What do you need to know before starting an outbound campaign?

Outbound calling continues to be one of the main methods of attracting new customers. However, businesses are not always satisfied with their call centers, leads are lost, there is no transparent reporting to track call center performance, etc. In most cases – outbound call center software helps optimize the operations and provides transparency in tracking key performance indicators. The so-called “cold calling” of potential customers allows you to increase the base of potential or existing customers, update the list of subscribers, to search for partners and others interested in the products or services.

What can you change to increase call center efficiency and consequently increase sales conversions?

1. How can you improve your call center’s productivity and efficiency with software?

1. Use auto dialers instead of manual dialers

That’s what auto dialer is used for:

• To improve customer service

You can automate labor-intensive customer service tasks and improve customer experience by using automated calling: to inform customers about changes in the company’s operation, get customer feedback on products and services, etc.

• To conduct repeat sales and promotions

You can notify customers about interesting product and price promotions and offer them interesting product options. To save time, you can use robot-assisted calling.

• For sales on outgoing calls

Outgoing calls with call scripts are an indispensable telemarketing tool. You can use it to make both warm and cold sales.

• For surveys and polls

Automated calls, especially those involving a robot, will reduce your time (which you spend dialing numbers) and allow you to call your survey base more fully.

1. Differentiate between cold, warm, and hot leads

Hot leads express interest in buying (and in retail and wholesale sales it looks similar: the potential customer clearly states what he needs, sometimes with a specific article or number, and in what quantity), and what is important – in the near term. Many sales managers and salespeople like to work exactly with hot customers – no need to sell or talk them into it, since the “customer is ready” and you just have to take the order.

Warm leads, as a rule, show interest in what your company sells but consider buying in some perspective – from several days to months (in b2b sales of technically complex and expensive goods or equipment, the terms can be even longer).

Selling to cold leads is the least favorite part of the job for 90% of managers. Cold clients may show complete indifference (sometimes in a particularly rude way) to what is offered to them. In many ways, working with this category of customers is based on the fact that out of the mass of possible buyers to identify your target audience and prepare an offer that may be interesting to them. These types of leads require different preparation and call logics, so always separate them into separate campaigns and prepare separate call scripts for each type.

2. Prepare a script before starting a call

The manager has a bit of time to achieve the main goal of a cold call – to move the interlocutor into the category of “warm” clients. Therefore, the conversation must be thought through and optimized in advance. At first, make a script for a phone call – a script of the conversation with the client, for example, according to this plan:

• Greeting, introductory questions, and definition of needs;
• A brief description of the offer from the perspective of the benefits for the listener;
• Setting the next step (a meeting or a call with a salesperson who can answer all questions in more detail);
• If necessary – processing objections, answering questions;
• Completing the conversation.

Recipients of warm calls are somewhat interested in your products or services. They have already formed a need for your services, and have most likely contacted you for a consultation in previous times. The purpose of such calls is to maintain communication or restore cooperation by gently encouraging the person to make a new purchase.

The motives for warm calls may be different, but the structure of the conversation remains the same. So, a sample scenario for a conversation with a “warm” client:

• Say hello and introduce yourself. The client is likely to remember you, so there’s no need to procrastinate with this point;
• Ask if the person you are talking to is comfortable right now. If not, then specify when it is better to call back;
• Remind them about the previous cooperation;
• Reveal the nature of the call;
• Listen to objections and answer them;
• Record either purchase or refusal;
• Discuss the next stage of communication;
• Completing the conversation.

Hot calls come in handy if you are dealing with a customer who is most interested in the deal: he has taken a targeted action (e.g., left a request on a website) or has previously arranged an appointment with you, and you call to remind him of it.

3. Track your agent performance in real-time mode.

Regardless of the total number of operators in the office or remote, the manager can track the status of calls through the reporting system and real-time dashboards. In addition, it is possible to schedule the work of operators depending on the activity of clients. The remote call center software helps control the work of the office and remote employees. In addition, the solution helps track the call queue and schedule managers’ workloads.

4. Implement in-line training to make training simpler

Thanks to outbound call software – training managers and operators are much easier than usual. The call center manager can use the call barging feature to check how the conversation is going and to help the agent in difficult situations. In doing so, customers will not hear the employee’s dialogue.

5. Integrate your CRM to show the up-to-date contact data

Integration with CRM systems allows the operator to see purchase history and other information about the called customer in one interface. The customer information comes from the customer relationship management system (CRM), and the call information comes from the cloud-based VoIP system. Information from CRM usually appears in a popup window during an incoming call (during an outgoing call the customer card is in the open window of the program) and is based on the information about the call (phone number, visited sections of the IVR). The operator can also retrieve information about the customer manually by entering the customer’s identity information.

6. Build reports to share with key stakeholders

Reporting is one of the most important elements in the work of any call center. It is necessary for making decisions that can significantly improve the efficiency of the call center team. Call center software allows you to make reporting as useful and informative as possible.

It is also possible to work with statistical data remotely, using a web interface. The supervisor can review call center reports at any time for:

• incoming calls;
• outgoing call attempts;
• call recordings;
• main call center KPI (like logged in time, average talking time, number of missed calls by each agent, total number of received and made calls, service level, user occupancy, etc.)
• working time of employees.

The call center report is generated in the form of clear tables and graphs, so the processing of information usually does not take much time.

VoIPTime Contact Center software include a set of tools for your outbound call center that will improve the customer experience and the agent team efficiency as a whole by helping to implement a multi-channel strategy. Using a single software platform for all communication channels means you can collect and analyze data on all aspects of business communications, from agent performance to workflow success, creating performance reports, reducing agent idle time and finding ways to improve them.