Getting the best performance from your outbound dialler requires some good planning and constant monitoring. At Blue Telecoms, our team has
many years of experience helping and running telesales call centres – here are some top tips from our tech guys.
Never start a call with automated messages
There was a time, before Answer Machine Detection was a thing, that call centres would use an automated message to try and “screen” human answers that
want to discuss a product and everyone else.
In reality, your contact rate will dramatically lower when you deploy automated messaging. The way around this, is to employ quality Answer Machine Detection and try to route all calls to an agent as quickly as you can.
Always obtain fresh data
There’s nothing more painful than working through a batch of data that’s comprised of deceased people and those who have long since moved. This doesn’t help
when building a good brand image and inevitably leads to regulatory complaints.
For example, we recently received a phone call for the previous owner of our home. We’ve lived in our currently property for 10 years!
Trial progressive dialling to reduce dropped calls
Progressive dialling, is a method that gets rid of the “predictive” nature of automated calls. Sure, it’s a little slower; however, you’ll save yourself the
hassle of dropped calls and also dealing with silent call percentages.
This is massively important when you’re trying to operate a clean and professional sales centre.
Integrate your CRM with your dialler system
Automation is what makes auto diallers so powerful, so it makes sense to expand that automation to your Customer Relationship Management system too.
To achieve this, your software will make use of an (API). This clever function provides a “gateway” for each software to communicate with each other – passing information about leads and customers to each other.
Integrating your dialler and CRM means you could:
- Update client details automatically
- Always keep your CRM updated
- Automate customer follow-ups and administration
It’s not just about CRMs either, you can integrate with web forms, appointment setting tools, email and SMS text messaging.
Always use scripting and improve it over time.
Almost all diallers offer scripting facilities to help keep your agents on message during each call. They’ll also show relevant pages to your agents depending on the campaign or product they’re working within. Once the call is completed, all information will be saved for future calls.
This lowers the amount of training and support that your agents need – as everything they require to know can be displayed on screen.
HLR checking can remove mobiles that don’t work
If your calling list contains mobile numbers, it’s helpful to run that list against a HLR checker to ensure that as many of those numbers are still running.
Unlike landlines, mobile phones are often switched every few years – as contracts run out and newer models come out.
A HLR check, will filter out these older number, ensuring that those left should be contactable.
Dial when you reach your peak connection time
For many industries, there are peak times when your customers will be available to take a call. The basic form of this, is deciphering whether your clients
work, or are homemakers or retired. Armed with this knowledge, you can avoid certain times of the day when your demographic is away from home – focusing on the best time to catch them with time available.
This extends to callbacks too, allocating time during the day to get back in touch with clients who work or have family commitments.
Let your data rest
Sometimes, it’s convenient to churn your older data continuously; however, this can lead to customers avoiding your calls or even marking the number as spam on applications such as HIYA. For this reason, it’s best to adopt the following strategy:
- Dial on a list for a period of time, for example one working week.
let the list rest for 4 weeks. - Dial the list again.
- This method, works slower at first; however, you’ll end up getting better contact rates in the long run – helping you get the best bang for your buck on each dataset.
By using all these tips, you should be able to build a long term outbound campaign that works extremely well.