Call centre work is tough. For most people, it falls into the “it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it” category. This is especially true in the world of cold calling. If you haven’t had the experience of being a telemarketer or live telephone representative for a company, you may be unaware of just how tough the job can be. Calling people that you’ve never interacted with before in order to sell a product or service is a job that comes with a lot of rejection.
As a result, call centre employees need to have a lot of patience and restraint. It goes without saying that it is no call centre employee’s objective to begin a conflict with a prospective client. So, it’s important for them to follow a certain set of guidelines so that they are each doing their jobs effectively and accurately. As a call centre manager, it’s your job to set forth those guidelines.
In addition, it’s your job to ensure that your staff is equipped with the ideal tools to perform at their best abilities. Keep in mind that cold calling isn’t as much about selling products as it is offering solutions. When you’re able to communicate that your company can solve the problems of the people it calls, you have a greater chance of succeeding in generating sales. But what other call centre practices are important to employ?
Here are four:
1. Building relationships. It should be your goal to not only secure sales, but to develop relationships with the prospects that your staff members call. Repeat business is a sign of any successful company. Train your team to use the courtesies necessary to endear themselves to the prospective customers that they contact. Remember that when you’re able to secure trust, you are in a better position to keep a customer for the long haul.
2. Offering consistent feedback. Your team members are in need of constant boosts of energy. You can provide them with that by regularly informing them of how great they are doing. Arguably, no job position requires greater motivation than that of a telephone service representative or telemarketer. At the same time, it’s just as important to provide helpful tips to those who need some assistance in improving their performance. Don’t shy away from giving necessary feedback.
3. Encouraging friendly competition. Many call centres create teams out of the many members of their phone staff. They then create a competitive atmosphere by offering incentives to the teams with the highest performance rates. This can be both fun and motivational for the members of your staff. Be sure to provide worthwhile bonuses – they don’t always have to be monetary – to encourage friendly competition and drive up sales.
4. Integrating the latest technology. Your team will only be as successful and productive as the equipment they use to do their jobs allows them to be. At MeloTel, we offer our clients DaFeeder Preview Dialer, which is the ideal system for call centre use. It is a simple web-based telemarketing software that allows even the most inexperienced computer user to manage campaign dialing and dispositions.
DaFeeder Preview Dialer has revolutionized the way that web-based technology can help small and medium-sized businesses manage their telemarketing, customer acquisition and political survey strategies. It delivers a feature-rich set of processes that enhances effectiveness, drives sales, improves customer satisfaction and provides insight into performance. DaFeeder Preview Dialer is a call centre must-have!
For more information, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the Live Chat Support feature on our website!
