Upselling

Overview:
Airtel introduces various services and schemes for its customers from time to time.
These services are communicated through various media such as television, radio,
banners and hoardings etc. In addition the CSD revenue enhancement team does
upselling through various modes such as outbound, inbound and automated channels.

Key Deliverables:
By the end of this module the participants will be able to:

Explain the various modes through which upselling is done.

Identify situations where they can do upselling.
Develop the skills required to do upselling.

Duration: 3 hours
Instructions to Share the module objectives using the following slide.
Facilitator

Slide Module Objectives

By the end of this module you will be able to,

Explain the various modes through which upselling is
done.
Identify situations where they can do upselling.
Develop the skills required to do upselling.

Instructions to Ask participants to answer the following questions.

Facilitator

Discussion Points Airtel introduces various services and schemes for its
customers from time to time.

How are these services communicated to the customers?

Instructions to Discuss the answers to the above questions. Tell participants

Facilitator that the CSD Revenue Enhancement team also does upsell
through various modes.

Show the following slide.

Slide Modes of Upselling

The CSD Revenue Enhancement team does upsell through

following modes,
Outbound Team

Inbound Team

Automated Channels

Discussion Points 1. How does outbound team do upselling?

2. How does inbound team do upselling?
3. How is upselling done through automated channels?

Instructions to 1. Outbound: Tele-calling teams (agents based) get the

Facilitator data for the customers to be contacted and the products
and services that can be pitched to them.
 2. Inbound: Agents promote products and services
through incoming calls based on customer profile,
product and type of query raised by the customer (for
example: e bill is promoted during a bill related query,
VAS is promoted during a VAS query)

3. Automated Channels: SMS, autodialers, e bills, IVR

etc

Discussion Points A customer calls up the Airtel Customer Care to complain

that he has not received his bill for the month. You know that
he can access his e bill on Airtels website.

What will you do?

Instructions to Invite responses. Derive that the agents have a responsibility

Facilitator of giving such information whenever the customer needs it.
By doing this they will also promote the services of Airtel.

Scenario A customer calls up the Airtel Customer Care to complain

that he has not received his bill for the month. You know that
he can access his e bill on Airtels website.

What will you do?

Instructions to Invite responses. Derive that the agents have a responsibility

Facilitator of giving such information whenever the customer needs it.
By doing this they will also promote the services of Airtel.

Instructions to Tell participants that they need to acquire basic skills of selling
Facilitator in order to do upselling.

Exercise Think of a purchase you have made in the recent past.

List all the points about the purchase process such as:

Why did you want to buy it?

Why this particular brand?

Where did you buy it?

Instructions to Derive the buying cycle from the above exercise. Refer to
Facilitator simple daily life examples such as buying a cold drink.

Show the following slide.

Slide The Buying Cycle

Recognition of Need

Evaluate Options

Eliminate Doubts

Decide to Buy

Instructions to The Buying Cycle

Facilitator A buyer buys to satisfy a need. It could be hunger, thirst,
entertainment, or relief from pain. You may recall buying a
newspaper while waiting for a bus or train. Why did you buy
the newspaper? Your need was either to know the news
happening around the world, something to read in the train or
both. However, it is also possible that you bought the
newspaper because you felt sorry for the poor boy who was
selling it. Here the need was to help a child in need.
Therefore, needs are not necessarily just product or service
needs, they could by psychological needs too.

As seen above, you as a buyer first realized or recognized a

need, in this case that of getting to know the days news. So
the buyer first realizes or Recognizes a Need. Assume you
want to buy a wristwatch. Now what need of yours would this
purchase satisfy? It could be that your old watch loses time
and you want a new watch, which will keep accurate time. It
is also possible that your need here is not just keeping
accurate time, but also to look fashionable. Your need could
be that people should notice your watch and appreciate your
choice, your style. Thus even for such a common thing is a
wristwatch, there could be different needs.

Once he decides to act, he begins exploring possible options

that will satisfy his need. So, in the example of the watch, the
 choices are unlimited. There are watches of Indian makes
and foreign makes. Then there are different brands in each
category, such as HMT, Titan, Citizen, Rolex etc. There are
several types of watches quartz, manual, semi-automatic
etc. Finally, there are so many models to choose from
black dial, round face, leather strap, and so on. The
permutations are many. If you want to buy a watch, you
need to evaluate all these alternatives and then come to a
decision. This is the Evaluation of Options Stage. In this
stage, a buyer usually collects as much information as is
possible on the product, services, discounts, etc. This is
usually gathered through interaction with friends, relatives,
news, product brochures, or visiting the retail outlet. Only
after the buyer has evaluated all options can he decide on the
brand and model that fulfils his needs best.

