Post Sales Retention objection handling Extramarks Education

Once the inbound call has been picked by the executive, it’s very important to address, acknowledge, resolve and counter the objections of the customer on the first point of contact itself efficiently in order to avoid any futuristic possibilities of cancellations by extending the chain of calls and stretching the retention process.
For this to work out effectively, key areas where Executives must attain mastery and confidence in order to handle objections are:

1. Report Date 1
OBJECTION HANDLING STRATEGIES FOR BETTER
RETENTION

101-Kushagra Singh
CUSTOMER RETENTION JOURNEY

Common observations on inbound calls to Customer support

1. Inbound call from customer to raise a cancellation (Product dissatisfaction, pricing too
high, confused about payment terms)

2. Ask a query regarding usage and accessibility of product


3. Query regarding payment-down payment, loan tenure, EMI deduction date, Number of
EMIs/mentor support to resolve doubts

4. Technical query regarding how to navigate through the app, where/how/when to access
the features


5. Internet constraint from Customer end to access the live classes

6. How to track the progress of their kid, switch the batch of LC, how to resolve doubts
during and after the live classes, schedule of live classes, duration and frequency


7. What to study from the application, what are the USPs of our product, what are the
PODs between EM and alternate solutions

Once the inbound call has been picked by the executive, it’s very important to address,
acknowledge, resolve and counter the objections of the customer on the first point of

2. OBJECTION HANDLING STRATEGIES FOR BETTER RETENTION
101-Kushagra Singh
Report Date 2
contact itself efficiently in order to avoid any futuristic possibilities of cancellations by
extending the chain of calls and stretching the retention process.
For this to work out effectively, key areas where Executives must attain mastery and
confidence in order to handle objections are:




In-Depth Product Knowledge

1. Executives must be confident in hand holding the customer in accessing the
application using the credentials they received on the primary mail IDs-how to login-
select the profile and arriving at the homepage

2. Executives should lay out the customer journey smoothly by making the customer
accustomed to the homepage in depth along with explaining the individual tabs in the
ribbon highlighting their respective accessibility and usage features


3. Proper explanation of the sub segments of Learn, practice and test depending on the
class of the student to be executed.

4. Emphasizing on the need of studying through a sequential pedagogy and highlighting
the features, advantages and benefits of studying through this pedagogy?


5. The distinctive USPs of our product features which make us stand out from the
competition in the market

6. Emphasis on SLMs and Mind maps(flow charts) rather than solely focusing on
concept learning animated videos-SLMs are the biggest USP we have, since only when
we got a positive response from the schools who have been integrating our smart
learning modules for over 10 years, we decided why not equip every kid with the
accessibility of these SLMs at the comfort of their palm so that they don’t have to
compromise in their academics at the cost of lack of good quality resources. Mind maps
serve as introduction and revision tools which are a distinct feature not being offered by
the competitors.

3. OBJECTION HANDLING STRATEGIES FOR BETTER RETENTION
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7. Empathizing about the traits and unique learning style of the child and mapping the
solutions accordingly-audio/video/kinesthetic. Concept/Detailed/Quick learning address
the audio/ visual aspects, little Einstein at work/virtual lab address the kinesthetic
aspect.

8. Registering in the mind of the customer of why and how his kid would transform for the
good by using EM App is critical.


9. Why it is important for the kid to have a self-study tool (our learning application): In the
exam the only thing that will help student ace the exam is how fast and efficient he/she
is in recalling the retained concepts and write them on the exam sheet, for that to
happen, its paramount for the kid to engage in self-study-how our app encourages and
prompts the kid to enjoy studying by himself and not deviate from the path to waste
his/her time and parent’s hard earned money on alternate resources which parents
resort to in order to provide their kids with best possible resources just for the goal that
kid performs and scores high in exams

10. Benefits of kid sitting and spending time with himself by engaging, interacting and
using the application in such a way that he gets glued to the app and utilizes it to his/her
advantage in the most effective way possible.

11. Talking about positive screen time: kid is anyway using the mobile for entertainment
purposes, but is anything productive being fed in his mind? Hence what is required is
“replacement” not “removal”. Let the kid use mobile/desktop but this time for his
academic advantage.


12. Highlighting the reports and analytics aspect of our tests to shed light upon the real
time and transparent feedback mechanism which is missing from schools/tuitions

13. Getting accustomed with the features and accessibility of our live classes-who
conducts, how to attend the live class, track attendance, assign/submit/evaluate
homework/weekly tests from the assignments tab, background of our esteemed faculty
having years of experience in their respective fields and adept at simulating the
classroom like environment which is unparallel as opposed to schools/tuitions

4. OBJECTION HANDLING STRATEGIES FOR BETTER RETENTION
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14. Small batch size-streamline attention to the kid’s way of learning, real time doubt
solving, dedicated doubt solving session scheduled on every Saturday, homework
assigned after every live class to avoid the possibility of any back logs, weekly test to
make the students exam ready-eliminating the phobia of the environment in exam hall,
making kids efficient in managing time and emphasis to be given on each type of
question, how to tackle twisted concept-based HOTS questions

15. Eliminating peer pressure and social anxiety by opening him/her to ask and resolve
doubts without hesitation-improve upon the social aspect of the kid and make him more
independent by voicing his/her opinions


16. Giving customer the broader perspective through a tunnel vision of his kid’s academic
journey-transformations don’t occur overnight, every change comes with friction in the
beginning but post that the transition is smooth-starting anything new comes with added
efforts and struggles but its detrimental to recognize the right style of learning and stick
to it in the long run.

