your agent choose the calls to listen to so long as you stipulate a good one and a not so good one.
• Don’t choose calls randomly; use intelligent Speech Analytics Software to choose keywords, phrases used, attitudes, sentiments and acoustics.
• Allow your agent to gauge themselves against your best practice checklist, and then comment afterwards.
• Use silence, non verbal nods and lots of matching body language to encourage the reflector to talk… and we do.
• Once some actions start appearing, GROW them naturally and then wrap up with the WHY – where do they need to be, how will I get there and how will you help me.

1to1 performance coaching

Theorists might prefer the 1to1 coaching with metrics and KPIs to ponder over. Some tips here:

• Let them have the metrics in advance.
• With the exception reports focus equal time on the above average performance as opposed to the below average performance, this is a balanced performance review after all.
• Try and use a balanced scorecard approach to the metrics you measure. You could split these four ways:
  1. “How well is your agent serving the customer?” – Customer satisfaction
  2. “How well is your agent performing?” – Operational efficiency
  3. “How well is your agent supporting sales?” – Business value
  4. “How am I getting the best out of my agents?” – People management
• Always have some coaching in the metrics meetings, these are not just assessment and feedback but a chance to spot trends and determine action plans.

Group call listening sessions

Pragmatists might prefer the group interaction commenting on played-back calls, especially if you have some top performers in the group and keep it punchy. Here’s some ideas:

• Choose calls carefully, some exemplars and not such good calls. Maybe choose a theme upfront.
• Sell the WIIFMs to the agents before you start. (What in it for me’s)
• Keep the session to about 45 minutes.
• Ask them to complete the best practice checklists.
• Invite everyone for their opinions but keep this tight. Request one good point and one development area and ban repeating what previous agents have said.
• You don’t need to chip in an opinion just for the sake of it; the art is to encourage the agents to comment on their own calls.
• My final tip is to ask the agent as to the preferred coaching, what coaching would they want from you to support their growth and how should the coaching occur. They won’t give you pragmatist, theorist, reflector – that’s technical jargon for you and I – but they will give you an impression to work on.

Now haven’t we breathed a breath of fresh air into Peter and Alan’s learning styles?

1. Have a policy of shutting down email from 10am for all coaches, that way they can swarm over their people and conduct side by side coaching.
2. Be clear of the coaching that will work for individual agents. You can use the famous learning styles. For example activist agents will respond well to side by side coaching as they are more than likely to come out with quick actions and responses. Pragmatists will like this too. Reflector agents will cringe with the rapidity of the side by side so will prefer the pre-recorded playback sessions in privacy so they can think through how they can improve. Theorist types will also like this but will want to have access to the calls beforehand. You could get them to choose their best and perceived worst one to analyse otherwise ensure you use intelligent software to choose the calls for you
3. Rather than just one agent listening to their pre-recorded calls, encourage a small group to listen to them and all to add comments and share best practice. Allow each agent to complete your best practice checklist as they listen to the calls.
4. Have a “caught you doing something great” emblem to plant on the desktop or a wow call. One client of mine bought “wow” lollypops – the large versions – and gave one to an agent when they did something wow.
5. Have a lucky dip bin for great performances. Inside the bin will be booby prizes as well or ones requiring a forfeit.
6. When doing side by side coaching, keep the feedback sharpish and precise. Use the session to work on a theme or encourage your agent to suggest a theme before the session starts.
7. Feedback is mostly needed with side by side coaching. Don’t do too much of the “how would you do that differently” you can leave that for your recorded call coachings.
8. Get a routine going with your agents. Allow them to expect lots of coaching from you. Alternate it with side by side coaching followed a few days later with some recorded coaching, some engagement coaching and then back to some side by side.  Get a routine going.
9. Skills development is a fine outcome of coaching but use your side by side coaching to get an appreciation of the non-skill based performance inhibitors, try to understand the real challenges they’re under, that’ll build empathy.
10. In your recorded call coaching sessions, allow your agent to run the call checklist themselves on their actual call before giving you feedback.
11. If you’re dealing with a low performer, attempt to pick on more than a couple of calls to analyse and coach on, the more the better.
12. After every coaching session you must have the magical three outcomes. Your agent should know where they need to be, how they can get there and what you and the business can do to support them. If they don’t know these, then you’;ll have to spend time GROW’ing them.
13. Use the GROW model by all means but be aware that it was never designed for a call centre environment. It was originally designed for tennis players and athletes to help them achieve their goals. A tip is to start the GROW model at R = reality by providing feedback or self-discovered feedback on performance. That way your agent is clear and committed to an objective or goal to be achieved which they may not be aware of.
14. Always, always, always do coaching after any form of assessment. Even if it’s billed as a Q&A type observation, empower these people to do a little bit of coaching afterwards. Never leave observation and assessment in isolation otherwise it’ll get a “police” type reputation.
15. Ask  agents what kind of coaching and development they would like. The type, the duration, how else can you support their skills and development. Naturally your coaching outcomes must be beneficial for the agents otherwise they just might say “none please”!
16. Have best practice lean meetings for 5 minutes each morning and evening to share best practices and great performances. Stand up and let different agents run them for you.
17. Get your call recording software to burn calls on to a CD or SD Card, as many as will fit on, and get in the habit of listening to these on your way home or whilst in the gym. The habit of listening to lots of calls will help you to determine how your agents are doing and what ways they can improve.
18. Have your call best practice checklist which contains the process plus all the soft areas needed to perform a great call. But also have your playbook which contains every technique and method which brings the call to life. Like a best practice bible. This would need to be added to continually from observations and agent’s new ideas.
19. Have a No PC day once a week so you get to surge over your agents all day.
20. Have a balanced scorecard approach for your metrics and measures. Learn to distinguish between lead and lag. Lead measures are those that’ll help you judge how the agent is doing and get in some coaching to improve things. Lag measures are after the event, and although coaching may help, the event has happened. A Balanced Scorecard approach could use 4 measures:

