In most cases, it is. We are well acknowledged with inbound call centers, so people are considering call centers as customer service departments in 9 cases out of 10. But the reality, as it always happens, is a bit different.
There is also another way to build a call center that will have nothing to do with customer service, info, or any other kind of customer service. It will be a call center that receives no calls, but what it does is call hundreds of people on a daily basis to find new deals and generate sales. This kind of call center is called an outbound call center, and an outbound call center is a call center that generates money.
So, what is the outbound call center, and can it be beneficial for your business? What are the main features and advantages of outbound call centers software? How to choose outbound call centers software to avoid problems in the future?
Let’s discover it.
Outbound call center: definition
The outbound call center is a call center that works with outbound calls only, which means this call center doesn’t handle customers’ incoming calls, it only calls leads to sell goods or to perform lead qualification tasks. This is why outbound call centers are sometimes called sales call centers or telemarketing call centers.
Outbound call centers work based on outbound call centers software which automates most contact center operations regarding outbound calling and telemarketing. Outbound call centers software eliminates the need to dial phone numbers manually or choose them from the contact lists, so the average productivity of a properly set up outbound call center is much higher than if agents do all the work manually.
Outbound agent who works in the outbound call centers has the main responsibility to talk to prospective customers who have answered the call. The outbound call centers software provides a call scripting feature in most cases, so the outbound agent can use a call script to keep the conversation moving in the right call flow and overcome customer objections with the previously designed sales pitches and answers. Outbound call centers software also provides powerful reporting features to make sure that call center managers get all the data concerning the performance of outbound campaigns and other marketing efforts, as well as data about agent productivity to adapt training sessions and programs.
Outbound call center vs Inbound call center services
Even though the difference between these two types of contact centers - outbound centers and inbound centers - is clear enough at this stage, let’s define it for the final time.
Inbound call center software services inbound calls only, which means that this department never initiates communication with clients, and such communication becomes possible only when a client calls the call center for any reason. Nonetheless, in modern conditions, it is quite difficult to see a pure inbound call center, becomes customer service requires such proactive communication with customers, as follow-up calls, appointment setting or feedback collection campaigns, so there is little chance to see a call center that never initiates communication with the customer, even though such call centers keep being inbound call centers because they don’t do telemarketing on a permanent basis.
The outbound call center is a call center that doesn’t provide customer service or handle customer calls on a regular basis, so its main goal is to do telemarketing campaigns or lead generation campaigns through direct marketing. So, the outbound call center makes sales, while the inbound call center does customer service.
There is also the ultimate type of a call center - a blended call center which is a symbiosis of an outbound call center and an inbound contact center. It has all the features of both these contact center solutions, and it also has a vital function - call blending, which means you can switch outbound agents to the inbound line, and inbound agents to the outbound line if needed - in a case of high call volumes or something else, though.
A blended call center is a perfect option for ambitious brands which are looking for maximal performance and the fastest scale-up, while an outbound call center is a great pick-up for those brands which need effective lead generation and fast growth of the current customer base. For some niches, the outbound call center is a must-have, especially for such as real estate businesses, insurance companies, or mortgage agents. The outbound call center is also the most effective tool for debt collection.
Main purposes of outbound call center
Sales call centers are not about sales only, surprisingly. Thus, let’s discuss the main purposes outbound call centers solutions are used for.
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is one of the most important parts of outbound call centers functioning. Telemarketing is the most direct marketing you can ever use, because it is a direct offering of products and services to potential customers via phone calls or emails. In the purpose of telemarketing, outbound call centers solution offers its main and the most well-known feature - auto dialers. Auto dialers exist in three different dialing modes, including Power dialer, Predictive dialer and Preview dialer, but the most widely used for telemarketing purposes is Predictive dialer, respectively.
Outbound call centers software offers much better success rates during cold calling campaigns, as well as it boosts conversion rates and provides outbound agents with higher occupancy rates, which means they spend much more time talking to customers during cold calls instead of doing useless manual work, like sorting contacts in the contact list or listening to busy rings during unsuccessful calls.
Lead generation
Yes, basically if you have some phone numbers to call we can state you already have some leads - but that’s not the case. Lead generation in the case of outbound call center is about lead qualification and sales qualification, not about generating leads from nowhere, as it is in the case of content marketing or digital marketing via targeted advertising.
When you call people, you get refuses, acceptance or another type of answer to your offer. This allows you to classify the leads you have talked to, which means you can qualify your leads and understand their needs, common objections and the possibility for them to become your customers. This helps you to close leads faster and work with quality leads (qualified leads) instead of trying to convince adamant leads.
Customer feedback collection
Even though customer feedback is mostly collected via customer surveys and automated calls (don’t confuse those calls with calls performed in outbound call centers), you still can collect feedback directly. This means your sales reps or customer support team of your customer service agents can reach out to every lead from the exact contact list of your current customers to gather feedback from them and give you the detailed report concerning customer sentiment, customer satisfaction and overall quality of customer experience to boost customer retention.
Moreover, you can also streamline customer communications to remind them about vital activities coming, such as subscription fee changes, privacy policy changes, and so on.
Debt collection
Debt collection is a very important part of the outbound call centers industry, because there are two things you have to do in debt collection agencies to get your work done. Firstly, you have to reach out to as many owners as possible on a regular basis. Secondly, you have to get an option to redial those owners who haven’t yet answered the call.
Both these needs are covered by an outbound call center, and there are no other tools which can be as effective as outbound call centers software is.
Callbacks and follow-up calls
Sometimes, the customer issues are unresolvable during one call, so the company has to call the customer back and tell him about the issue resolution process and further steps needed to be taken, or just to announce that the problem is solved. Also, some customers can’t reach out to a call center due to some reasons, such as long wait times, high call volumes or something else, so they order a callback. This callback should be performed by a human agent, not a robot, so here is where outbound call centers solution is a very useful tool.