As a buyer what would you do now? Would you pay up

immediately, or would you check with the retailer on warranty,
guarantee etc.? Would you check things such as How long
would the cell last? Where can I get it replaced? These are
typical questions which you may have after you have selected
a particular model to buy. Similarly, when your mother
examines each potato before selecting it, she is removing any
doubts she has about the quality of potatoes. It is only when
these Doubts are Eliminated that the buyer is ready for the
final decision. In this stage, the buyer seeks reassurance by
checking out the product and its credibility.

Finally the buyer goes ahead and Decides to Purchase the

product. This is the last stage of buying. Since you have
evaluated which watch to buy and eliminated doubts about
the product you would decide to buy and pay the dealer.

To summarize, we have a four stage buying process, namely

Recognize need., Evaluate options, Eliminate doubts, and
Decide or, in short, REED.

Discussion Points 1. How is call center selling different?

2. What are the challenges in a teleselling?

Instructions to Show the following slide.

Facilitator
Slide Challenges in Call Center Selling

1. The sales professional does not meet the customer in

person.
2. The sales cycle is of very short duration.
3. Will have to attend to customers at different stages of
sales cycle/attended by others before.
4. Quick grasping of the situation and accordingly
framing the conversation.

Discussion Points What are the things a telecaller needs to know before making
a sales call to the customer?

Instructions to He has to do a lot of pre sale preparation in order to sell

Facilitator effectively?

Show the following slide.

Slide Pre Sale Preparation

C-P-C Knowledge:

Knowledge about the Company.

Knowledge about the Product.
Knowledge about the Competition.

Discussion Points 1. Why is company knowledge important?

2. Why is product knowledge important?
3. Why is competitor knowledge important?

Instructions to C-P-C knowledge is important because it increases the

Facilitator conviction level of the seller and he is able to answer all
customer queries relating to the sellers company, product
and competitors.
Show the following slides.

Slide Company Knowledge

It increases the conviction level of the sales

 executive.

Helps the sales executive in projecting a good

image about his/her company.

Makes the customer comfortable with the

sellers company.

Slide Product Knowledge

While opening the sales call, the salesperson

will be able to tell how the customer would benefit by
talking to him.

Product/service knowledge will help the sales

executive to discuss the appropriate features and
benefits specific to a customer.

Slide Product Knowledge

Range of Products/services
Features and benefits from each feature
Price of each product/service
Implementation Schedules
Latest Sales & Trade Promotions, etc

Slide Competitor Knowledge

Knowledge about competition helps the sales

professional to present his company and product/ service
as the best option available to the customer.
Knowledge about:
Competitors company.
Competitors products/services.
Competitors area of expertise and experience.
Competitors weakness.

Exercise List the feature, advantage and benefits of anyone of the

products and services sold at your call center.

Instructions to Ask participants to read the following transcript.

Facilitator
Transcript Outbound executive: Good Morning Mr. Sharma. This is
Rahul from Airtel. Can I take a few minutes of yours?

Customer: Yes. Tell me.

Outbound Executive: Sir our company has introduced a new

scheme. Would you like to know about it?

Customer: What is it?

Outbound Executive: We are offering a new connection for

Rs. 999. If you take this connection, you will not have to pay
any rental for the whole year.

Customer: You mean there will not be any rental for one year.

Outbound Executive: Thats right.

Customer: Does that mean that I will get services such as

GPRS etc. free of cost?

Outbound Executive: No Sir. All Value added services would

be chargeable. You will save on the monthly rental only.

Customer: It sounds good. Do I get to retain my old number?

Outbound Executive: No Sir. You will get a new number.

Customer: Well in that case it might be difficult.

Outbound Executive: Sir, you can place a request for any

specifications regarding the number. For example if you want
a specific last digit etc.

Customer: Ok. I will think about it. Where do I need to call in

case I decide to take it?

Outbound Executive: You can place your request at the Airtel

Customer Care.

Customer: Ok.

Outbound Executive: Thank you for your time Sir. Have a nice
day.

Discussion Points Every sale goes through various stages. What are the stages
in selling cycle?
Instructions to Show the following slide.
Facilitator

Slide The Selling Cycle

Opening

Develop Needs

Propose solution

Eliminate Doubts

Close

Instructions to When you speak to a client for the fist time you will usually
Facilitator greet him, introduce yourself, your company, your product etc.
This is called opening stage. Opening serves the purpose of
opening a channel of communication between the buyer and
seller.

A sales and customer service professional would now to try

and find out certain details about the buyer. For example what
is the current profile of the customer, or the income group of
the customer etc. Finding out specific details about the
customers problems, needs, budgets and buying criteria is
called Developing.

