A successful outbound call is determined by many factors, so it is vital to understand all areas that make it successful.
Let’s start by understanding what an outbound call is. Outbound calls are initiated by a call center agent to a potential customer. These are commonly used for sales, telemarketing & fundraising; an agent reaches out to a list of customers and tries to close a sale, promote a service or product, ask for a donation, etc.
The main focus every minute is to achieve whatever business goals have been laid out previously. These tips can help you create an award winning strategy to improve your outbound calls:
Create the Best Script
A good script can help the agents feel more relaxed, avoid mistakes and ensure consistency in the calls. Make sure to include all information necessary regarding the product, service and the company or brand if needed. These will help the agents to retain more information and feel more comfortable during a call.
A good script gives the agents a tool they can rely on, but doesn’t make the speech sound unnatural.
Flexibility is necessary on an outbound call script, the agents must have a guide but should have many alternatives to retain the call pending on the customer’s reactions as the conversation moves forward. Customers appreciate not feeling like sales prospects, which is why the script’s flexibility is highly necessary. The call should flow naturally to engage with the customer and get their attention from the start.
The best call script is the one that can be tailored to our customer’s unique background and interests. With technology nowadays, you can acquire a lot of information about your prospects before you make the calls so that the script and conversation are relatable and beneficial for everybody involved.
Set Goals and KPIs
An effective outbound strategy needs to be well defined. You should have a clear view that these calls need in order to be successful, so your company can grow.
So start by being specific about what you want to achieve. What is the goal of the outbound call? Make a sale, set an appointment, are you trying to make the customs take action or are you surveying.
An effective way to measure if an outbound call was successful is to set KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). It can be more relevant to focus on the most applicable indicators to your specific brand, rather than measuring every aspect of the campaign every time. For example:
- Average Handle Time:
The length of all calls in relation to the total number of calls made. - Conversation Rate
The number of sales relative to the total number of outbound calls. These essentially measure how efficiently agents close a sale. - Occupancy Rate:
These measures the time the agents spend on calls and how much time they spend unavailable. You should take into account the time used by agents to do the aftercall work.
It’s All About Being Natural
Agents are key to making successful outbound calls, so take the time to coach and train them. The more information and training an agent has, the more secure he will feel to engage in a call with a customer and make the sale.
The speed with which the agents speak also let us know if he is nervous or anxious, so make sure the agents are provided with all they need to be calm. Make sure they are well familiarized with the service or product to guarantee honesty and sincerity when providing the information to the customer, so they can have a great experience and convert.
Building Trust
Never trash your competition on an outbound call, this will destroy the prospect’s and our brand too. Instead of focusing on the competitor’s product, talk about why our product is the best or more reliable option. Always remain polite if the prospect brings out the competition.
Set the Best Time
When making outbound calls, take note of the time of day and consider that you may need to get through assistants or receptionists to get to the prospect, or what happens if you call during lunch or late at night.
Set the times pending on the prospect’s background and interests to ensure they will have the necessary time to take the call.
Simplified Options
When presented with multiple choices, often people struggle. By simplifying these options you will make it easier for the prospect to consider, select and confirm their decision.
Offer all the information regarding the product or service but do not overload the prospect with unnecessary information. Overwhelmed customers often shut down and terminate the call.
Plan and Prepare
Before reaching out to your prospect, prepare yourself with all the information you may need and research your customer; remember to be polite and natural.
Call Center Agents can easily earn the prospect’s trust if they leave out uncertainties or bluffing during the conversation, and actually provide only the most important information to get the prospect’s interest in making the purchase.
Another key to a successful outbound call can be to underpromise and overdeliver, if you can manage and accept the risk it poses of losing the sale.
Always be natural, positive and appreciative of your customers to make your outbound calling strategy a success.