Follow-up calls are a vital part of any telemarketing campaign, and ideally all customer interactions, at least vital ones, should be followed up with a call from a company to make sure that the customer is serviced as he should be and there are no additional requests from the customer’s side. This is also the fastest way to build rapport and close relations between a client and a brand.
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Main features of outbound call centers
As we have already mentioned, outbound call centers have numerous features, but let’s look at the most essential ones.
Auto dialers
Auto dialers, or outbound dialers, are the most important element in the structure of the outbound call centers. There are three main auto dialing modes for both types of calls - cold calls and warm calls.
Predictive dialer - this dialing mode is the most rapid one, with over 100 dialing attempts per hour compared to between 30 and 35 manually. The success rate is around 75%, and the conversion rate is around 2,5% compared to the less than 1% if called manually. Such high results can be achieved thanks to advanced algorithms used in the Predictive dialer, which allow the system to measure average call duration and start dialing new phone numbers to get a new call ready exactly when the previous one ends. That is also why there are some special requirements to Predictive dialer to get it all set - you need at least five sales agents, and yet the system can cause dropped calls (when a customer hangs up the phone) in some cases, especially if set up improperly. Predictive dialing mode is used for telemarketing purposes and to process cold leads.
Power dialer - provides a bit slower calling pace, around 75 dials per hour with flexible success rates, which can be either similar to what they are with the use of Predictive dialer, but neve less than 50%. Is mostly used to process warm leads and communicate with current customers, too. Has some vital features: can’t cause dropped calls and needs only one alone agent to get it all set.
Preview dialer - offers an option to choose whether to call each exact phone number from the list or no. Also, provides sales agents with detailed information about each customer through showing customer cards before each call. The data about customers is exported from the integrated CRM system which works in pair with your outbound call center. Provides around 50 dials per hour with flexible success rates which are quite similar to what they are with the use of Power dialer.
Flexible redialing rules
The outbound call center software solution cares about such a vital need during telemarketing campaigns as reaching out to customers who haven’t answered the call from the first attempt. Thus, the system offers you to set up redialing rules for each campaign, which means that all unsuccessful calls will be redialed in accordance with these rules. We all know that during telemarketing efforts, it sometimes takes 8 calling attempts on average to reach out to a prospect, and in some cases it can take even more - up to 25 calling attempts!
Therefore, it sounds great to automate this whole process, doesn’t it? It is exactly what an outbound call center solution offers to you - you can even choose the time when prospects will be called to meet their time zones and avoid creating uncomfortable situations.
Call scripting
Call scripting is another must-have feature, especially if you are scaling up and hiring new outbound agents who sometimes don’t have enough skills to deal with stress and process each prospect properly. Sales calls are the most stressful customer calls ever, and that’s proven by telemarketers themselves. Thus, a flexible script that will help to keep all vital information to overcome objections, avoid conflicting with a client and close a deal successfully isn’t a bad option, is it?
Call scripting in an outbound call center can be set up in dynamic call scripting mode, which means that the call script can have a few different call flows, depending on the prospect’s answers. This helps to control the conversation and avoid any unexpected situations during the call, so the chance of successful handling increases.
Detailed reports and call center analytics
What kind of a business tool has no reporting features? Anyhow, if such cases exist, it doesn’t relate to outbound call center solutions. You will receive a real-time detailed report on a dashboard after the finish of each campaign, and this dashboard can be designed in accordance with your individual needs and preferences. Reports include all the vital info, including such rates, as overall number of calls completed, number of successful calls, number of agents active on line, average call duration, percentage of dropped calls and lost calls, and advanced rates like conversion rates and so on.
CRM and other third-party tools integrations
Your outbound contact center software can be easily integrated with such vital business tools from third-party developers, as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, help desk tools, payment systems, communication tools like Facebook Messenger or Gmail and other communication channels, and so on. You can integrate almost anything - it all depends on your API settings.
CRM software is a vital integration tool, because it offers you a possibility to get all customer data directly from the CRM system without having to leave the interface of your outbound contact center. This helps to use more personalized sales pitches and deal with difficult customers faster and more efficiently.
FAQ
What is an outbound contact center?
Outbound contact center (outbound sales call center, telemarketing call centers) is the call center that provides outbound call centers services, such as massive outbound calls (outgoing calls) in telemarketing or lead generation purposes. Also, outbound contact centers may have a purpose of debt collection or customer feedback collection.
What are the main features of an outbound contact center?
Outbound contact center performs outbound call center services thanks to auto dialers - special dialing modes which automatically dial the phone numbers from the contact list and route calls to agents from your sales teams. Also, you can set redialing rules to redial unsuccessful calls, get automatically compiled reports and launch multiple campaigns simultaneously. Call center outbound features also include call scripting and such a vital outbound call service as CRM system to use customer data during outbound calls.
Can I get both inbound and outbound contact center services?
Yes, there is a solution that gathers both inbound and outbound contact center capabilities - its name is blended cloud call center software. It offers all the features, and also the special feature of call blending - switching outbound call center agents from inbound to outbound line in one click.
What is the price of outbound contact center software?
Outbound contact center software pricing is very different depending on the vendor and features you need. We offer the price starting at 70$ monthly per seat if paying per month, and 63$ monthly if purchasing an annual plan. Moreover, the more accounts - workplaces for agents - you buy, the lower is the price per seat. This price includes blended call center functionality - both outbound contact center and inbound calling services, in other words, you get the all-in-one call center, not just telemarketing call center outbound services.