After the sales and customer service professional has

developed the sale and is clear about the customers needs,
budgets and buying criteria, he needs to propose a
solution which is the best fit with the customer needs. This
is done by presenting the product benefits and explaining
what it can do to fulfil the customers needs and help solve his
problems.

Once the buyer chooses a product from the options available

to him, he would usually have some doubts about his choice
 the elimination of doubts stage. The sales and customer
service professional would have to ensure that all these
Doubts are Eliminated.

Once this stage is complete, the sales and customer service

professional must ensure that he asks for the order. Only
when the client says yes, gives the order and the money is
the sale complete. All activities involved in bringing the sale
to a favourable end are collectively referred to as Closing.

Instructions to Ask participants to read the following transcript.

Facilitator

Scenario Outbound Executive: Airtel has introduced a new scheme in

which you can get a new connection for Rs. 999.

Customer: who are you?

What is wrong with the opening of the outbound executive?

Instructions to He did not introduce himself properly and jumped to the

Facilitator information. Derive that a good opening is necessary for
effective selling.

Show the following slide.

Slide Opening the sales call

Introduce yourself with a lot of enthusiasm.

Greet the customer.
Identify yourself and your organization.
Establish the purpose of the call (Give general
benefit statement).

Instructions to Ask for two volunteers. Ask them to do the following role-play.
Facilitator One will act like a customer and the other as an Outbound
Executive.

Ask the remaining participants to note down their

observations.

Role-play (10 Outbound Executive: Suvarna is a prepaid customer. You

mins.) have to call up this customer to promote your postpaid
 connection.

Customer: You have received a call from a customer. Handle

the call.

Instructions to Discuss the role play. Discuss whether the opening was
Facilitator correct or not.

Discussion Points What is the need for developing the needs of the customer?

Instructions to Sometimes the caller himself would not know whether he

Facilitator needs a product/service or not. Once the needs are
developed a seller can propose a solution.

Show the following slides.

Slide Developing Needs

Needs of the customer are

identified/uncovered by asking different types of
probes/questions.

These needs are further developed during the

sales call by the sales executive to reach a point where
the customer is ready to take action that directly meets
his need.

Slide Proposing solution

Presenting product as a solution to the buyers

need.

Suggest specific product, highlighting the

benefits of the product. Always ask yourself how the
particular feature will help the customer.

Discussion Points In a call center scenario, the seller cannot demonstrate his
product to the customer. He has to explain it to the customer
and help him understand. Hence it is even more important to
clarify and eliminate any doubts that the customer has.

How can you eliminate customers doubts?

Instructions to To eliminate the customers doubts you have to listen properly
Facilitator and then resolve the doubt.

Show the following slides.

Slide Eliminating Doubts

If doubts are not resolved they might become

objections.

Hence doubts must be resolved at the right

time.

Slide Eliminating Doubts

Listen to the doubt

Clarify

Resolve the Doubt

Discussion Points Once the doubts of the customers are eliminated what should
the seller do?

Instructions to Once the doubts of the customer are eliminated, the seller
Facilitator should look for buying signals and close the call.

Show the following slides.

Slide Looking for Buying Signals

While selling over phone, the sales person must

always look for buying signals and close the deal.
Buying Signals are an indicator of the customers
interest in the product.
Buying signals can be verbal and non-verbal.
 Examples of Buying Signals:
- Makes strong positive remarks like, "sounds good."
- The customer says, Looks like a good alternative.
- Sounds excited after getting the details of the product.

Slide Closing

Ask Closing questions ideally closed probes.

Examples of closing questions:

-
Would you like to take our new connection?
- Would you like me to provision it for you?

Discussion Points Do the buying cycle and selling cycle operate in isolation?

Instructions to The salesperson should match the stages of the selling cycle
Facilitator with the stages of the buying cycle.

To explain the relation between the stages of both cycles,

show the following slide.

Opening

Develop Needs
Slide Mapping Sellingof
Recognition and buying cycle
Need

Pre sale Preparation

Propose solution
Evaluate Options

Eliminate Doubts
Eliminate Doubts

Decide to Buy Close

Instructions to Say: The above cycle explains pull style of selling, wherein a
Facilitator customer is attracted towards the products and services
offered by a particular organization based on the identification
of his own needs for the same. However, in a call centre
scenario, due to the lack of time the push type of selling
works better. You must be wondering what these two styles
actually mean. Let us understand them better using the
following slides.

Share the following slides with the participants.

Slide Selling Styles

There are two main Selling Styles:

Push Style
Pull Style

Both are effective, the appropriate use of each style

depending on the type of situation, the people involved and
the product/service being sold.

