The challenge

A luxury retail brand wanted to increase the revenue impact from  its contact center without sacrificing the luxury experience it provided customers. 

While providing consultative experience was part of its learning experience at retail locations, this had not been a priority in the contact center. Associates were not trained in how to integrate upselling or cross-selling into their conversations. When customers called about a specific product category, for example, associates were trained to resolve the issue but did not shift into a consultative conversation where they could make new  product recommendations. 

The brand sought ways to maximize value but was concerned about maintaining expert product knowledge, due to its large volume of products with many variations. The company was also hesitant to apply a service to sales methodology; maintaining the high level of luxury experience it was known for was more important than the potential revenue lift. 

The contact center acted as a centralized hub for the retailer’s direct sales channel and an accelerator for its in-store experience, so the process had to be accretive to both the online and retail experience.   

Our solution 

TTEC provided our proven service-to-sales solution and customized to fit the client’s goals by creating a sales strategy and phased roll out approach.

First, we reviewed historical data analysis and conversational intelligence to create a strategy specific to segmented intents and product categories. This allowed the company to control how the strategy was deployed, starting small and focusing the process on limited product categories. 

A crucial step to the service-to-sales process is to partner on mapping out the sales journey. We went through multiple iterations to refine the intents, discovery criteria, and upsell and cross-sell strategies, which we used to create customized service-to-sales training. 

After we agreed on the approach, we created new KPIs to measure the effectiveness of the strategy based on the historical data available like conversion, revenue per order, units per order, and revenue per call. We also measured total sales, revenue, and units by product category. 

This change in strategy required updated associate training. We customized our SalesPATH service to sales training to the consultative approach matching the brand’s retail experience. Associates were trained in making calls more conversational and asking open-ended questions that helped them learn more about customers’ needs, interests, wants, and expectations. 

After completing the consultative conversation, we created scenarios and strategies to pair cross-sell strategies by product category and tie the features and benefits of products to customers’ needs, recommending complementary products personalized for each customer. 

Throughout the process, we collaborated with the company’s experience, quality, and learning and development teams to ensure the strategy aligned to each cross-functional group. As part of the training, the team leaders, trainers, and quality team also learned how to leverage sales reporting to identify outliers for coaching plans. 

The results

In a three-month span, the conversion rate in the contact center jumped 37% year over year and revenue per call increased 40%. Overall sales generated by the contact center grew 10% year over year, despite handling less volume. 

The first phase of our work was focused on building the foundation before scaling channels, intents, and product categories. Subsequent phases will include digital integration and automation for a global roll out.