Newspapers / Piedmont Aviation Employee Newsletter / Sept. 1, 1986, edition 1 / Page 4
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Facilitators include (1 to r) Elaine Eldridge (BNARO), Peggy Mathis (DAYRO), Diana Goolsby (reservations telephone sales representative), Phyllis Hut chins (manager—reservations sales), Cathy Schrader (UCARO), Susan Nash (INTRO), and Alice Webber (MCORO). DCARO- facilitators Debbie Ttople and Patricia Scott and INTRO facili tator Sylvia Curry were not available when the photo was taken. Res goal: selling with care ^7 Yes. the CAREsystem screens are still there, as are the headsets and pleasing voices that have made Piedmont's reservations agents the most courteous and helpful in the business. But there's a new twist to these 2.500 women and men who, this year alone, will answer more than 33 million calls. That twist is a new emphasis on a very old idea: first and foremost, the job of our reser vations agents is to sell. "Sales is what we’re all about," Phyllis Hutchins, manager of the recently created Reservations Tele phone Sales Department, said. “But it's sales that must be han dled in special ways, because the only personal contact we have with our customers is over the phone. So our task is to quickly respond to their needs in ways that will sell tickets the first time they call.” That's quite a challenge when statistics show that about 50 per cent of all callers are “shoppers" — people looking primarily for the best fare that different airlines have to the same destination. But it's a challenge being met by Hutchins, Diana Goolsby (reservations tele phone sales representative), and all reservations employees. What they are developing is a sales program for reservations agents that will be taught at each of our six reservations centers. The program will emphasize creative sales techniques while recognizing that different techniques must be used for different callers. According to Don Shanks, vice president- customer relations, “It's the most important thing Reservations has done in 10 years," control group For agents, the sales program started in April with a “Control Group" at each center. The Group consists of 10 percent of a center's work force, with its members rotat ing every six months. Each Group is headed by a “facilitator " who coordinates members' activities and participation, and teaches sales development classes. Facilitators are Elaine Eldridge (BNARO). Peggy Mathis (DAYRO), Susan Nash (INTRO). Sylvia Curry (INTRO), Alice Weber (MCRO). Cathy Schrader (UCARO), and Deb bie TVople and Patricia Scott (both DCARO). Each Control Group tests a par ticular sales approach for about a week, then evaluates its perfor mance. Approaches range from relatively large issues, such as the impact “tentative" reservations have on our load factor, to smaller issues such as how to ask for a cus tomer's telephone number. Perhaps in no other department is the adage “time equals money" as true as it is in Reservations. Sales ap proaches that might appear quite minor, like specifically asking for a passenger's area code and home tele phone number instead of simply asking for the number and then clar ifying whether it's home or business, can save seconds of conversation. cost savings “Multiplied 100,000 times a day, those few seconds represent con siderable cost savings," Hutchins said. Though saving time is a strong concern, even stronger is the drive to increase each agent's ability to give superior service with a supe rior attitude. This incorporates all facets of an agent's current sales skills with the enhancement of those skills and the acquisition of new skills through training. Help ing accomplish this is a “Reserva tion Sales Skills Inventory" created by the reservationists and the Reservations Tfelephone Sales Department. This inventory includes about 20 skills, such as softening voice tones when speaking, controlling conver sations, improved listening, broader knowledge of Piedmont's services and departments, how to close a sale, responding spontaneously to difficult passengers, and assump tive selling (selling that takes the initiative to “assume" the customer is buying a ticket). Included in this is the recognition that different kinds of passengers require differ ent treatment—the businessperson from Chicago generally wants fast, efficient service with little conver sation from a reservations agent, while the grandmother from Kins ton might want constant agree ment that her trip to see her new grandchild is an exciting event. “We’re looking at how to reduce talk time and at the same time effectively sell while giving the ulti mate in customer service," Hut chins said. “What we want to reduce are ‘time robbers' —those conversational practices that keep us from actually selling tickets to a customer." rewards The rewards come primarily in two forms: an ability to handle more calls, and the opportunity to generate more profits through increased load factors. Another important objective of this sales effort is to let the reserva tionists see the results of their work, including their contributions to our bottom line. That's a major reason the department has con ducted a “Ticket-By-Mail (TBM) Awareness Campaign" this year. In 1985, reservationists had a record year in TBM sales. Reserva tions Telephone Sales developed an eight-minute audio tape giving them the results of their work in dollars and cents, and discussing the TBM program. Copies of the tape were sent to all reservations centers, where agents and supervi sors listened on tape recorders at their convenience. According to Diana Goolsby, “The response was overwhelming." She said the department received cards, letters and phone calls from reservationists saying how impor tant the tape was to their morale and sales efforts. And it's probably no coincidence that so far this year. Piedmont's TBM sales have signifi cantly increased over last year. Now Hutchins and Goolsby are planning to develop other tapes for specific sales skills, creating what will be a Reservations Sales Skill Library for each center to help uti lize supervisor and instructor time to the fullest. They’re also planning to develop an educational librEiry of video and/or slide show presen tations about other Piedmont departments that have functional relationships to Reservations. And as if that's not enough, this fall they're starting a newsletter called The Network that will help keep reservations agents current on •7 sales and computer skills, give recent information about the com pany and in each issue highlight a destination we serve. The staff of Reservations Tele phone Sales say they can accom plish nothing without the interest and support of everyone who works in Reservations. From the agents answering the phones, to the sales facilitators, supervisors and other management, it's a team effort that's reaping excellent rewards for Piedmont. Pat Barnett, a reservations agent at DCARO, is a member of the con trol group there and has seen the recent emphasis on sales develop at the center since the spring. Recently, on a day off, Barnett and eight other people from the center went to Charlotte and Atlanta on a volunteer basis. They observed our operations and, in Atlanta, that of another carrier. She said that the sales emphasis has stressed such exposure to improve knowledge about the company, and the inte gration of this knowledge into her job is a key factor. first step “You realize that doing your job right is the first step in getting pas sengers to the airport," Barnett said. “It's one thing to do a job because you're told to—it's quite another to do a job because you understand your importance in the company’' Perhaps nothing encapsules the mood of Resevations better than the department’s new logo that will grace its newsletter’s front page. The design—a face with a head set pictured within a map of the United States—was conceived by all the facilitators and drawn by Steve Hooks, DCARO. “It's the voices of our reserva tions people talking to all our cus tomers across this land of ours," Hutchins said. “And I think our people, regardless of how difficult the situation is, reflect the kind ness, caring and empathy Pied mont is known for." For a coast-to-coast airline whose pride is its people, there couldn't be a better symbol.
Piedmont Aviation Employee Newsletter
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Sept. 1, 1986, edition 1
4
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