Lead generation call center include methods that we have discussed in other articles.
Some of which include inbound and outbound methods, digital lead generation, marketing and recruitment.
There is a stream of ways to generate leads and the popularity of social media.
With that said, we have come to disregard other methods about lead generation.
Modern marketers have looked to other newer ways to generate leads.
Cold calling and other outbound methods are deemed outdated and some even ineffective.
However, a lot of industries still use these methods as they find it effective and they have their growing businesses to prove it!
There are times when we didn’t have instant messaging or easily accessible platforms.
All that’s available then are cold calling, and face to face introductions.
Nowadays, it’s easier with improved technology but of course, there are still relevant uses for phone calls in the lead generation industry.
At the rate that the market’s moving, it’s essential to have more than just one strategy.
That’s the advantage of having so many available options; you can combine them to the results that you want.
If one strategy doesn’t, then try another one, and another one, and so on and so forth.
Today’s traditional lead generation methods have newer and better approaches.
Are Call Centers Still In?
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A lot of stigma surrounds the call center industry. To a lot of people, call centers can seem too much, and to some, even toxic.
But then again, call centers are still one of the largest industries.
Ever wonder why?
It’s because lead generation call center industries are one of the leading contributors to most countries such as UK, USA, Malaysia and the Philippines.
If you’re still picturing call centers being the same as they are before in the early 2000s, then it’s time for you took them up again.
In the years leading up to the boom in technology, call center agencies are meant purely for calls whether inbound or outbound.
They are also office based, meaning you could only call during business hours which most customers weren’t available then.
With the world’s growing and dynamic economy, call centers have learned to adapt to the demands in the marketing industry.
Gone are the days of unwelcoming and overall unpleasant experiences with long waits and repetitive scripts.
Call center agencies have come up with their own innovative methods to make customer service more appealing.
Now, call centers aren’t just call centers, in fact, they have officially been renamed as contact centers.
Traditional technologies like Automatic Call Distributors (ACD) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) are used in the earlier days of call center.
Phone calls, emails, instant messages or chats, texts and apps that have real time customer service are then adapted by call centers.
This is made possible by using something called “The Cloud”.
Cloud Based Call Centers
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Basically, it’s delivering work without the added physical labor.
With the cloud, you can go global and have a wider reach because there’s no need for any hardware or physical presence.
There’s also no need to monitor hours because of quick and almost automatic responses.
It’s been known to increase reliability to collect and store data from tens of thousands of customers into one single cloud.
Customer self-service and artificial intelligence channels are transitions integrated into different platforms and websites.
Customers no longer have to call between 9-to-5 business hours and most of the time, they don’t even have to call at all!
The onslaught of the pandemic has definitely changed the game for most businesses.
They’re working on getting back and providing their customers with services while ensuring that everyone in the workforce are safe and practicing proper safety procedures.
Luckily for us, AI tools are now integrated to help companies perform better and faster.
With the recent surge in call volume, many companies have turned to these methods as alternatives for bridging gaps in customer service calls they cannot accommodate.
Chatbots are popular and are even integrated within major platforms like WhatsApp Business and Facebook Messenger.
Advancements in technology are hard to keep up with, but call centers and similar other agencies have definitely been running by it just fine.
These channels make it more convenient for customers and clients because they are readily available to anyone.
Call Centers and How They Handle Lead Generation
Outbound cold calling methods have basically paved the way for any lead generation method there is.
You also get customer service differently now. With frequently asked questions all placed into one portion of their website.
Although their lines are still open for calls from buying customers, they also now offer live chat.
6 out of 10 individuals state that they prefer digital self-serving tools (websites, apps, live chat, voice response systems) when choosing a channel for simple inquiries.
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Many of the successful sales that those channels have generated has much to do with the script they’re given and how they carry it out.
Customer satisfaction used to rely heavily on how quickly agents answered the phone and how good they responded.
This is because call centers had a reputation of long waiting times and putting customers on long holds.
Now, modern-day lead generation call centers are more inclined to interact with customers regarding their needs and resolving their issues.
