It’s simple logic: if a business’ sales team is not as productive as it could be, the business is missing out on customers. There may be all sorts of reasons for subpar productivity – but you might not expect one of them to be the salesperson’s most essential of tools: the telephone. How can traditional office phone systems restrict sales productivity?
- When a caller rings an engaged sales line, s/he will either need to ring back, be placed on hold or leave a voicemail. All serve as barriers to converting sales leads.
- Similarly, if a person rings a sales agent who happens to be on holiday or out sick, the call may go unanswered.
- Likewise, even if the agent has just stepped out of the office, missing a call could mean a missed sales opportunity.
- Those working part-time or during a certain shift will be largely unavailable to callers.
- Finally, traditional phone systems can make it difficult for callers to get connected as efficiently as possible.
It would seem the flexibility of the traditional phone has lot to answer for. The good news is, times have changed. Modern cloud technology has transformed the phone from a mere means of connecting to a fully fledged productivity tool that’s affordable for even the smallest of businesses.
Cloud telephony can entirely remove the restrictions of traditional phone systems by handling and transferring calls via the web. No longer are salespeople tied to their own fixed lines; calls to any company number can be redirected to the right contacts through the cloud. No more do the boundaries of the office ways define where business takes place.
Now if one member of the sales team is engaged, another will simply be able to take the call instead. Calls can be programmed to rotate between all members of the sales team until someone is available to answer.
The same applies with absent staff: If someone is away or sick, it’s just a matter of diverting his/her calls to the appropriate colleagues. Even that person’s voicemails and messages can be diverted to ensure they get picked up.
When it comes to working hours, the cloud allows for call handling rules to be set based on availability. Once one person’s shift ends, calls are picked up by the next. An end of the day for a sales agent doesn’t spell the end of the day for the potential customer.
Finally, cloud technology enables a dedicated sales department to be set up. This means a customer has the option of ringing straight through to the sales team without any additional steps. They can be assured their calls will be handled in the most effective way, without any complication.
The arrival of cloud telephony enables any business to extract the full capacity from their sales team no matter where they are. Agility and productivity really do go hand in hand.
Originally published Dec 29, 2013, updated Aug 11, 2020