“Na na, na na, na na, na na; na na, na na, na na Bat Man…..”   Theme tune click BatmanTVShowThemeSong.

I rose from my seat and stared outside and could see a sandwich van screeching around the corner proudly displaying the bat man theme tune and the insignia – The Bap Van.

“That’s the local sandwich van…he’ll do anything to drum up business” said my client and sure enough within a couple of minutes, the van was amongst a throng of people.

How clever and what an opening statement. The music captures your attention, the sign on the side adds humour and before you know it you’re buying your cheese and pickle sandwich and pack of crisps from him.

And what about your opener, your sound bite, your value proposition, elevator pitch…call it what you like. Does it gain attention and capture potential customer’s interest as much as my Bap Van.

AIDA – done brilliantly by Alec Baldwin in my favourite film Glengarry Glen Ross, does this well – attention, interest, desire, action. An oldie but still a goldie.

I’m told the Bap Van’s best seller was a Stottie – any ideas what that is?

You never win an argument with a customer from Paul Archer on Vimeo.

In 2 minutes Paul explains where objection handling goes all wrong and an idea that may change it entirely for you.

The result?  Very little. I made the mistake of assuming that the agency team would supply me with a copious supply of warm leads. How wrong was I?

Over the next few months, I spent enormous amounts of time cultivating the team, encouraging leads and nurturing them to provide me with the business I needed.

Here are 33 ways of doing so collated from years of experience and working with hundreds if not thousands of branch based financial services sales people.