Slide Push Style

Push style is characterized by the relatively low level of

involvement from the customer. Questions asked by the
salesperson are not aimed towards identifying/developing the
needs of the customer. He gives information and proposes a
solution to the customer.

Push style is not always aggressive. It can also be delivered

 quietly and assertively.

Slide Push Style

It works very well under the following situations:

The customer knows the product.
Risk perceived by the customer in purchasing the
product is low.
Perceived price of the product by the customer is not
high.
When something is being offered free/trial/concession
rates.
When the customer has nothing to lose, only
something to gain.

Slide Pull Style

Pull style is characterized by the high level of involvement

from the customer. The salesperson uses questioning
behavior to invite the customer to consider the issues and
generate solutions.

Pull style is certainly less direct than Push, but that does not
make it soft.
Slide Pull Style

Pull style works very well in the following situations:

Customer does not know the product.
Customer has not recognized any
need for the product.
Risk perceived by the customer in
purchasing the product is high.
Perceived price of the product by the
customer is high.

Instructions to Say: If a Customer Care Executive constantly tries to upsell

Facilitator to all customers all the time then the customers might get
irritated. The times at which upselling should be done are very
specific. These are the points of time at which the customer is
upset or something is not going right. In such scenarios
various products can be suggested to the customers in the
form of options. The following are examples of some such
scenarios.

Share the following slides with the participants.

Slide When the customer complains about being charged for

calls not made by him Offer the customer the option of
using the Itemized Billing facility. Tell him that although the
facility would cost him but the cost would prove to be marginal
compared to the benefit he can derive out of it.

646 When the customer complains about not receiving

prompt SMS back from service providers like 8888 tell him
about the new content based service of Airtel. Tell him that he
can get all the information he wants by simply dialing 646. the
information would be prompt and wont cost him much.
Instructions to Ask for two volunteers. Ask them to do the following role-play.
Facilitator One will act like a customer and the other as a Customer
Care Executive.

Ask the remaining participants to note down their

observations.

Role-play Role Play 1

Customer Care Executive: You have received a call from a
customer who wants to know how to download ringtones on
the cell phone. The customer is a young boy who seems
pretty excited about ringtones. Airtel has recently tied up with
Lakshya and is offering exclusive ringtones from the movie.
You decide to sell the ringtones to the customer by telling him
about the scheme.

Customer: You have a new cell phone and want to download

cool ringtones on your cell phone. You have called Airtel
Customer Care to learn how to download a ringtone.

Role Play 2
Customer Care Executive: You have received a call from a
customer who wants to activate regional roaming. You would
like to sell national roaming to him.

Customer: You have recently taken up a new job. As part of

this job you will need to travel frequently to many parts of the
country. This week you are going to Punjab on a business
tour. You have called Airtel Customer Care for activation of
regional roaming.

Role Play 3
Customer Care Executive: You have received a call from a
customer who wants to activate STD. You would like to sell
ISD to him.

Customer: You are an Airtel Delhi customer. Your son is going

to Gujarat for studies. You want to keep in touch with him
through your cell phone. You have called up Airtel Customer
Care to get STD activation.

Role Play 4
Customer Care Executive: A customer has called you for a
complaint regarding not receiving his bill.

Customer: You have not received your bill for the month. It is
your due date tomorrow. You need the bill to make the
payment.
 Role Play 5
Customer Care Executive: A customer has called you for
enquiring about GPRS service of Airtel.

Customer: You have heard about the GPRS technology. You

are considering using it. You have called up Airtel Customer
Care to find out more about it.

Instructions to Discuss the observations.

Facilitator
Quiz
Instructions to Ask participants to take the following quiz.
Facilitator

Quiz Answer the following questions.

1. Which team is responsible for upselling?

2. In how many ways is upselling done?
3. The steps in the buying cycle are:
a) Recognition of needs, Eliminate doubts,
Evaluating options and Decide to buy.
b) Recognition of needs, Evaluate options,
Eliminate doubts and Decide to buy.
c) Recognition of needs, Eliminate doubts,
Evaluating options and Decide to buy.
4. What are the three components of pre-sale
preparation?
5. The steps in the selling cycle.
a) Opening, Developing needs, Proposing
solution, Eliminating doubts and Closing.
b) Opening, Developing needs, Eliminating
doubts Proposing solution, and Closing.
c) Opening, Eliminating doubts, Developing
needs, Proposing solution and Closing.

Instructions to the Discuss the correct answers. The correct answers are:
Facilitator 1. CSD Revenue Enhancement team
2. Three i.e. Outbound, Inbound, Automated Channels.
3. b
4. C-P-C (Company, Product, Competitor)
5. a