The most talented store sales associates in the 44 stores of multi-channel lighting product retailer Lamps Plus don’t always stay in the store for long once they’re identified by management–-many move to Lamps Plus’ web-enabled call center.
“It’s a better utilization of their skills,” says Lamps Plus president and owner Dennis Swanson. “At the call center they are able to use their knowledge eight hours a day because there are always customers lined up. At the stores, they may only be helping customers half that time.”
Swanson says his best store salespeople have become adept through experience at helping shoppers drill down through product attributes to narrow their selection from more than 10,000 products on offer at Lamps Plus. That process is mirrored in improved search functionality built into the site by vendor Easy Ask Inc. Inc., and call center reps regularly use the web while helping customers over the phone.
The call center is internally staffed, and a position there is viewed as career advancement for salespeople, Swanson says. "Our call center is important, and it would be a huge mistake for us to outsource it,” Swanson says. “There is just too much specific knowledge required in our business.” Swanson, who notes that online sales have doubled at Lamps Plus in the past year, says that 20 full-time agents work in the call center currently and that the company is making plans to add 50 more.
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