Direct selling
We have a residential sales team of around 2,000 people. Whether they’re selling door to door or over the phone, we put them through a rigorous recruitment and training process to make sure they always sell responsibly, sensitively and in line with legal requirements as well as formal and self-regulation.
Having a well trained and dedicated sales team that follows strict policies and guidelines means our customers can continue to access the benefits of the competitive market. This is particularly important given the current economic climate.
New procedures
We strengthened our processes and procedures last year and included some additional measures to ensure compliance and identify poor performance and inappropriate behaviour. One of the most important new measures that we have introduced is validation at the point of sale. The customer is put directly in touch with a dedicated contact centre, and the sale is only completed when and if they confirm to the contact centre operative that they are prepared to sign a contract and are happy with every part of the sales process.
In addition we:
- introduced mystery shoppers (through an external agency)
- conducted sample verification, talking to up to 30% of new customers by phone each week to get detailed feedback on their sales experience
- revised our sales manager induction training
- expanded our sales team audits
- produced customer commitment leaflets to leave with customers after any sale.
We’re confident that our new procedures, which are among the toughest in the industry, will continue to have a positive impact on sales activities.