17. How it is important for the kid to adapt and be on the right path from the beginning
which mirrors with the personal learning style of the kid to avoid pressure mounting in
higher classes when complexity and number of topics increase


18. Creating a bridge between the need and advantage of having learning app and live
classes together-“pre learning and post learning tool”-we are not a replacement of
schools-kid has to go to school to give exams, become independent, develop his/her
social circle, but after coming from school, it is the responsibility of EM to take care of
the kid’s academics- Do LPT on LA to resolve school doubts, attend LC of EM which is
following the exact same curriculum mapped to school, ask doubts during LC by raising
hand, if left unresolved- dedicated doubt solving session on Saturday but prior to that,
go back on LA and again do LPT on the same day of live class to avoid any back logs-
even one doubt residing in the mind of kid amounts to 365 doubts registered in a year,
final exam has 27-30 questions, a strong probability that all 27 questions come from
those 365 doubts which were left unresolved. Then we question why student
performance is dropping consistently?

19. Highlighting the Point of differences between school/tuition and EM-Fixed
pedagogy, real time reports and analytics, small classroom size, personalized attention,
mentor support, lower total costs, geographical flexibility, comfortable learning
environment

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20. Avoiding over dependance on mentor support: Mentor is a guiding light in the
learning journey of the kid, however over reliance would lead to a habit of spoon
feeding, something which we are not promoting at EM. Mentor is there to address and
resolve queries, but repeated questions being asked and resolved will make the kid less
independent in extracting and reaching out to the solutions of the problems by himself.







Pricing Structure & Payment Gateways

1. Its Critical for executives to get accustomed with all the payment gateways-
schemes/CIBIL/E-mandate/EMI Deduction date/down payment amount/convenience fee
associated

2. Executives should be crystal clear with the steps associated in booking a loan using
any of the third-party gateways-login-entering amount-selecting scheme-KYC
Documents-emandate digital signing, pre and post approval process, occupational
exceptions of each gateway


3. Being confident over the call when handling the objection that loan was only disbursed
after two consents of the customer- one during the counselling session and then over
the payment authorization call- leaving no scope when customer complains loan was
booked without his/her knowledge- in case of any discrepancy of false promises by the
BDE, take authority of the situation and smoothly takeover the process by explaining it
to the customer(total loan-number of instalments-down payment )

4. Giving customer reassurance and stability over the call that his loan has been booked
successfully and his money is in safe hands by creating value for the product offerings
and reiterating the monthly EMI amount along with the duration in which customer must
repay the loan.

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5. Value justifies cost: Executives must have the ability to prove that our solution is not
about money. It’s about the efficiency and productivity gain, along with the relief of the
areas of pain that executives must identify during the “discovery” phase of the objection.

6. Discovery phase: Gather as much information as you can on the first call and calmly
accept the pain points of the customer rather than jumping to the solutions straight
forwardly, by being an active listener, noting down things and moving swiftly with the
flow of the call.


7. How to handle price related objections? Expensive is a relative term. Is the customer
referring to one of our competitors? It’s important to know what the customer is
comparing our product/service to? Differentiating value is important. In depth market
knowledge of the competitor pricing points and product offerings is key.
Here are some factors to be considered when considering the competitors impact on shifting
the mindset of the customer in EM favor:
 Direct competitors - When identifying competitors, focus on those who are providing
products or services that are similar to the business. How long have they been in business?
 Competitor strengths and weaknesses – Determine what competitors are good at and
what they are not offering. Use creativity to identify opportunities that rivals do not have.
 Status quo – Examine the mindset of the other businesses and target customers. Does the
business intend to introduce a new idea that will disrupt how things are done?
 Uniqueness - What advantages does the business have over the competition? Why will the
company’s service stand out and capture market share?


8. Create the urgency and hype by stating that “best solutions come with hefty tags”,
make the customer feel that since he is getting the best service in the market, costs
associated with that are also high. Parents have the motive to send their kids to the
schools with top notch supply of teachers and resources, and in exchange agree to pay
a hiked fee. On similar grounds, make the parent realize that what we are offering is
unparallel and unprecedented to what other competitors are offering out there.


9. It’s important to understand over the call, weather customer is facing a cash flow issue
or a budget constraint. Arrive at a point to extract out of the customer weather he’s

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interested to continue with the product or only asking for a discount(budget) or
uncomfortable with the payment terms (cash flow)? Once the executive categorizes the
objection, he/she can negotiate more efficiently.

10. Try to understand the spending habits of the customer by asking probing questions.
How much does he spend on the academics of his kid, how many tuitions is he sending
his kid to? How many subjects? Price per subject/month, draw out his annual
expenditure which he is spending unknowingly and give him a reality check by scaling
up the alternate solution price and scaling down the EM Product price


11. Fragment the price of the entire EM Course, divide it by the total duration of the course
and arrive at a monthly price, further breaking it down to the daily and hourly price that
the customer would be paying for his kid’s academics at EM. It’s important to shift the
mindset of the customer by making him realize how small an amount he would end up
paying for our course as opposed to how much more he is already paying for the
alternate solutions.

12. Justify the down payment that was collected in the counselling session by the BDE:
state that it was the fee that was taken for the collaborative efforts of multiple set of
people, collectively working to curate the most personalized solution for the customer.
There is product team, animation team, finance team, logistics team who have worked
collectively to ensure that the best possible product reaches to you on time. For their
efforts, we take that initial down payment/admission fee in the session.