Telemarketing Should You Outsource or Build In-House Telemarketing Should You Outsource or Build It In-House Gordon Armstrong Sr. Director, Business Development Turnstyles Ticketing Mary Jane Avans Vice President, Business Development SD & A Teleservices, Inc. Shawn Robertson Ticket Sales Director Center Theatre Group Outsourcing Customer Service/Sales Turnstyles Ticketing Gordon Armstrong Sr. Director of Sales and Business Development 634 Frelinghuysen Ave Newark, NJ 07114 [email protected] www.turnstylesusa.com (855) 849-4879 x 3353 Outsourcing Customer Service/Sales Tickets Tickets are the life blood of your event For the ticket holder, they mean more than just entry to the show – they are the promise of an experience, building anticipation, and are keepsakes holding those memories for a lifetime Ticket holders are your guests, customers, friends, ambassadors, and live/digital ad agencies They share the entire lifespan of their experience with you and your event – with the whole world Outsourcing Customer Service/Sales It is Always Important to Enhance your patron’s buying experience, as there are many alternatives for them to spend their disposable income. As an industry we are seeing most people are buying through the web but what happens when they pick up the phone? The trend seems to be that 1 out of every 10 calls makes a purchase, what about the other 9 calls? • Are they speaking with a live operator • Are they able to get their questions answered • Are the being provided with a high level of customer service Outsourcing Customer Service/Sales Outsourcing a call center can be a critical component of your patron’s overall experience. • It can offer flexibility by extending your hours of operations • Provide overflow assistance during on-sales and special events • Increase your ratio of calls answered and those that are dropped • Free up your box office staff so they are able to complete their daily tasks • Mostly importantly providing your patrons with a high level of customer service Outsourcing Customer Service/Sales Benefits of Outsourcing Can be a cost effective resource without the added expenses of: . Additional phones lines and computers . Workspace . Staffing needs . Management and training Additional Benefits include . No cost dedicated Toll Free phone connection(s) . Up selling capability by highly trained sales agents . Real time sales capabilities . Customer service for calls regarding specific event information . All calls answered as the facility Outsourcing Customer Service/Sales Seamless Operation Calls are routed to the call center seamlessly, thus giving the impression and feel of speaking directly with one of your box office representatives. Operators receive calls, are prompted as to the origination of the call, and answer it as a representative of that venue, team, facility or organization. Training of offsite operators Client provides the call center with complete event, venue and local area information. This information is summarized by a project Management Team and formatted for distribution to the operator via an Online Event Operator Guide. PEAK MUSEUM CLIENT CUSTOMER CALL CENTER Monthly In-house Costs Monthly Outsource Costs Operating Costs 8am – 8pm 45,000 minutes = $24,000 10 agents per month 2 Supervisors 1 Manager Total savings to venue Total costs = $40,000 per month $16,000 per month Plus infrastructure and phones costs OUTSOURCING OUTBOUND CALLS Mary Jane Avans Vice President, Business Development [email protected] www.sdats.com 678.904.1583 OUTSOURCING OUTBOUND CALLS Outsourcing Outbound Calls Onsite Campaign Management • Your Organization Provides: • Phone Room Set Up • Internet Connection • Phone Lines – Phones • Dedicated Line For Manager Voice Mail • Manager Area (Office) • Leads to Call • Access To Necessities Outsourcing Outbound Calls Onsite Campaign Management • Vendor Provides: • Campaign Manager • Oversight For Manager • Team Of Local Callers • Human Resources Support • Payroll, Taxes, Insurance • Computerized Lead Management System • Reports – Daily, Weekly, Cumulative • Campaign Support Materials Outsourcing Outbound Calls Call Center Campaign Management Vendor Provides: Organization Provides: • Physical Space • Leads • Overhead Costs • Training Materials • Trained Crew • Method To Receive • Computerization Orders • Additional Services • Updated Seating & Relevant Info Outsourcing Outbound Calls Keys to Success • Experienced & Talented Team • Campaign Design & Planning • Communication Of Product • Training • Clean Data • Capacity To Address Challenges • Customized Solutions • Accurate Reporting & Analysis • Partnership Outsourcing Outbound Calls Costs CAMPAIGN BY THE NUMBERS 30,000 leads (households) 35 weeks 150 calling hours per week 35 weeks X 150 calling hours 5,270 calling hours* 