Simply put, when you or someone from your company makes a call, this is an outbound call, meaning the call is going out of your office or team space. In contrast, if someone calls you or someone in your company, this is an inbound call, meaning that it is coming in for someone at your company to answer.
Call and contact centers make inbound and outbound calls, and most businesses will deploy a mix of both to optimize efforts and maximize efficacy. Here, we’re going to focus specifically on outbound calling.
Why Do Businesses Use Outbound calling?
You may think of cold call sales when you think of outbound calls, but outbound calling is just one example of a proactive interaction with your customer base, where inbound calling is reactive.
Outbound calls are directed toward clients, customers, prospects, and other businesses. They often focus on prospective business through lead generation, telemarketing, and fundraising, but outbound calling has many benefits and uses we can take advantage of to establish authentic customer connections. Have you ever received a call from a doctor’s office to schedule a follow up or share test results? Maybe you received a call to update a payment method on your streaming service before it dropped you? These are outbound calls! At VirtualPBX, our customer experience team uses outbound calling to connect with our customers, whether that’s onboarding for new products or checking in to offer support. Below are some examples of popular uses for outbound calling. Are there any here that you hadn’t thought of?
- Appointment Setting
- Customer Retention
- Customer Notifications
- Customer Service
- Debt Collection
- Focus/Research Groups
- Follow-Ups
- Fundraising
- Information Requests/Updates
- Market Research
- Product Inquiries
- Sales Cold Calls
- Surveys
- Technical Support
- Telemarketing
- Telesales
Did you know?
In addition to lead generation, outbound calling improves customer acquisition, retention, and engagement, because the right conversations are impactful and memorable. Companies also experience
- Efficient agent utilization.
- Stronger brand awareness.
- Inlets for market expansion.
- Increased database accuracy.
- Meaningful customer insights.
5 Tips to Make Your Calls Count
You could make dozens of calls and just spin your wheels or even do harm for your brand. For the best performance, it’s important to keep a few basics in mind when you’re developing your outbound call strategy.
1. Know the Law
Contact centers are required to adhere to telemarketing and privacy laws and maintain security measures to protect consumer data. One data leak can cost thousands in lost customers and fines as well as damaging the reputation and trust in your brand. VirtualPBX consistently works to launch the latest trusted security features and technology.
2. Be Natural and Intentional
Outbound calls offer the opportunity to connect with customers and prospects. Outbound call center agents should be skilled at genuinely matching the tone and emotion of the situation for a real, engaging conversation. Create scripts that allow agents to be flexible and move freely as they complete their objective, ensuring opportunities for on-call coaching with whisper and barge to reach target KPIs and maximize agent engagement opportunities.
3. Be Professional
Whether your agents are part of a physical or virtual call center, professionalism is key. From the best hardware that ensures clear, filtered audio to product features like dynamic caller ID that allow agents to connect on a local level, or call tagging to ensure no customer falls through the cracks, your customer retention thrives on skillful communication.
4. Make a Plan and Schedule
Outbound calling is just one piece of your communication big picture. Ensure your customers are neither forgotten nor inundated by creating a well-paced schedule encompassing all of your communication channels. This way, your outbound call strategy is both efficient and effective.
5. Stay Informed
Every call is an opportunity for your business to learn and grow. Analyze agent performance with real-time monitoring and record call data you can use to learn about your customers through features like advanced call reporting and live dashboards, all in real-time with live data.
Lean On The Experts
Have a question about outbound calling or call strategy? Lean on your provider. As your business grows, it can be overwhelming. Trusted service partners can offer insight, expertise, step-by-step guidance, and knowledgable solutions. Here at VirtualPBX, our (real human) customer experience team does exactly that. Problem solving is our forte and creative solutions fuel our passion for this industry. Your customer experience team is at your disposal to jump in with ideas and help when you need it.
