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Case Study: NHL Team Uses Tech to Improve CRM

March 26, 2013

Case Study:  Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets are a team in the National Hockey League (NHL), the premier hockey league in the world. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the team competes in the NHL’s Central Division of the Western Conference. The Columbus Blue Jackets employ multiple individuals in various capacities that focus on boosting attendance. It boasts a team of 29 sales individuals who work together to attract individuals and groups to the team’s exciting home games. The team includes an inside sales team comprised of one manager and 12 individual sales people selling season and group tickets, an account executive sales team of five people serving repeat customers and other high-value attendees, a group sales team of eight representatives and one director that focuses on larger groups and associations, and a service team of four people that establishes longer-term relationships and provides customized service to full season ticket holders. All of these groups rely heavily upon phone calling to close sales, and they conduct nearly 300 calls per day.

Challenge:

A considerable challenge for any sports team is to encourage loyal attendance and grow or maintain the levels of corporate and season ticket sales that drive revenue. Blue Jackets sales management desired to improve the training tactics used with its phone-based sales team. Prior to implementation with CallCopy, the sales department management used several techniques to train sales staff. They would conduct roleplaying exercises, posing as a potential customer and conducting a back-and-forth exchange to simulate real conversations. Managers would also directly observe sales staff in action, although this was limiting as they did not hear the customer’s voice at the same time, so the calls lacked tone and contextual insight. They would also occasionally listen in to sales staff calls, and then meet with the employee at a later time to discuss the call. While such exercises could prove useful at times, there was a substantial disconnect as the employee needed to operate immediately on specifics of the conversation from recall. Their memories of a call’s duration or tone were often incorrect, either because of their own bias or simply due to the passage of time. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ sales managers wanted a solution that could clearly record calls so training could be conducted with the proper context and staff members could hear their own voices.

Solution:

After a thorough review of other vendor offerings, the executive team for the Columbus Blue Jackets selected CallCopy’s cc: Discover workforce optimization suite because of its innovative, flexible capabilities. The suite’s components selected to meet the Blue Jacket’s need include integrated modules for call recording, agent screen capture, quality assurance (QA) and agent coaching and training.

Implementation of cc: Discover for the Columbus Blue Jackets was completed in September, 2011. This flexible solution provides the team’s sales agents with a customizable call recording framework that fits their specific needs, including for priority-based archiving, that enables the organization to set rules for which calls are kept short term and which ones are archived to meet transaction record retention requirements. cc: Discover is easily integrated with the organization’s other applications. Its application programming interface (API) is included with every system installation.

Prior to implementation of cc: Discover, the Blue Jacket’s sales department integrated a new Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution in order to store more conversation data, such as various customer preferences. By recording calls with CallCopy, the department is able to actively capture a considerable amount of data which is then inserted into the new CRM system, dramatically increasing its usefulness for the team.

Results:

The Blue Jackets management considers CallCopy’s solution to be primarily an aid in training. The solution features intelligent call recording that does not record very short calls that might just have a “no thanks” or “yes” quick conversation. This functionality prevents the Blue Jackets management from sifting through dozens of calls that do not offer any training potential.

Once a week training sessions are conducted with each individual sales person. Managers review multiple recorded calls, and then coach the employee on areas that could be improved, or point out positive elements that should be included on future calls. Many employees gained valuable insights during the first of these sessions, especially regarding surprise at their tone of voice, clarity, or their ability to enthusiastically promote Blue Jackets hockey.

Management also conducts a weekly group training session. Several recorded calls are selected that feature both negative and positive outcomes and are then shared with the group to promote peer coaching and brainstorming.

“In addition to our mandatory one-on-one and group meetings, we also see our team seeking out immediate call feedback, so they might come in to my office any time of day,” said Bob Sivik, Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service. “Our sales staff wants to improve their closing and presentation skills, and they see the real value in reviewing calls. Our team fully embraces the depth of training that CallCopy enables, which allows them to excel at their jobs and ultimately move up in the organization.”

“CallCopy’s solution works perfectly for our needs,” continued Mr. Sivik. “Recorded calls are very clear and are available in real-time, giving us the flexibility to address any major issues immediately. We needed a call recording platform that gives us a good sampling of calls so we could improve training and ultimately bring in more patrons to our exciting fan experience. The solution exceeds our expectations and we look forward to a long-term partnership.”









 
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