Whether it’s lead generation or sales, many companies have increased sales and reduced costs by outsourcing to a professional Call Center. Companies with an outside sales force leverage the cost-savings benefit of using an inside sales team or lead gen team, whether internal or outsourced. Companies who have an inside sales team can benefit by using a call center in the up front stages of the sales process (the labor-intensive part of filling the sales funnel) because it results in having their internal teams more focused on selling and less on cold calling. The call center can quickly qualify leads for the sales teams, follow up on marketing campaigns, and quickly develop a strong pipeline of leads for the Inside and Outside Sales Teams. The end result is that the Inside/Outside Sales Team spend more time on closing deals and less time wasted on cold calling. When outsourcing sales or lead gen process to a call center, the company can then have their highly trained Inside Sales Team focus on closing larger deals within their territories and spend less time on small deals that won’t have a large effect on hitting their revenue targets. Below is a list of the top 5 ways to ensure success when your company is outsourcing the up front stages of the B2B Sales or Lead Generation process.
1. Clearly Defined Goals and Structure—Consistent goals makes it easier to track progress. Either way, each party needs to be clear as to what their role is, what their goals are, and what is expected of them each day and overall. Miscommunication or unclear direction will lead to poor performance and the project could potentially fail. Utilizing a team of dedicated agents has been the best structure and gives you the ability and flexibility to have them complete any tasks that will help ensure the success of the program you desire. Constant change in direction, however, won’t allow the team to increase their results on your overall goals for sales or leads. The structure should also allow for at least 6-8 weeks of testing to allow enough time to ramp up to the results you should expect for the project on an on-going basis. In addition, some salespeople are comfortable with referrals and direct response leads. Does the company have a sales culture that will "accept" the lead output? If not, it is more important than ever that clear and concise expectations be set among the "users" of the leads. Along with this, tracking and auditing is critical to ensuring that the leads are being worked properly.
2. Dedicated Agents and Supervisor— Dedicated agents and Supervisors are needed to maximize results. Once the supervisor has made test calls to determine call metrics such as contact rates, conversion rates etc., the dedicated teams spend all their time on your account. Dedicated supervisors spend their time helping with the tasks that ensure agent success, instead of being split among 5 other clients. This results in the maximum quality and the highest return on your investment. The agents are able to get into a flow and focus better on each call since that is the only call type they are making for the entire day. It is very common to have a meeting with the supervisors before each shift, after lunch, and even the end of the day to address any issues, discuss how calls went, etc. The Supervisors focus their entire day on call monitoring, reporting, tracking results, and communicating with the client. A team of at least 10 agents is best for testing, but the team size is based on the number of leads/sales you require.
3. On-Going Training—Part of the Dedicated Supervisor’s role is on-going training. The team of agents should receive daily updates regarding the program, changes to business rules, new sales techniques, etc. When new information is available, the entire team can quickly meet to review this prior to making their next calls.
4. CRM and Call Tracking—Getting back to contacts that expressed interest, scheduling follow-up activities for each sales agent, tracking results, and quality notes are all essential in maximizing results. The system should be customized to your needs and goals so that it only contains the information that is important to you.
5. Performance-Based Pricing—After approximately one month of testing, you will have detailed history regarding expected results for leads and sales. Based on this data, the pricing format could change to a lower hourly rate plus commission so the call center assumes risk for low performance and reward for over achievement. This approach is also key to properly motivating the agents with incentive plans that are tied to the results they achieve.
Summary - Working with a call center that has B to B experience, and setting realistic goals and expectations can help lead to a profitable and long-term relationship with a call center. They are interested in being your long-term partner for your initiatives, so take advantage of the skills and experience that they can bring to the table.