It’s Tuesday, January 3rd 2012, and you’re in the office ready to Rock and Roll in the New Year. The eggnog is back on the shelf for 11 months, New Year’s resolutions are hastily noted in your iPhone, and as always, the in-laws were a complete pain in the butt (this fruit cake is such a great gift.…thanks?).
As the sales manager of a pink stuffed animal distributor (see picture), executing your efforts and initiatives has grown more and more difficult in recent years. It’s a small sales team, but the pink stuffed animal business is tough right now and the team’s smaller size is certainly not a direct indicator to their difficulty in managing.
Part of the problem? Distributing business opportunities fairly. Sales team salaries are largely commissioned based which means every inbound phone lead is hugely valuable to the bottom line AND, more importantly for them, to their paychecks. You wouldn’t call it in house “fighting” per se, but there is a distinct competition over inbound phone leads and how/who should handle (remember…commission is on the line here!). You’ve tried a couple solutions in the past but inevitably, trying to pass leads around has led to a “meh” customer experience and continued dissent. What to do?
What about implementing Round Robin technology on your sales phone line? Did you even know it exists? It’s painfully simple:
Call 1 -> Sales person A
Call 2 -> Sales person B
Call 3 -> Sales person C
Call 4 -> Sales person A
Repeat
Inbound phone leads are cycled through your team fairly, evenly, and not subject to any qualifying questions for deciding who should get what. The customer is quickly delivered to a sales person who will be eager to take advantage of their business opportunity. Of course, the calls are tracked and recorded allowing for maximum lead optimization. It’s simple, easy, and relieves a nagging pain point in your sales process. Why not give Round Robin a shot today and sell more of those pink stuffed animals!