A business, regardless of size, must have customer service to serve its customers. In large enterprises, customer services are also referred to as contact centers because they serve as the hub of customer communication via available channels.

WHAT ARE OUTBOUND CALLS?

An article on PHINTRACO GROUP states that Outbound Call Services is a call service from contact center agents to customers on behalf of a business or company. When a customer service agent makes a call to a customer or potential customer on behalf of a business, it is known as outbound calling. Often, outbound calls are classified as ‘cold calls’, as this is one of the most common reasons sales teams make outgoing calls. Cold calling occurs when an agent reaches out to a list of prospective customers who haven’t previously expressed interest in a company’s product or services. Outbound calls generally focus on sales, lead generation, improving customer satisfaction and telemarketing with potential customers. Existing customers can also be contacted via outbound calls for update services, database updates, credit billing, market research, or to request service feedback to improve service.

HOW OUTBOUND CALLS HELP TO GROW BUSINESSES.

An outbound call center is a great way to engage with customers effectively and provide them with refined technologies. Outbound calling, when approached properly, is also a way to deliver a seamless customer service experience. It is essential to develop a strategy for outbound calling to empower your customer service representatives. It should be your aim to ensure your prospects are successfully engaged, and your campaign is a success. Outbound call center services can be a game-changer for your business, allowing you to focus on your core strengths. Here are 5 ways outbound calling can improve/grow sales:

• The customer service representative is speaking directly with the target audience.
• Talking directly to the target audience is the best way to understand their needs and issues.
• Inbound marketing alone is not sufficient, especially when you are a small business trying to grow.
• Outbound calling supports inbound marketing efforts by getting feedback and using that information to modify inbound marketing efforts.
• Outbound calling gets immediate results, which helps to generate new business quickly. (Global Call Forwading).

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF OUTBOUND CALLING?

Outbound calls has many benefits ranging from leads generation to improving customers satisfaction:

Lead Generation: Lead generation is the process of attracting prospects to your business and increasing their interest through nurturing, all with the end goal of converting them into a customer (Lindsay Kolowich Cox). It is the best business benefit from outbound call center services that one can get. When call agents effectively reach out to prospects, they are proactively engaging in real-time, and effectively bridging the gap between a contact’s problem area and the solution. Outbound calls generate stronger, more authentic leads and help to qualify them through real-time, direct communication.

Less operational costs: Your business might save time and money by using an outbound call center that operates 24 hours a day. You can outsource minimal expense of recruiting full-time employees. Why waste time and money hiring your employees when another company can handle sales, customer service, data entry, and other outbound activities? (Global Empire).

Enhance the productivity of employees: When you outsource a renowned call center for managing the outbound calls for your business, you ensure that highly professional agents are dealing with your clients Now that all of your outbound calls are managed by the outsourced agents, your employees will get a lot of free time to focus on their primary tasks which they wouldn’t be able to pay attention to earlier. This way, your organization can boost employee productivity.

Increase Customers Satisfaction: In today’s digital world, the human element of meaningful conversation can get lost in interactions occurring through social media, SMS, email, and chatbots. Talking to a real-life representative can enhance the customer experience by personifying brands. Outbound calls, too, excel in showing proactiveness and responsiveness in addressing customer needs. Happy customers are much more likely to be repeat customers (Ring Central).

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR OUTBOUND CALLING STRATEGY

1. Use KPIs to track progress and performance

Goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should be consistently tracked and updated as your business grows and evolves. Clearly defined goals and established KPIs will enable you to measure the outbound call success of your strategy, and inform any future improvements you can make. Important KPIs include: Average handle time, the number of sales vs the total number of outbound calls, how much time sales reps spend calling vs not on calls.

2. Draft worthwhile call lists

It’s important to outline lists that are made up of qualified leads to ensure outbound agents are more likely to succeed in transforming potential customers into paying customers. Researching prospects is an important part of any outbound calling strategy. When agents are aware of product needs, the prospect’s location, industry they will be armed with more information that can be used to inform calls and guide prospects towards a sale.

3.Engage the prospect

The first phone call an agent makes to a prospect is a defining moment in their future with your business – that is, if they have one. Agents need to be trained satisfactorily on the best communication practices for making cold calls, warm calls, survey calls, etc. To effectively engage prospects, agents should follow these general outbound calling steps:

• Pique their interest: Make a good first impression by using their name, using information about them to your benefit, and keeping the conversation about them.
• Make them feel valued: Do your homework and show them that they’re not just another name on your call list by mentioning something you know about their business or goals.
• Don’t waste their time: Be direct, showing them that you value their time.
• Set a follow-up appointment: End the call on a high and pave the way for continuing your journey with that client.

4. Using an outbound sales calls script

Most prospects prefer unscripted calls as they’re natural and make people feel more valued as human beings. However, making outbound calls can be stressful for agents, and is rendered ineffective when agents aren’t fully prepared or make poor judgment calls under pressure. Scripts are useful for guiding agents, increasing their confidence levels, and keeping them on the right track. However, they can also be the reason why a call strategy doesn’t translate to sales. Calling scripts must be flexible, so that agents can lean on them when they are struggling, without following them in a way that sounds unnatural (Ring Central).

GET STARTED WITH OUTBOUND CALLS FOR YOUR BUSINESS WITH OUTSOURCE NIGERIA

Outsource Nigeria outbound call center service is designed to play as an extension of your company’s marketing and customer care teams, as we provide you with the perfectly fit talents and tools to grow your business. To become the best outsourced outbound call center service provider, we find the most talented customer service representatives and marketing professionals. We thoroughly train them on managing and updating contact information on list, improve customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, customers experience and set them to work for our clients’ businesses using our comprehensive tools. Our best practices and systems for outbound call center services lower operations costs significantly, while increasing our clients’ net sales and customer service ratings. Visit Outsource Nigeria to explore our outbound call center services available 24/7 which includes: Customer Satisfaction Surveys, Lead Qualification, Performance Reviews, Customer Retention, Market Research/ Business Intelligence.