Whatever the industry, people love
the personal touch. In marketing, a
business always treads the razor’s edge between efficiency and personal service. But the two do not have to be at odds.
Smart Business spoke to Carl Albright,
president and CEO of InfoCision, about
keeping high-tech and high-touch balanced.
How is the personal touch built into a tele-marketing program?
The most important thing is to get buy-in
from agents. They have to be attuned to the
client’s objectives. Agents need to feel like
they are part of a team effort. They need to
know that management respects, likes and
appreciates the job they are doing. They
need to understand the client’s goals.
Communicators are the most important
people in the company. If they are happy,
the personal touch will come through. We
believe that if agents feel good about what
they are doing they will do a good job. A
happier worker is a better worker — better
on the phone and at representing the client.
Can you teach the personal touch without
seeming phony?
You can. But like anything else, you want
people who are genuine. You want people
who understand the product or service
they are representing and feel good about
what they are doing.
You can teach sales skills. You can teach
technical skills. But you need real empathy
with the customers or donors to have the
personal touch. The best choice for the
job is someone who is naturally people-oriented.
Can you have both high-tech and high-touch?
Definitely. We have some very high-tech
programs. Some of our programs have a lot
of data and numerous screens to navigate.
Often the communicator has to be able to
handle problems or make the right offer to
overcome a customer’s objections. It
requires a good technical background to
serve the account and navigate the technology. But we also need agents to be able
to do the job with great personal touch.
Many good ones can do both.
Given the choice, which is more important to
cultivate?
I’d pick the personal touch every time.
Someone with a great customer-service
attitude is a real value to the team. Besides,
it is easier to teach technical skills than
personal skills.
A good personality is so important. It is
easier to take a genuine person and teach
him or her the technical end. A better attitude shows through and feels better to the
person on the other end of the phone call.
Does high-touch cost more?
It does cost more, but there is a reason.
Typically, people who add the high-touch
aspect are older, more mature workers.
They may be the main breadwinners in
their families and are career-oriented. They
want to be successful. They want their
clients to be successful. You’ll pay less
money for a person who simply goes
through rote repetition of what is on the
screen. But you will absolutely get a
greater return on investment from a person who communicates well. High-touch is
worth the cost.
Does high-touch infringe on call time efficiency?
You want to avoid idle chit-chat. So we
worry about this to a light degree. But our
main objective is to have a customer who
is happy. Customers are more likely to buy
or accept another call if they feel good
about the person calling. That’s just good
business.
Are some agents better at this than others?
Like business or sports, some people are
just naturally good at it. Others are better
at the technology, some at the fundamentals. A select group of people is good at
high-touch. The person who brings all of
these skills to the table is going to be one of
your top agents.
Sometimes, it is necessary to escalate a
call to someone with better people skills.
This is uncommon, and it takes special
training. If a situation requires high-touch,
the people on the program should be high-touch people. They should have the proper
training and outlook and the right level of
skills before they start to work. With good
people, the need to escalate calls is rare.
How does a business build a program around
the personal touch?
It’s done by design, but it is different for
each client. Some firms just want high
sales volume and communicators to take
orders. Others require more skill or technical ability. A good call center can modify its
program to meet the needs of the client. It
depends on the product or offer and what
the customer needs.
CARL ALBRIGHT is president and CEO of InfoCision
Management Corporation. In business for 25 years, InfoCision
Management Corporation is the second largest privately held
teleservices company and a leading provider of customer care
services, commercial sales and marketing for a variety of Fortune
500 companies and smaller businesses. InfoCision is also a
leader of inbound and outbound marketing for nonprofit, religious
and political organizations. InfoCision operates 28 call centers at
12 locations throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
For more information, visit www.infocision.com.