Starting an outbound call is quite similar to playing chess. There are a lot of rules you have to learn and follow if you want to win the game.
Making an efficient and effective outbound calling strategy may help you improve and foster customer relationships and streamline your everyday business process. In addition, it’s an essential aspect of every business, especially when you’re looking for excellent techniques that will help improve communication with your clients.
It’s believed that a winning outbound calling strategy is to make sure that your sales representatives are respectful and well-mannered, informed, and patient. On a side note, you might want to support your sales staff with the right resources that may systematize your operations.
You may use smart tools, such as a predictive dialler from Call Cowboy and the like, to boost your customer engagement for higher sales.
On top of that, you would need to learn some effective tips and tricks that’ll significantly enhance your outbound calling strategy. But before that, it’d be best to understand the meaning and goal of outbound calling.
Table of Contents
What Is Outbound Calling
Outbound calling is a way in which your customers and sales representatives communicate with each other. Usually, this type of conversation with a client happens in a call center facility by agents. They call different people who might be interested in trying your products and services based on the given goals and priorities, including conversions and making appointments.
Moreover, outbound calling may serve essential functions other than selling, including:
- Helping you produce and analyse market research to understand the behaviour of your customers and their needs;
- Boosting and increasing customer retention and loyalty through long-term relationships; and
- Giving way for cross-selling and upselling to existing customers and other potential clients.
Different Advice On Improving Your Company’s Current Outbound Calling Tactics
Managers regard the utmost importance of having a developed and improved outbound calling strategy for it allows you to use all special tools at your disposal. Below are some helpful tips that may take your outbound calling strategy to the next level:
Use Ringless Voicemail And SMS Marketing Software
Ringless voicemail allows you to deliver a pre-recorded voice message to your recipients.
Because it’s ringless, your customer will not be disturbed by your message. Instead, it’ll present itself as a notification similar to a missed call. If you’re interested in ringless voicemails, you may visit Drop Cowboy Ringless Voicemail or your local marketing service provider for more information. On the other hand, short message service (SMS) marketing software allows you to send messages to hundreds of potential clients in just a couple of minutes.
Another great thing about this pair of software is it’s extremely effective but cost-efficient. With this, you can connect with a large group of people without wasting thousands of your marketing budget. Each SMS and voicemail only cost a couple of cents, perfect for businesses that have limited capital.
Moreover, here are some features of ringless voicemail and SMS marketing software you might want to consider:
- Automatic Text Replies: The software allows you to have a continuous conversation by deploying automated messaging replies, especially when your customers require additional details about your products and services.
- Personalized SMS Messaging: This feature allows you to customize the message you want to send. You can share the story of your business, reviews about your brands, or case studies promoting your products. It has dynamic field insertion as well which enables you to insert custom field data into the body of your messages.
- Combo Messaging: With this platform, you can combine SMS and voicemails in a single campaign, making it one of the most effective and productive ways of promoting mass communications.
- Virtual Assistant: This platform has virtual assistants that may address customers’ questions and responses. Plus, the system is purely automatic and forwards all phone calls and messages to your call centre or phone. In addition, your clients may leave a voicemail that can be emailed back to you.
- Analytics: The software allows you to view the analytics and performance of your company and sales team in real-time, helping you develop crucial decisions to improve your campaign strategy.
- Accessibility: Ringless voicemails work perfectly using both landlines and mobiles, whichever you prefer, making it easy for you to connect with prospects, lead clients, and existing customers.
- Limitless Typing Possibilities: SMS marketing software has no character limit when it comes to typing messages. That said, you can construct a message as long as you want, even if it means writing your entire life.
With these excellent features, an outbound calling strategy will never be the same again. So, call your marketing provider and start reaping the benefits now.
Remember The Basics Of Outbound Calling
It’s always good to remember the essence of a good outbound calling that may aid you when formulating an effective strategy. Techniques and planning may vary from company to company, but the goals needed to achieve are the same: boost customer relationship and engagement and increase revenue growth.
That being said, it’s important to keep in mind that a successful and functional outbound calling:
Grabs The Attention Of Prospects
An effective outbound call has an introduction that captures the emotion and heart of every customer to have a meaningful customer engagement and conversation. You may use their names and show them your deep interest and desire to address and help them with their problems.
Respects The Prospects
A good call always delivers a general message that respects everyone regardless of their status in life. Always be straightforward and honest, and don’t forget to ask them if they have time to have a conversation with you. This shows that you respect their needs and opinions.
Projects Originality
In today’s digital era, all information people want to know can be searched through online means. So, as a sales rep, you need to make a difference by showing your honesty and originality in presenting your products and services. This will help you build trust and loyalty from each customer.
Set Your Goals And Determine Indicators To Achieve Them
After learning the basics, it’s time to set your goals and objectives. Start by tackling the important questions, such as what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it. Answering these will help you build the foundation of your strategy for a powerful and successful outbound call.
