You have an awesome product range but are unable to market it as you would like to due to reasons like limited
resources, incapable human resources, and inefficient technology. On the other hand, your competitor with a similar
product range and backed by an experienced team is reaching newer heights of success and expanding rapidly. Wondering
how? It’s majorly because they have availed services from an outbound contact center.
Outbound call centers are the ones in which the call center agents make outbound calls to customers on behalf of a
business or a client. These calls may intend to sell a product, collect customer information, conduct a survey or raise
funds. Acting as a virtual sales team, the outbound contact center needs to have a well-planned strategy beforehand so
as to earn the maximum output.
An inbound process is much more efficient than an outbound process. The reasons for this are many such as improved
sales, better productivity, better customer satisfaction, and cost savings. But, owing to the rapid business expansion
and their growing needs, it has become quite difficult for them to manage all such needs internally. And this is where
the role of the outbound call center arrives.
While little is known about the benefits of outsourcing these functionalities, like simplified call tracking, automated
call routing, and lower training costs, it is important to know that outbound contact center agents can actually act as
your virtual sales team. So, being aware of the tricks to utilize these executives in the best possible manner is
important. Mentioned below are a few of these:
Table of Contents
- Communicate Your Expectations Clearly
- Conduct Regular Virtual Meetings
- Create A Library of Best Sales Calls
- Appreciate Their Efforts
- Be Consistent
- Keep Them Motivated
- Consistent Monitoring
Your Expectations Clearly
Letting your external team know your expectations and the goals you wish to attain is important. This will enable them
to design their plan of action accordingly. If required, feedback on their call recordings can also be shared from time
to time, as this would allow them to improve their existing plan of action.
Along with this, maintaining regular communication via email or message to make them feel important can also work
effectively to strengthen the feeling of mutual trust and confidence.
Conduct Regular Virtual Meetings
Since your outbound sales representatives are not physically available, meeting them regularly may not be a practical
option. But you can overcome this hurdle by planning a virtual meeting via a conference or web call. Conducting this
meeting on a regular basis, maybe weekly or bi-weekly, can be a great trick to know each individual’s contribution
towards the organization’s success and inspire each one of them to perform better.
Create A Library of Best Sales Calls
The outbound contact center agent is on call and is unable to handle a particular type of query. For immediate
resolution, it is best to make the right form of help available. But for any such calls in future, it is necessary to
offer them the right form of training so that they are able to handle all such calls on their own.
Creating a library of the best sales calls handled by customer care representatives and grouping them as per their
category can be a great tactic. Easy to locate, listening to these sample calls can help them know and understand the
best ways to close a lead. Apart from them, these call recordings can also be listened to by the senior representatives
to share feedback on the agents’ scope of improvement and other challenges they might face in future calls.
Appreciate Their Efforts
Recognition is one of the most effective techniques to keep an employee motivated to perform better. And this trick
works well also with agents working at an outbound contact center. Some of the common tactics that can be used are
creating a leadership board and dashboards.
Leadership boards that mention the names of top-performing agents are one of the proven ways to motivate every employee
to deliver their best performance. Creating dashboards is also a great idea to monitor the performance of every agent
closely and, in turn, facilitate the deserving ones. This can also be a great way to identify the strengths of each team
member and the areas where they need some additional training.
Be Consistent
Maintaining consistency in providing training to the representatives can be a great help in upholding their productivity
and retention. When the agents continue to receive proper training and guidance, it helps ensure that they stay longer
with your company. Along with this, it also keeps them interested in their work and helps them to grow and learn on a
continual basis.
Keep Them Motivated
Keeping the outbound sales team inspired and motivated can play a major role in bringing success and growth to the
organization. While appreciating the agents’ hard work and efforts is important, it is not always enough. Therefore, it
is a must to include some monetary benefits such as planning SPIFFS (Special Payment Incentive for Fast Sales), contests
and commission-based incentives.
SPIFF SPIF or SPIV is an immediate bonus, generally a small amount paid for a sale to a salesperson. Giving out such
incentives and benefits to the agents working at the outbound call center may not only help in instilling positivity but
will also keep them motivated towards work.
Consistent Monitoring
For a call center to attain the desired results, it is important to keep close track of all its phases of operation.
Since outsourcing the call center services to an external team makes it difficult to monitor the agents’ performance,
there should never be any compromise in terms of their performance quality and delivery.
Therefore, keeping a close eye on their performance technology like speech analytics and sharing regular feedback
is important to ensure that the agents are able to improve their performance and continue delivering their best by
overcoming their flaws.
Conclusion
Every call is different. Therefore, the agents need to receive the right form of training at the right time. This would
ensure that every agent is trained the right way to deliver their best and also help the client in attaining their
desired results. Moreover, there is no harm in relying on a team of outbound contact center agents when performing
right; they actually act as a virtual sales team. So, be aware of the right tactics, and you will be able to attain the
best outcomes soon.
