Opportunities Abound in Product Promotion

By David Saxby

I talk with telecoms across the country every week.  In many cases, I’m put on hold while they locate the person I need to speak with.  I’m often left sitting in silence while I wait patiently for the right party to pick up the phone.

Sometimes I listen to background music tuned to the local radio station.  Occasionally, I’m lulled toward a nap listening to Mozart or Beethoven.

I often wonder why a telecom that provides leading-edge technology to its customers isn’t effectively using that hold time to promote high-speed Internet access, voice mail, call waiting, caller ID or some of the other features that  could be a benefit to business or residential clients.

If you surveyed your customers, how many would be aware of all your products and how those products can benefit them in their business or personal life?

Major competitors have huge marketing budgets and most use every form of media they can to attract your customers and their purchasing dollars.  They have a marketing staff that creates sizzle for their products and if you look in your local newspaper, oftentimes you will find a variety of ads for cellular service, satellite TV and even competing Internet providers.

Here are a dozen thoughts to help promote your products to your customers:

Turn Hold Time Into Promotion Time

Set up a message-on-hold that promotes your special of the month or introduces a new feature that you’re offering.  Create a fun, up-beat message that sells the benefits of that product to your customers. Change the message often for variety’s sake.  If you aren’t promoting a different product every month, you’re missing an opportunity!

Is It Working?

That is the question every telecom should ask when investing marketing budgets to promote their products and services.  Is the newspaper ad, the radio spot, the TV ad or the bill stuffer making the phone ring?

When people call about a product, CSRs should ask how they heard about it. Track the results of the customer responses to know which marketing approach is generating the best results.

For example, does advertising on the local country-and-western radio station attract more senior customers?  Are your senior customers interested in high-speed Internet?  If they are, then perhaps it would make sense to invest some marketing dollars in this area.

You can make educated decisions when you know the facts.  It’s important to know what results you’re getting from your different marketing approaches.

Even Voice Mail Can Promote

Customers leave messages for your company and your employees every day. Add an upbeat and brief promotion to the end of the company voice message letting customers know about your special for the month.

Grab Their Attention

People see hundreds of marketing messages every day through a variety of media.  Most of these messages do very little to provoke the customer’s interest. 

Make the promotion of your product an event.  Place a big banner on the outside of your building that promotes the product.  Cover the lobby with balloons and add brightly colored signs in the lobby and front office while you’re at it.  Have CSRs wear brightly colored promotion buttons.

Set up a phone in the lobby to demonstrate caller ID, voice mail, call forwarding or call waiting.  Show customers how easy it is to use those services.

Put two computers in the lobby, one with a dial-up Internet connection and one with a high-speed connection.  Give customers an opportunity to “test drive” the difference.

Marketing On Wheels

Your company vehicles travel around your community every day.  Make them a mobile billboard to promote your special of the month or one of the services you offer. Make it eye catching and easy to read at a distance.

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

According to marketing research companies, your customers need to see your marketing message six to eight times to have an impact.  Create a marketing plan that ensures your customers will see your message more than once.

Get Out of That Marketing Rut

Step away from the tried-and-true envelope stuffers and newspaper and radio ads.  Try something different.  General Motors recently created a nationwide promotion that lets potential new-car buyers keep one of their automobiles overnight.

Could you offer a special to dial-up modem users that lets them try high-speed service for 30 days risk free?  Could you offer services at a discounted rate for a limited amount of time?  We know of one telecom that offered high-speed Internet access for $20.95 a month for nine months to attract new customers. They have achieved great results from that promotion. 

The point is that you do not need a glossy four-color image to get your customers’ attention.  Sell the benefits of your products or services to your customers and then measure the results.

Sell the Value

While customers evaluate products based on price, the vast majority buy based on the value they believe they will receive from ownership.  Sell the benefits of using your products over the competition.

What Is Your Conversion Rate?

How many customers called last month inquiring about your products? How many of those customers did the company convert into buyers?  Track and review these results to determine what actions need to be taken.  It’s a shame if your CSRs lack the skills to turn a customer inquiry into a purchase.  That’s a waste of your marketing budget.

Sales Effectiveness

How effective are your CSRs when calls come in from your promotion?  Do they have skills that help them generate rapport with the customer?  Are they asking the right questions to understand why the customer called about the promotion? Have they qualified the customer to understand their knowledge about the product or to determine the appropriate information to give the customer?  Are they asking the customer for their business? 

Your customers are calling because they have an interest or a need.  CSRs play a critical role in helping the customer make a buying decision. To create a sale of any product or service requires continual training and practice.  How much have you invested in sales training for your staff in the last 12 months?

Product Knowledge

If a brand-new customer called your company today, would all of your CSRs have the complete product knowledge required to confidently answer any questions?  Could they describe the benefits of that product over your competitors?

We have performed many customer-service and sales evaluations and most CSRs cannot explain why their products or services are better than the competition.  In many cases, they lack knowledge about their own products.

Help your staff improve by providing ongoing product-knowledge training.  Role-play customer calls about your products.  This will improve their product knowledge and have a tremendous impact on their ability to communicate effectively with your customers. 

Reward Your Staff

The role of the CSR at most telecoms is that of an information provider.  Many CSRs are not sure what to say and how to say it.  Some are even fearful of this process.

Create an incentive to reward them for their sales efforts. Think of all the companies that sell products and services.  How many of them pay a commission or offer incentives to their salespeople?  Selling is not an easy profession; reward your staff for selling your products.

Your phone is ringing every day.  Are you seizing the opportunity to promote your products and to sell them to your customers?  Are you making your promotions visual and taking your message out into the community?  Are you trying new approaches to marketing?  Do your CSRs know how to tell customers what’s in it for them – the benefit?  If not, your competition just might be!

 -------------------------------------

David Saxby is president of Measure-X, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based measurement, training and recognition company that specializes in customer service and sales skills training for utilities. He can be reached at 888-644-5499 or via e-mail at david@measure-x.com. Visit the Measure-X Web site at www.measure-x.com.

[Home] [Training] [Contact Us]