1. Coach them how to make referrals, don’t assume they know how to do it. Less telling them how with a flipchart, more demonstrating how to do it. Learn to become masterly at it yourself first, then use a coaching model such as MEDIC to show them how to do it. Motivate, explain, demonstrate, imitate and coach.
2. Give your branch team dollops of praise all the time. Doughnuts help as well.
3. When you walk past the team, stop and ask questions on how they’re doing with referrals. Get them talking about their successes during the day, not just in the morning meetings.
4. Make your customer calls in the actual branch area with your team around you. That way they can hear, first hand, what you do and the value you give to your customers. Don’t coop yourself up in a room.
5. Use shadowing as a mentoring tool. Let your team members shadow you for a few hours, sit in on some customer meetings and listen to you calling people.
6. Remember to show their line manager how to make referrals as well, coach them equally and allow them to shadow you too.
7. When you have some spare time, maybe a cancelled meeting, don’t drift back to your office to do paperwork, instead get out into the banking hall, talk to customers, chat to the team members. You have to be heard and seen to be remembered.
8. Only use your office for customer meetings. Secure a desk in the team area to do your admin and paperwork. It may not be peaceful but your team will see you and be aware of what you do and the value you provide to their customers. Remember out of sight, out of mind.
9. Attend the team’s morning meetings, chair them when you can. Share successes of course, but use the time to train them on the latest ideas and techniques to make referrals. The latest “deal” you have and constantly let them know the value you provide customers.
10. Offer to handle the team’s own financial review or mortgage. Let them enjoy personally the service you provide.
11. Run activities in the team training time. Run an energiser, some puppeteer role play, make the learning very involved rather than just talking at them, everyone else does that.
12. Help them to see how they might repeat yesterday, what would they do differently, how would they approach Mr and Mrs Jones again.
13. Do a Swap Shop event where everyone swaps ideas and best practice to improve their referral methods.
14. Provide constant feedback to the team members on the referrals they’ve given to you. Feedback loudly so others hear and ensure praise is very public.
15. Tell stories, lots of them to the team. Stories of your customers, the value you’ve provided. Tell your client attraction stories to the team. Relate the first death claim you had and the impact. Explain what your customer did with the endowment that paid out handsomely, the pension that gave them the extra income and how they spent it. People remember stories more than anything else.
16. If you send your team emails to thank them or to give feedback, make sure the “Big Cheeses” are cc’d in.
17. Have a certain amount of “drop in” time available where your team can make a real time referral and take them straight into your meeting room to speak with you. Maybe lunch times would work from say, 12 noon to 1pm.
18. Give your team the words to use when making referrals. Encourage them to speak with you whilst their customer is in front of them. Help them make their excuses to consult you on how you might be able to help and then give them the words they can use.
19. Recognise them publically. Have a leader board in the staff rest area showing referral numbers or values for each team member.
20. Reciprocate in the form of business for them. Refer the customer back to open an investment account, or refer them to the mortgage adviser, help your customer to appreciate the other services we offer and make it your business to refer your customers back to the branch team.
21. Run phone out events for the team. Motivate them and demonstrate how to make calls and then coach them doing the calls.
22. Give them scripts to use on phone out events, triggers to use, hooks that’ll encourage the customers. Give them as much bait they need to reel the customers in, be careful not to fish for them. Spend your time coaching them rather than making the calls yourself, which might be easier but not sustainable.
23. “Big ‘em up” make them feel good about what they are doing for you.
24. Vary the motivations. Doughnuts can go stale. Try scratch cards, a lucky dip type box full of goodies wrapped up the night before. Chocolates in helium filled balloons. Gift vouchers and for your Generation Y’s…time off. That’s what they love.
25. Do 1 to 1’s with each team member, coaching them, encouraging them to give you referrals not just team meeting events
26. Run small surgeries with 2 or 3 maximum of your sales team. Use the time to do some training and coaching of the latest techniques and tips.
27. Continually tell them about your latest value.
28. Start a customer testimonials board, so your customers tell you (and the team) exactly what value you provided. Make the board very public so everyone can stop and look at the cards, emails and notes you receive.
29. Offer to make the coffee for the team or fetch from Starbucks and whilst you dish them out, give them a few more ideas on how to gain more referrals.
30. Decide what your team member’s fish is. A fish is the metaphor for their motivation – WIIFMs – and then provide this fish to each member of your team to encourage referrals.
31. At every opportunity, speak with customers yourself, talk to them about your role and the importance of the value you provide. Mention that you can only be used by referral only, in other words via the branch staff. Put on your business card your name, by referral only. Have the “by referral only” sticker put on your office door and only accept new customers “by referral only”
32. Never stop spending your energy investing in your team, if you do, the referrals will dry up. It’s your major marketing and you ought to spend at least 20% of your time with the team, although this may not seem possible at the time, but it’s a sure fire way of ensuring you have a constant stream of new customers to deal with.
33. And finally stop generating your own leads. Yes, seek referral of course, but spend your energies developing your team’s ability to refer as that’s the only way you do business.

Can you add any more, I’d be interested to hear about your favourite way of helping your branch team provide you with more leads. Please make a comment in the box below the article.

My wife does it every weekend for me and it spurs me into action.

Let me explain.

My wife gives me a list of things “to do” around the house at the start of each weekend and this list of new activities keeps me busy all weekend.  The list always contains something new alongside the usual cutting the grass and putting out the bins, and this quite excites me, doing something different adds variety.

Amazon constantly suggests something new, normally wrapped around the fact that other people, like you, also bought the following items. So we’re drawn into these items and often add to basket.

So if you have something knew, perhaps you could suggest that you have something new to offer and people, like them, have been really interested in finding out.

Don’t do the usual – “we have a new sparkling credit card, are you interested?”

Urggg.

Instead try the “Do you know all morning my customers have been asking about our new product and have been really interested”

Spikes their curiosity that one. Or

“A couple of people this morning, in a similar position to you, got quite excited about our new shiny product…maybe you might be?”

Clever isn’t it.

People are always drawn into what others, like them, are doing and buying. It’s a DNA thing.

Try it, it might just work for you to increase your cross selling.

And do us all a favour, stop calling it “cross selling” that just sounds so painful.

How do I keep so interested in my “to do” job list every weekend? The secret to handling a list is to achieve the tasks very very slowly from the day after marrying so the other person is used to your pace, that way you can take regular breaks along the way. To catch up on the football scores, to take a well earned rest, a cheeky little snooze in the sunshine or to discover, quite by chance, a newly installed fridge in the bottom shed. Shhh don’t tell