With today’s technologies, companies developing an outbound call strategy have various tools to choose from. Knowing which tools to use is key in developing a strategy. Among these is direct contact, a tried and true method that can save companies time and money when implementing an outbound campaign. When used intelligently, ethically, and with other tools, this approach typically leads to successful business outcomes. If your company is considering an outbound call strategy, here’s what you should know about outbound calling, its advantages, and ways to make that campaign work for you.
What is Outbound Calling?
Outbound calling is a business development strategy initiated by call center agents to third parties on behalf of a business or client. Third parties are typically individual customers, prospective customers, or other businesses. Within business operations, making outbound calls serves various functions, principally to gain new business and reach more potential customers.
Prospecting campaigns are those where the company or individual being called doesn’t have a previous relationship with a company or may not know that the company even exists. By its very nature then, this type of campaign utilizes cold calling. However, as part of an outbound calling campaign, agents receive information about each prospect to increase the chances of a successful outcome.
What Are the Advantages An Outbound Call Strategy Offers Customers?
The number one advantage of outbound calling is direct communication with customers. Compared to other contact methods—social media, emails, internet advertising, direct mail, for example—cold calling is typically still the most profitable method of communication. Outbound calls help generate leads and associated sales and increase revenues by following up on potential leads.
Outbound calling efforts, in the form of lead qualification, is integral to lead generation from marketing initiatives that have drawn the interest of prospective customers. Once individuals respond to an initiative, say, through an email campaign or social media, agents have unqualified leads to contact, qualify, educate them on products or business offerings, and even consummate sales with.
Outbound call services also act as a beneficial interface between companies and prospective customers. As calling provides the opportunity to talk directly with prospective customers, agents can also verify information generated through other marketing sources, clarify any erroneous information, secure omitted details, and provide leads with an opportunity to ask questions about the company, products, or services being promoted.
Since outbound calling programs provide a direct method of contact, a campaign can be initiated in conjunction with any other sales and marketing practices that are in place. The strategy is highly flexible. One clear advantage that outbound calling offers businesses is that campaigns can be administered any time of the year. While many campaigns are best suited to be run year-round, others are strategically deployed during traditionally slow times of the year.
How Can Working With an Experienced Contact Center Help Businesses?
Working with an experienced contact center combines years of experience, knowledge, and best practices that can be infused into outbound campaigns. In developing outbound contact strategies, outbound call centers typically serve an integral role for the businesses they serve. Call centers offer a range of outbound service options for customers — including sales, win-back customer campaigns, appointment setting, lead qualification, lead generation, and market research and surveys. Professional outbound call centers offer additional resources and the necessary support that most businesses likely cannot offer on their own without substantial investments in technology, infrastructure, human capital, and training.
At Telecom, outbound contact strategies are custom-tailored to deliver goal-oriented results for our partners—strategies designed to maximize contact rates and revenue opportunities that ensure successful outcomes. We apply the latest contact center technology and dialing systems compliant with federal and state regulations. Call centers can also scale up or down with seasonal activity, temporarily increasing or decreasing the outbound call center’s efforts to meet customer needs. We serve as your virtual inside sales department utilizing omnichannel technology solutions that allow us to communicate with your prospects in the preferred method, be it telephone, email, chat, SMS, and/or social channel functions.
Many factors can influence the success of an outbound calling campaign. When developing an outbound business strategy, partnering with the right outsourcing provider can be the most important decision to improve lead generation and customer satisfaction. Telecom combines seasoned experts and technological expertise to help its partners achieve program goals and, ultimately, success. To learn more about our outbound services, please contact us today!