How do you get employees to WANT to work the phone room?

[Vonnie Doyle]

I've always worked for call centers and for the last couple years I'm working in a very small call center for an RV dealership. We work the phone room on a schedule that requires the sales people to work for 1.5 hours of their shift in the phone room. It's like pulling teeth, as they would rather take a "live up" than wait for the phone to ring.
The phone room is where the internet leads and incoming calls are handed out.
I've tried contests and awards, but it is still frustrating. We use the Traver system here and we have ongoing training on handling incoming calls.
The company itself is the largest in the SW, but the phone room is still small (only 7 chairs), and I have a terrible time keeping just two salespeople in here during any hour.
Any suggestions?

[wgrindstaff]

It appears the challenge is in the perception of the job. My suggestion is to change the job description from "phone room" to Sales Center. Then I would concentrate on hiring designated Sales Center Staff to man the positions full time. Rotation from other departments discredits the value to the job. Plus, it does not provide consistent customer service, proficiency and skills. By professionalizing the position, you should see a huge change in the perception. Hope this helps, good luck.

[Michcall]

I agree with Wanda (change that name!), but if hiring a staff is not feasible, then I would look to the sales staff for their suggestions.

I would do a roundtable with the sales team and lay out your issues---not in an accusatory way, but in a problem-solving mode. "We need to service these customers too. It's a struggle to get it done. What can we do to resolve this?" Use probing questions to get past the initial "I would rather take a 'live up'" to find out why. Even if that's everyone's thought, they need to understand that the phone/internet customers are also vital to the business, so they need to help you fix the problem (why have phone/internet access if they don't get service?)

Some other suggestions:
In general, sales people like face-to-face interaction so getting stuck off the floor doesn't motivate them. If they work commission or quotas , can you get permission to give a higher commission for sales over the phone or internet?

Do you have anything for them to do if the phone doesn't ring? Boredom might be an issue. Make sure you have things to keep them busy and standards for what they need to accomplish during their time in the "sales center". If you give out internet leads, do you require them to follow up while they are in there or is it left up to them? Do you have processes in place for what they are supposed to do with the internet leads? If they are bored, it just leads them to believe more strongly that they should be on the floor selling.

[Vonnie Doyle]

I love the idea of a higher commission % for a phone sale or internet sale! I'm taking that to the General Sales Manager today. There is plenty to do during the 1.5 hr. shift. There is a lot of customer follow-up, and orphan calls, along with sold customer progress calls.
The room is very dull and looks more like a closet than a call center, I've been fighting this the whole time I've been here. We use to call it the Business Developement Center, but for some reason we can't use that term any more.
Hiring full time agents for the call center is not an option. Thanks for the great ideas, this really helps. I'd be happy to entertain any other ideas if anyone else has anything.