Apart from this, it’s also vital to each and every business to have an approach that isn’t just passive or traditional.
Because of technology, it’s now possible for leads to explore different contact options within websites or platforms and not just calls.
LeadFuze would be a big help for your business as well. It’s approach in lead generation is unique and would definitely be something that you should check out.
Aside from generating leads through calls, LeadFuze provides you with a list of leads that will come from specific groups that you want to get leads from.
Finding Specific Accounts or Leads
LeadFuze allows you to find contact information for specific individuals or even find contact information for all employees at a company.
You can even upload an entire list of companies and find everyone within specific departments at those companies.
Many different call center agencies outsource outbound callers or agents that specialize in qualifying prospective leads.
This is done by a process called skill-based routing , sometimes referred to as skill-based distribution.
(via Call Center Helper)
With skill-based routing, leads or customers are assigned to agents that are highly qualified to handle their questions and concerns.
As shown above, an example would be, if customers speak a specific language, they’ll be redirected to an agent that speaks the same language.
With this method, we can ensure the customers comfort and satisfaction.
These agents are then assigned to any of the necessary channels that are available.
This is a win for both parties–customers get a great customer service experience with an agent and the agent successfully handled a customer interaction.
This makes for higher customer satisfaction and high customer satisfaction means more leads and returning customers!
Most of these channels were designed with the promise of improving your chances of generating leads.
How Will I Know if My Business Needs the Services of a Lead Generation Call Center?
If your sales team is struggling to make ends meet, chasing deadlines and troubled with generating prospects, then you’ll want want to consider seeking out help from a lead generation call center.
This makes delegation so much easier, and takes a lot off your sales and marketing teams’ hands.
Just let them handle the campaigns and tasks that they’re skilled at and you’ve got your lead generation and conversion covered.
This means that you will have teams of specialized contact center specialists who will aid in bringing in leads.
They can help nurture those leads by building a good relationship with your returning customers.
With skills-based routing, you’ll be sure your customers experience comfort and that gets a higher chance of customers returning.
73% of consumers agree that a good customer experience influences their brand loyalties.
73% of consumers agree that a good customer experience influences their brand loyalties Share on XTechnology will continue evolving and exceeding limits, which means you’ll continue having to come up with different, creative ways to generate leads.
As companies and businesses grow, their list of leads and returning customers grow too.
With that said, you’ll need extra sets of hands to entertain all of them at once.
You’ll know you’re ready for a lead generation call center’s help when you want to improve customer experience by adding channels where they can reach you easier and faster.
What to Look For When You’re Seeking Out a Lead Generation Call Center for Your Business
So you’ve decided to go the route of using a call/contact center for lead generation.
To make sure that they’re the best for you, here’s a list of things that can help you decide.
1 Professionalism
Most call center services are about how well they can provide solutions for callers.
If you ask call center agents about their experiences dealing with customers, most answers aren’t good.
Customers vary and so agents are dealing with different types of attitude daily.
Most customers call about problems with their products or poor services and if you’re unlucky enough, they’re going to argue.
With that said, agents should be bigger than their customers, and by that I mean they need to stay dedicated to being polite and patient as they strictly practice professionalism.
Apart from their assigned scripts, agents must also speak in such a way that callers feel comfortable, understood, and heard.
And that’s why common courtesy should be practiced at all times.
Customers won’t always be at their best when calling but as long as their treated well and are provided a solution, there won’t be any problems.
Professionalism goes a long way. If you treat your customers well, they’ll treat you even better.
2How the Company Handles Downtime
If your call center agency’s something that’s working really well for your business, you’ll most likely want to keep it around, right?
An outage, that’s a big factor for call centers because they won’t get through to their customers and there’s nothing worse than angry customer that can’t reach customer service.
Downtime can create an unpleasant experience for clients and customers if they are unable to reach any of your lines.
That’s why these companies should always have contingency plans in cases of emergencies.
They should have plans to reduce idleness. In the event that the agency does experience this, they must be quick to resolve the issue.
3 Multilingual/Bilingual Agents
There are billions of people around the world that have their own languages and not all of them speak English.
