5 Best Practices for Outbound Call Centers
Do you ever wonder if you’re doing it right? Are you curious if other outbound call centers are doing it “more right” than you are? If so, you’re not alone. With 92% of all customer interactions occurring over the phone, these are important questions to ask! There are very few situations where there’s only one right method that all outbound call centers should abide by. However, there are a number of best practices that are more likely to set your business up for success. But don’t just take our word for it… try them out for yourself!
1. Be a Real Person
85% of prospects report dissatisfaction with their time on the phone with outbound call centers’ sales reps. That means making a good impression with your first cold call is imperative. Most leads who answer your call will decide within the first few sentences whether or not they’ll remain on the line with you. If you sound bored, irritable, or mechanical, the chances of keeping that prospect on the phone is slim to none. Rather, aim to approach every call with enthusiasm, positivity. and a genuine tone. If you’re reading a script, that’s okay… just make it sound as natural and conversational as possible.
2. Big Talk, Not Small Talk
Even though you need to sound conversational, don’t misconstrue that as an invitation to go into an extended introduction of purely small talk. Your prospects’ lives are busy. You may not know exactly what takes up the bulk of their time, but you do need to respect that they likely don’t have extra minutes floating around begging to be spent on chit-chat with a stranger. If you do find that there’s opportunity for a little bit of warm-up small talk, great! But don’t overdo it. Get to the point of your call. Their time is important…and so is yours!
3. Know Their Problems Before Offering Solutions
You know the potential value that your product or service represents to the general public. You’re excited about it and want to share it! While that’s good, the leads on the other end of the line aren’t the general public. They’re very specific with very real needs. If they are going to be interested in purchasing what you are offering, they need to know that it will meet what they are uniquely experiencing in their industry or business. By prematurely offering solutions, you run the risk of failing to address their actual pain points. Use your prospecting calls to discover just what those pain points are. Leverage the use of qualification-type questions early on in the relationship to discover what their needs and problems are. Identify if they are prospects worth pursuing. If so, use the notes you (and others!) took in your outbound call center’s management software and incorporate specific solutions to those issues in your proposals and follow-ups.
4. Know What You Need & Have It Handy
82% of B2B buyers get the impression that outbound call centers’ sales reps are unprepared. This could be because they use the wrong names, make duplicate calls, fail to follow-up, and aren’t aware of the most recent interaction. Your agents should be fully prepared with the prospect information they need. One of the best ways to ensure this is to utilize a preview dialer software. Outbound call centers make so many calls to so many different people, a preview dialer serves to help each agent focus in on the pertinent details of the person on the other end of the line. It also reduces the amount of time wasted in scrambling to find information, catching up on previous conversations held, and discovering past interactions and purchases. And since sales calls that last between 6-10 minutes convert at a higher rate (29%) than calls over 10 minutes (22%), time saved truly can be money earned.
5. Leave a Voicemail, But Don’t Waste Time
The “beep” of a voicemail is perhaps one of the most aggravating sounds to sales reps in outbound call centers. But the reality is, 80% of phone calls go straight to voicemail, so an average of 25 hours a month are spent by each and every sales rep leaving voicemail messages. Even if those voicemail messages are kept to the ideal length of between eight and 14 seconds long, 90% of voicemails are still never returned. Is that reason to stop leaving them? On the contrary! Outbound call centers should utilize single-click voicemails to maximize their time connecting with the 10% of leads who do answer! When the prospect’s voicemail message initiates, simply click one button and your perfectly pre-recorded voicemail is left while you move on to autodial the next number.
Outbound Call Centers on the Rise
Outbound call centers who are outperforming their competitors have one common thread: sales automation. Those who describe their sales processes to be automated are twice as likely to succeed as their less tech-savvy counterparts. If you would like to discover exactly how you can be managing your outbound call center, just ask us how! Call Logic’s affordable, automated calling software is compliant and easy-to-use from anywhere in the world! Contact us today for a FREE demo.