subject: How Outbound Call Center Can Be More Effective [print this page] The outbound call center team is expected to be efficient. However, as the fact goes, the return on investment for this particular BPO wing is something that leaves scope for improvement. There are many calls made that go wasted. Call center agents sometimes cannot even talk to the target callers. Many disconnect the phone brusquely. After much of planning and strategy-charting, the managers of this department have zeroed in on some methods which can conserve resources and optimize them as well. The methods will work for the telemarketing section as well.
The key to success in the outbound call center department is research. You cannot make random calls to anyone and everyone on your database and expect results. Pick your target demographics carefully. If your BPO firm is selling tech support, there is no point in targeting homemakers. It will do you good if your call center agents call up students and mid-level professionals. You have to segment your data in a way that suits your convenience. Study your product or service thoroughly. Then sift through the database that you have got to mark out the target callers. Keep in mind that this is the most important part of the job. Be careful about this part and you can save yourself a lot of time and energy.
Next up: check for other data that you might have. The outbound call center agent must study for facts that point out certain characteristics about the targeted callers. How many of them go to office? How many of them have loans? How many of them are educated? These are important statistics for a call center agent. If the person is working in an office and you have a home number, no point calling that person during office hours! Similarly, if the person is already neck-deep in debt, there are very less chances that the person will welcome a telemarketing call that sells insurance policies. In fact, an odd call might inflame the person into aggressive behavior. These details will keep you ahead of the game and make you equipped to talk to your target callers with more than just professional courtesy.
A great tip for outbound call center agents is to engage the potential customers in conversation. The only way you can get data for your market mix is to be comfortable with the receivers of your calls. Its the duty of the call center agent to put them in a comfortable position. Allow the person to lead the conversation but dont lose control of it either. At the end of the day, your BPO firm will look at what you have achieved in terms of numbers. You have to keep sight on the sale even when you are warming up to the potential customer. Once you have pointed out their needs, you can offer them your product/service. This paves the way for better cross selling and up-selling as well. Telemarketing is still the most effective of the lot and if you do things right, your sales charts are bound to shoot up.
