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    Telesales and chat – supporting and selling with a dash of humour

    Telesales, inbound, outbound and chat – this is sales terminology. But behind it are people who need to show a lot of patience, empathy, listening ability and always a good dash of humour. They speak on the phone to people they don't know and help them with their problems or sell them our products. Three Telesales employees talk about their everyday lives.  

    Brunhilde Mauthe

    January 30, 2025 . 3 minutes read

    They’re Hanan Mastouri (Inbound), Lorent Pira (Outbound) and their manager Kushtrim Mataj, Team Leader for Inbound, Outbound and Chat. They work in Ambassador House, along with about a dozen other Telesales team colleagues. What they have in common is that they love their job, their team and the solidarity they enjoy. And they laugh a lot because «everything’s much easier with a sense of humour», says Lorent. Hanan has been working for Sunrise as an Inbound Telesales employee since 2011, Mataj has been at Sunrise for seven years and Lorent joined Sunrise in 2020 straight after his apprenticeship.  

    Inbound – the art of making additional sales successfully 

    Mataj explains that the Telesales department is divided up into Inbound and Outbound. «In Inbound, we provide a sales hotline for customers to phone and to help them with questions about their subscription. Customers contact us when they want quick, expert advice or when they want to get a problem resolved. The questions we’re asked often relate to things like bills or technical problems, which we also solve as best as we can. Our goal is to close every customer issue efficiently and actively take advantage of sales opportunities to offer additional subscriptions or upgrades.» 

    Hanan emphasises that customers are now less likely to call directly. Instead, they get information from other channels such as the website, blogs or communities first. They only pick up the phone or use the chat function if they need further support. She stresses the importance of the Inbound team, which doesn’t just offer expert advice, it also helps the company hit its targets by making specific additional sales. 

    Creating aha! moments 

    Lorent is the Outbound specialist. He calls customers who’ve already had some contact with Sunrise. The first challenge with every call is to keep the customer on the phone. Lorent knows that he may be contacting the customer at an inconvenient moment, and they may be angry or stressed about something else entirely. «Listen carefully, remain friendly, understand the customer and laugh about the price with them» is how Lorent describes the role of an Outbound employee. If he’s able to keep the customer on the phone, he needs to give them an «aha moment» as quickly as he can. The surprised customer will then want to know more and won’t just hang up. To create this aha moment, Lorent explains to the customer which products they currently have, what they’re paying for them and what combination of products could give them a better deal in the future.  

    «Being dynamic and empathetic, giving the customer tips just like you would a colleague, that’s how you achieve your goal. You’re not a robot, and you should show a human touch when you’re dealing with each customer,» says Lorent as he explains how to build trust. Hanan’s success working in Inbound and Lorent’s in Outbound are demonstrated by their results because they’re both consistently among the top sellers. 

    Outbound – the most prestigious discipline 

    «Fundamentally,» says Mataj, «outbound selling is the most prestigious discipline.» Each salesperson can use their voice, emotions and words. The new iPhone or Samsung can only be described in vague terms if you’re describing its colour, size and the material it's made from, but in a shop the customer can touch and feel it. Mataj explains how new employees are inducted over a two-to-three-week period, during which they can listen to professionals selling over the phone and learn from them. But even long-standing employees need to keep learning because there are always more products, offers, devices and promotions to learn about. In addition, there are new programs and applications like «ACE» or «Orbit». And they always need to be up to date with current events in the media.   

    Our employees’ friends are our friends 

    The customers that the Telesales team at Ambassador House looks after include potential customers from the Sunrise Friends app. The Friends app gives employees a way to recommend friends and acquaintances who’ll then be contacted. «You can be confident that your friends, acquaintances and relatives will get professional advice from an expert. We’re well aware that we’ve got a responsibility to represent Sunrise to the outside world in the best way possible,» says Mataj.

    Chat – growth potential of the future 

    Chat is becoming increasingly important in Telesales. More and more customers are preferring to use this fast, straightforward way of communicating, and this is creating an ever-increasing demand for chat solutions. 

    A number of employees at Ambassador House and among Sunrise partners are already deployed specifically to oversee the chat feature. To meet this growing demand, there are specific measures planned for 2025. The goal is for the company to continue expanding its chat presence so it can reach even more customers and successfully recruit them for Sunrise. 

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