Power Dialing or Bust
Calling manually, sales agents can usually dial between 30 and 80 numbers in any given work day. With a predictive dialer, the same sales rep can usually dial between 400 and 600 numbers with a minimal percentage of calls lost because of line issues or answering machines. The oft-annoying “telemarketer blip” often occurs when the individual answers the call, but before the sales rep can be connected by the auto dialer. Clients generally have a negative impression of telemarketers because they associate the pause with an impersonal sales line. With a power dialer, the number of calls made usually drops to somewhere about 250 to 350 calls per day, but unlike the autodialer, the power dialer gets rid of the pauses and lost calls from the rep’s calling experience and gives a more satisfactory phone experience to the potential client.
Power dialers are able to quadruple the number of leads called just by the way the software places calls and eliminates downtime. Just like regular dialers, power dialers have to be programmed with telephone numbers to call. The list can be automatically generated using information from those who have submitted inquiries online or by a web form on a business site. The list could be bought from a lead business. It could also be a combination of former leads that were not successfully contacted in other attempts.
One-at-a-time, the numbers of contacts are fed to the power dialer. The dialer calls just one lead, so contacts won’t have to wait for the sales representative to become available to activate the call. Similarly, no phone call ever gets dropped because the sales rep is unavailable to accept the call.
The agent starts the call by pushing the call button next to the sales lead’s data within the Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) system. The power dialer rings both the sales rep and the sales lead so the rep can follow along. If the lead doesn’t pick up, the power dialer just dials the next number on the list like a typical auto dialer. If the sales agent always stays connected to the line, the power dialer will keep placing calls to clients on the list.
Using a power dialer, remote sales professionals no longer have to waste their time dealing with voice mail machines. The sales representative can instead have the power dialer leave the voice message while it simultaneously starts the sales agent on another call. The agent can choose to do this with a single click of a button. The message left is one that the sales rep records previously in his or her own voice. This still gives a personalized feeling to the contact, but also allows the message to be planned and free from mistakes.
A sales agent can even send an automated email or fax instead of a voice message as this may be more successful in certain situations. The power dialer just puts the lead’s contact data from the CRM into a template to simply and efficiently send the right message using the right communication method. Sending messages with the power dialer can also be performed while the rep is on the sales call if the sales agent needs to send additional information to the lead, as many sales often take place after the client has reviewed printed information.
Sales agents can continue to accept inbound calls while using a power dialer. This added efficiency enables the sales team to be continue making calls even while waiting for a particular inbound call. Inbound-outbound mixing uses a technology called automatic call distribution (ACD). ACD routing works to transfer incoming calls to the appropriate employee for particular tasks. The ACD merely matches up the client’s credentials to appropriately match the client up with the right agent. A basic electronic response system may collect additional info from the customer for the ACD system. Additionally the ACD can be configured to track specific toll free numbers, and route people to the appropriate agent. Automatic call distribution increases the level of response to inbound phone calls and productivity regardless of the system’s structure. Improved responses produce improved client satisfaction by valuing the time of the customer and by giving sales reps a higher level of personal responsiveness to each potential caller.
Power dialers are often embedded in CRM software systems, so dialers help increase reporting transparency. A sales rep can enable all of the telephone reporting tools in the CRM system to monitor effort, metrics, and production. Managers can see the number of calls made, the length of each agent’s average call, and the proportion of contacted leads to converted sales for entire sales teams and specific sales representatives.
Lastly, power dialers improve the quality of calls by standardizing the sales call center’s dialing and messaging approach as well as being able to record and monitor calls for quality control and training purposes. Power dialers take the sales experience to a new level of excellence not achieved by regular predictive or automated phone dialers.