3 contacts per hour 15,750 contacts* 10% participation 1,575 orders *Definition of a contact: a yes or no. In a week, we might contact 450 people, based on the types of leads called. Calling hours are per caller – 4 callers calling 4 hours = 16 calling hours. Outsourcing Outbound Calls Costs • Set-Up or Administrative Fee - $2,500 - $6,000 • Other Misc. Fees • Straight Hourly Fee - $30 - $40 Per Hour • Hourly + Commission • Commission Only 5,270 Hours $15 Per Hour $79,050 1,575 Orders 20% Commission $94,500 $300 Avg. Order $472,500 $173,550 36.7% Cost Opened in 1967 Founding Artistic Director, Gordon Davidson Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director Music Center of Los Angeles County Ahmanson Theatre – 2103 seats Mark Taper Forum – 736 seats Culver City Kirk Douglas Theatre – 317 seats (opened in 2005) TICKET SALES DEPARTMENTS Audience Services Phone Room (22) Account Sales/Group Sales (2) Box Office (9) Priority Services/Telemarketing (26) Subscription Services (6) ANNUAL SALES/PERFORMANCE INFO $35 – 40 million in annual sales 450+ performances 50,000 subscribers total Over 750,000 tickets sold Looking at Your Organization and Beyond 1. Do you have buy-in from the organization? Do all departments understand the value? Who are the decision makers who will support the decision and operation? 2. What are your resources to support the department? Startup costs; staff size, infrastructure, time, location, technology, energy, etc 3. What does success look like? Establish benchmark sales goals; expense to revenue that you need to operate and justify 4. Do you have a strong Manager already in the organization? Can you recruit on your own? (In my opinion, it all starts and could end here.) What Makes a Strong Sales Manager? •You aren’t selling widgets; selling an experience that takes place at your venue •Must be passionate about your product and organization •Be able to motivate and be an advocate for staff •Provide proper compensation to keep manager motivated •Maturity; Experience; not letting it get to you is an art •Great sense of humor always helps Kerry Korf, CTG’s Director of Priority Services •1987 - present How do we measure success? It’s 20/20! •At least 20% of all subscriptions sold are through Priority Services (minimum 10,000 of 50,000 subs sold) **All Time High in 2011-12: 11,874** New Subscriptions Renewal Subscriptions Ahmanson – 2500 Ahmanson – 3000 Mark Taper – 1500 Mark Taper – 2500 Kirk Douglas – 500 Kirk Douglas - 500 •Cost to revenue is under 20% (5 times more revenue than expense for department) Last 3 year Average: 18% Sales $5,030,000.00 Expenses $943,000.00 How does sales team know if they are achieving success? Minimum required sales per calendar month is 25 full subscriptions. (Callers have averaged selling 40 full subscriptions per calendar month.) Failure to do this will result in "probation" and the following month will be paid Hourly or Commission, whichever is higher. As soon as 25 subs sales is reached in the next month caller reverts back to the Hourly plus Commission pay. If caller fails to sell 25 subscriptions in the next month it will be cause for termination. (In 27 years only 4 callers have ever been terminated for quota) New employees are given a one-month grace period before the minimum sales requirement kicks into place. MTF NEW SALES AHMANSON NEW SALES KDT $0.00 - $300 7% $0.00 - $500 5% All New Sales 15% $301 - $600 8% $501 - $1,000 6% Renewals 10% $601 - $900 9% $1,001- $1,500 7% $901 - $1,200 10% $1,501- $2,000 8% $1,201 + 11% $2,000 + 9% Renewals 4% (2nd year+) Renewals 3% (2nd year +) Renewals 6% (1st yr) Renewals 5% (1st yr) Resources/Buy-In 1.Location – Don’t share a space if you can; can location grow with the department (think success); 2.Computers – let your IT team do some heavy lifting; consult with them to identify needs vs. wish list (how many you need, software); establish cost limits 3.Telephones – Does your existing system meet the requirements; maybe this is an opportunity to look at new systems for the organization; integration with computers; 3 RFPs from reliable vendors (Cysco, Avaya, etc) who provide ongoing support 4.Furniture/work station design – IKEA is lovely, but maybe something more durable; where do you have existing vendor relationships; inquire about quantity/corporate/non-profit discounts 5.Include Others (So They Know What you are Doing): it is a team effort Make a Decision •Do your homework and you can make the right decision for your organization •There is no right or wrong answer…sometimes the answer is both Center Theatre Group 1. in house Priority Services team 2. in house Audience Services team… with outsourced overflow Call Center Shawn Robertson Ticket Sales Director [email protected] www.CenterTheatreGroup.org 213.972.8040 Questions? .