The list below should provide some answers to questions you may be asking yourself already and starts the ball rolling before you involve a consultant.
General
| Take a moment to read some of the questions/issues below; do they strike a chord with you and your business? | ||
Answers |
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| I sometimes feel out on a limb, simply because it seems like we're reinventing the wheel all the time. |
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| If there is going to be a recession or credit crunch, I'm choosing not to join in. |
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| I want to increase our income consistently; I don’t want to settle with our current situation. |
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| It’s time I took control and started directing my business to where I want it to go and not to be forced down a route by customers or staff. |
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| I want to improve our business process to make my life and the lives of those around me easier. |
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| Finding new business is too much like hard work, there's got to be an easier way. |
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| I want to be able to attract new customers easily and not fight to get them. |
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| There is too much competition and I can’t seem to make any progress. It’s like one step forward and two steps back. |
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We need a new plan and strategy if we are going to succeed in the future. |
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Do we need a marketing strategy? I want to get things moving, but I don’t know where to start. |
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I’d like to create a plan for the future, but with a difference; I want sustainable business achievement. |
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I’m fed up with poor performance and low gross profit. I want to increase sales but my staff don’t seem open to change. |
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We’ve got some financial problems but I can’t seem to get the right sort of help. |
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I want to get my business moving but can’t find anyone to help me who understands how our different departments work together. |
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Management
People Management |
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| How can we improve complaint handling and change the way our customers are managed? |
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| How can we improve sales performance and make sure everyone says what they've been trained to say? |
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| How can I train my staff to say the right thing every time and at the same time be open to improving themselves? |
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| Could we save money by verifying customers' orders on the telephone? |
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| Could we significantly reduce or eliminate errors in telephone order processing? |
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| How can we increase the number of qualified appointments, but not have to increase our staff? |
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| How do we get staff to work towards a standardised model when they're on the telephone? |
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| Our staff would benefit from being able to hear themselves on the phone. How can we achieve that? |
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| How can I hear what my staff are saying on the phone without standing over them? |
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| How can we be effective managers of staff on the telephone without micro-managing? |
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Training
What about your staff? |
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| I want to be able to train my staff with effective tools to achieve tangible results. |
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| I want my staff to be empowered and to buy into improving their performance. |
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| I want a different way of managing my staff that will have a long-lasting effect on them as well as the business. |
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| I want to monitor and chart their improvement, both individually and as a team. |
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| I’ve got to show examples of perfect telephone calls if I am to help train others effectively. |
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| How can I get my sales team to handle objections better and not sound like they're talking from a script? |
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| How can we differentiate our business from the competition, if we've all got the same tools? |
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Activity
Managing Activity |
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| Do we answer every call or do we lose some? |
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| How many calls do we receive for the sales department? |
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| How many calls do we receive for customer services? |
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| How many calls do we receive for accounts? |
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| How long do customers have to wait before they are answered? |
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| How many new callers do we receive each week? |
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| How many repeat calls do we receive from our customers? |
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| Are those repeat calls for sales, support, accounts or complaints? |
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Are we getting value for money from our  Carrier? |
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| Are our phone bills too high? |
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| Are we being billed correctly? |
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Systems
Linking Systems |
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| Can we link our database to the telephone system to see who is calling? |
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| I want customers who owe us money to automatically be transferred to accounts rather than the sales department. How can we do this? |
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| Can we dial our customers from our database? |
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| I want our internal systems to work together so we can be more efficient. |
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| I need to manage incoming calls to make sure staff answer them on promptly. |
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| Phone calls and e-mails are equally important so how do we give them both the same priority? |
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| I need to even out the staff workload. |
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| How can we streamline operations and improve our customer services record? |
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| We need to handle more calls but don’t want to add to the salary bill. |
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| Our competition is better than us at supporting their customers. |
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| I want our customers to know where they are in the queue when they call us. |
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| I want a completely integrated system without having to junk all my existing equipment. |
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| I want to do e-mail merge so we can boost our marketing efforts. |
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| I want standardised documents to make sure we present a consistent company image. |
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| We have got to change otherwise we will have no future. |
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| I want to analyse our customers. |
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| I want to prioritise customers so that the sales team have a clear objectives. |
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| I want to generate new business, but our previous methods are no longer producing the successes they used to. |
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| I want to increase efficiency because I know it will help us to generate more profits. |
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| I want to create a system that generates income consistently. |
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| I want to take on more part-time staff to answer calls from home. |
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| I wish we could use human resources from outside the UK. |
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| We want less stress and to reduce our carbon footprint. How can we work from home without it costing the Earth? |
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| I want telecommunications for everyone on the road and at home. |
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| Our phone system is full. How can we add more phones without changing our telephone system? |
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| What’s the best way to route my own calls? |
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| I want the phone answered by me or someone else even if we're not in the office - and I want the call to ring aound. |
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| There are only a handful of us so how can we handle more calls without adding people? |
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Contact
Contactability |
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| We have different buildings on one site. How can we keep in touch with our staff? |
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| Everyone moves around and we’re fed up leaving voice messages when we know they’re in the office. |
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| Why can’t I get hold of my staff when I need them? |
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| No one is ever at their desk when a customer calls. |
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Efficiency
Efficiency |
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| How can I make my sales team more productive? |
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| If they made more calls we would make more money. |
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| Staff are easily distracted and don’t make enough calls. |
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| Our salespeople waste so much time looking up telephone numbers. There must be an easier way. |
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| Our staff want to earn more money but they’ve got to do more business. |
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| How can I incentivise the sales team without it costing me a fortune? |
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| I want to do more business but don’t want to increase staff expenditure. |
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If you have a question we haven't covered here or you would like to discuss anything further please contact us on 0800 970 9751 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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