Quick Tip: Getting Creative In the Contact Center

Looking for way to clear excess merchandise in the contact center? Jennie Blessinger, a former contact center manager for Huntingburg, IN-based home decor and accessories merchant Touch of Class, came up with a clever plan to help sell off its excess merchandise. Dubbed U-Pick, from a viewers-choice feature on children’s TV network Nickelodeon, it allows the contact center reps to choose their own items to sell in a week from the Web clearance site to suggestive-sell to consumers at the end of a call, “should everything go right,” she says. Agents tend to sell more of the merchandise because they have ownership of the selection, Blessinger says. It also helps that the company rewards the agents who sell the most with prizes such as time off, money, and even the merchandise they’ve selected. The only requirement, she says, is that the company have at least five items of the SKU that’s selected.

Blessinger, who is now the company’s Web merchandise manager, says Touch of Class still runs the event at least once every three months. “Once you get in the flow of running the event, it can really have an impact in terms of clearing excess merchandise.” Additionally, she says, it’s a perfect idea if you’re struggling for themed contact center events.