July, 11 2019 3:29 pm
In an outbound calling center, time is money. Every call your agents make is one more potential connection and one more possible sale. Every call that can’t be made because of a lack of time is one more loss to your business. So, how can you maximize what is getting done in your center and minimize lost time and productivity?
Here, we’ll introduce you to some techniques and technology that will help you make calls faster and create connections more effectively - all without making major changes to your work days!
It might not seem like it, but a lot of time can be lost when your agents are manually dialing numbers by hand every day. When they are reaching out to your contacts individually, there are numerous steps they have to attend to themselves, each time they make a call. These include:
All of that can happen in a matter of a few minutes, but those few minutes for every call can really add up in a single day of work for your agents. In the course of a month, you could lose hours or even the equivalent of days of productive time! That seems like a lot to lose just because of slow, inefficient dialing.
Thankfully, there are solutions to this problem. Perhaps the best is the use of predictive dialer software with analytics, which allows your agents to make calls faster and know what kind of connections they’re making when they do. If this sounds like something that would make things easier for your contact center, you’re not alone. This technology is increasingly common in outbound centers around the world - and might be exactly what your center needs to achieve your goals in the coming months!
How exactly does a predictive dialer work to save you time and boost productivity in your center? By using analytic technology to know what kind of connections are being made.
With a predictive dialer, your software evaluates your agents’ work to know when they are finished with their current calls and ready to take another. Once that designation is made, the connection to a new call is automatically made on behalf of the agent by the program. This keeps your agents engaged with a consistent stream of calls and keeps downtime to a minimum.
The level of productivity this provides for your center is tremendous. If there was a “best” way to use time in your facility, keeping your agents on calls as often as possible would certainly be near the top of the list. Predictive dialers keep the calls going out without exhausting your agents since all they have to do is the conversation part of the exchange - all the dialing is taken care of by the program.
What about the analytics aspect of your dialer? Why is this important to your facility? Because once a connection is made, there are numerous ways a call could be answered. A live person could pick up. They could also pick up and hang up. They could transfer you to an answering service. Or you could simply encounter an answering machine or program.
When you’re manually dialing, it takes a few seconds or even several minutes to determine which type of answer you’ve encountered and determine the appropriate response. With predictive dialer software with analytics, the correct response can be dispatched automatically and your agents are free to move on to the next call.
Every type of technology is not perfect for every type of contact center. That is certainly true of predictive dialer software with analytics. These programs are focused on volume and speed, which makes them great for certain kinds of work and not as well-suited to others.
Which type of call centers can best utilize this technology? These industries see the biggest benefits from predictive dialers:
While these programs save time and money and are wonderful for keeping things moving quickly in scenarios that require it, they are not as well-suited for more intensive customer service focused industries. They also do not prioritize leads or give agents insights into the type of calls being made ahead of time outside of who or what is answering the call, so each connection is essentially a blind one. Keep this in mind before investing in technology that might not work for your center’s efforts.
There are many people who believe that automatic dialers - including predictive dialer software with analytics and similar programs - are illegal. However, this is not true. The FCC does have a ban in place on robotic calls that make connections with those who have not previously established their consent to be contacted. However, if consent has been given - as in the case of leads in which information was shared previously - the use of predictive dialers is perfectly legal. Don’t let your management team be intimidated by misinformation when you could be taking advantage of an amazing opportunity to streamline your business!
Interested in integrating predictive dialer software with analytics into your facility? Contact the industry experts at ChaseData for more information on how to make things easier on your agents - and business better for your center. We have everything you need to streamline the process of making your outbound calling campaigns simpler than they have ever been. Contact ChaseData today to learn more!