Here are some key performance indicators (KPIs) that may help you determine your specific goals and how to achieve them:
Conversion Rates
Determine the rate you’re trying to achieve, which you think is enough to support the growth of your business. But first, check your current rate. Divide the number of calls made by the number of successfully converted leads.
For example, if you have made 500 calls in a week and 300 of them become your customers, you have a conversion rate of 60 percent. It may seem low, and that’s what you need to improve.
Average Time Spent
The goals you’re planning to achieve can be based on the average amount of time your sales reps spend during phone calls. It’d be best for your company to keep this amount as low as possible. In this way, they’ll be able to make more outbound calls per day. More calls mean more leads, resulting in higher conversion rates and profitability.
Answer Success Rate
The answer success rate is a measurement of a successful link between your sales reps and your customers. It’s also computed the same way as conversion rate. Additionally, it’s an important indicator that will help you decide which strategy will help you achieve your goals.
Choose The Right Staff And Train Them Properly
One of the keys to an effective outbound calling strategy is to ensure that your sales staff are well-informed and knowledgeable about the processes necessary to achieve your goals. That’s why it’s important to give them proper training before they start on their journey.
But before you train them, it’s crucial to choose the right people fit for the job. If you don’t, expect your outbound calling strategy to fail, even if you include all the essential tips and tricks for a successful outbound call.
Moreover, you might want to consider the important qualities of a good sales agent, including:
Good Communication Skills
Of course, if you’re making calls to different kinds of people, young and old, your sales reps should have good communication skills that will attract people to your company. How would you know if they are a good communicator? A good communicator not only speaks well but also evokes empathy and promotes warmth in every conversation, making them effective speakers.
Positive Aura
Sales personnel are bound to experience rejection, even if they have smart presentations, brilliant products and services, and speak well. The way they handle these rejections will be crucial in the coming calls. That being said, it’s important to choose people that are consistently motivated and can handle rejections and other difficult times as stepping stones for a better future.
Long Patience
Patience is the perfect pair of positivity. Even smart and experienced sales staff suffer from rejections. That’s why it’s important to be patient throughout the process.
Invested
Good sales personnel invest their time in critical tasks necessary to do their job perfectly, such as knowing everything about the products and services their company is selling.
Adaptability
Knowing how to adapt to a difficult and constantly changing environment is one of the essential qualities your sales staff should have. This means they can do any task no matter how hard and challenging they are.
Furthermore, you may start training them once you hire the best candidate for the role. When training them, make sure they understand everything, from the simplest processes to the most difficult ones. Also, you may conduct a test to make sure that they know what they have to know before starting their first day in your company.
Invest In Short And Long-Term Incentives
Incentives are one of the best ways to motivate your staff and invest their time and effort in your company. Also, it would be best to have a combination of short and long-term investments. This mix attracts people best and encourages them to work with their best performance.
Here are some examples of short-term incentives:
- Sufficient overtime compensation;
- Sales commissions for every successful transaction; and
- Bonus pay for a quick turnaround time of sales.
On the other hand, here are some examples of long-term workers’ perks:
- Health insurance with additional dependents;
- Government-mandated benefits, such as Social Security coverage; and
- Stock shares in the company.
With these benefits, you’re also helping your employees to have a better life ahead of them, motivating and encouraging them to work using the best of their abilities.
Make An Effective Call List
To make an effective targeted call list, you may use the two basic approaches known as blind cold calling and targeted calling.
Blind cold calling is the process of randomly connecting with different people. This is created to increase the chances of getting a new client and making a sale. Although many once utilized this practice, a majority of entrepreneurs treat it as an ineffective sales strategy now that wastes time and money due to low returns.
Meanwhile, targeted calling is a much more effective way to attract potential customers than blind cold calling. It uses a smart targeting strategy that focuses on clients with greater potential, but doing this is a bit more complex compared to its previous counterpart.
That being said, you might want to ask for help from professional marketers or use social media, market analytics, and data mining instead if you have limited capital for professional services.
Whether it’s blind or targeted, it’d be best to determine your ideal customers and search for them. In that case, you might want to keep in mind these considerations:
- Ideal customer’s income;
- Ideal customer’s industry;
- Ideal customer’s interests;
- Ideal customer’s location; and
- Ideal customer’s age (depending on your products and services).
Final Words
Outbound calling strategy is said to be one of the most effective ways to connect with different people, fostering good relationships and engagement, generating leads, and converting leads. What’s more, it doesn’t have to be a source of anxiety as long as you know how to do it right.
That being said, you might want to utilize the pieces of advice mentioned above for an enhanced and better outbound calling campaign. You may use ringless voicemails as an effective outbound calling tool, remember the essence of outbound calls, set goals, train sales staff, invest in incentives, and make a targeted call list.
Lastly, you may use these tips until you reap their benefits and get the most out of them.