Although English is the universally spoken language, many people don’t use it.
Many prefer to use their own language as they’re more comfortable with it, they can express their feelings better, or they just don’t understand or speak English well.
That’s why you’ll want a company that has agents who are multilingual or bilingual.
You’ll want your customers from around the world to feel comfortable stating their opinions and problems.
Being able to speak to agents fluently in their preferred language can be more comfortable than trying to figure out what the other person’s saying.
Customers are more likely to express loyalty to a company who gives them consideration and understand their needs and what’s best for them.
This is actually a part where skill-based routing should be used. We want to direct customers to agents that understand their language and vice versa.
4 Statistics
Looking into the call statistics of a call center company can help you determine how good their services are.
Some questions you can ask are:
- How high are the volume of calls?
- How long before customers are attended to?
- What are the average number of calls that get dropped because they were not answered quickly?
These statistics can really help you understand whether or not an agency is efficient for your own business or not.
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5 Customer Service
When choosing a company that will handle all of your customer inquiries, you’ll want one that has top of the customer service.
Their agents should be professional, organized and empathetic.
Responses that are done in a timely manner and providing customers with enough information about your products or services are a must.
You’ll also want agents who understand the voice of your company and be the people who speak on your behalf.
This will embody the company’s overall image in the customer’s perspective.
Poor customer service will lead to loss of clients. In fact, it’ll even lessen the number.
Make sure to provide award-winning customer service to keep your customers coming back.
6 Track Record
In search of a call center to work with, you’ll want a company that has a good track record.
See to it that they have a history of great performance both with their clients and their customers.
Call centers with a good track record for conflict resolution will win each time.
A well-established call center will bring in more customers because their standing reputation allows others who’ve experienced their service to vouch for them.
Make sure to do lots of research before choosing!
7 Quality and Cost
We know you worked hard for your budget, that’s why you need to look for a call center that’s worth every penny.
When seeking out a good call center, make sure that they have the factors that we mentioned above or that they meet your standards.
See to it that they provide what they’re services are worth.
Don’t go spending thousands of dollars on companies that doesn’t meet your expectations.
Will a Lead Generation Call Center Benefit Your Company?
As we have mentioned before, getting leads to convert into sales is one of the key factors for your business to succeed.
So, having a call center that provides support to your customers is a big help.
It’s true what they say that your employees are your company’s greatest asset.
Keep in mind that the agents are integral parts of your sales and marketing team.
They will help a business stay afloat by the services that they provide to both prospective leads and repeat customers.
Agents are trained to work in a jungle of a market and they’re good at it. They will help you gain an advantage over your competitors.
Now, it may not be the same for all companies, but 64% of organizations believe that customers should have access to live agents.
As long as you take care of your agents, they’ll take care of you and your business too.
One of the goals of a call center is customer loyalty and loyal customers spend 67% more than new customers.
loyal customers spend 67% more than new customers Share on XLoyal customers who are satisfied with their experience with your business and your customer service are more likely to vouch for you.
This is where you get referrals which is one of the best types of leads.
Word-of-mouth referrals are the easiest way to bring in, even more than prospective leads and customers.
Other loyal customers will even talk about you online, and we all know how fast things go viral and get shared there!
Best believe that call centers will bring your company conversions and sales in the long run.
In Summary
When you get a call center to work for you, understand that they will represent you for most of your customers.
People will appreciate your business more if they get good treatment and good customer service.
Many businesses may need more personalized customer service avenues.
No matter how hard they try, some of them just don’t have the time to really attend to customers personally.
Call centers provide businesses with channels that help improve their customer satisfaction by being more convenient and accessible.
With fresh new takes on contact center integration, this takes a lot off our teams’ hands.
We give it to the experts who have delegated tasks to focus on for our businesses.
With the use of new technology, we are able to improve customer satisfaction and at the same time, market our business.
With the ease of access, businesses are more likely to gain new leads by giving prospects tailored responses.
Remember, what you choose will represent you and carry your name.
Consider a contact center that meets yours and your customers’ expectations.