Welcome to the latest post in our Beyond Answer Rates series. Last time we talked about the metrics that are impacted every time an outbound call is made related to scheduling, delivery notifications, and following up on customer inquiries. This week, we explore how outbound sales contact center leaders use multiple call center metrics to understand how the number of calls made to reach a customer is impacting their business.
Speed to lead: the impact of call attempts on sales calls
Customers have nothing but choices when it comes to how they interact with a brand. Whether they are online or in-person, they want their needs met quickly, and conveniently; They need the brand to meet them where they are in their journey. For smaller transactions such as buying a pair of shoes or groceries online to pick up in-store, digital interactions remain supreme but for large, complex transactions, voice is the preferred method of communication for buyers and sellers.
Outbound sales calls are primarily made for two reasons:
- To follow up on a lead who has requested information
- To cold call a buyer to get them interested in your product or service without having them opt-in
Even though the reason for the call may be different, call center leaders agree: the quicker you can connect with your customers, the faster you can begin to understand them and start to build a foundation of trust and eventually, brand loyalty.
Why is it so hard to connect with potential customers then? Because spam and fraud calls are growing and have eroded customer trust in the phone call. With mobile subscribers now receiving an average of 14 unwanted calls monthly, consumers are less and less likely to answer an unidentified number or worse: a call labeled as spam, even if it’s coming from a legitimate business.
I’m happy with my answer rate, why do I need to look at the number of attempts?
While you may be happy with your answer rate, it’s imperative to look into KPIs that are affected by having to make multiple attempts before they pick up to truly understand your operational efficiency. Depending on why your contact center is making outbound sales calls, this can include:
- Dials-to-Deals Ratio
- Call Duration
- Customer Acquisition Cost
- First Call Close
- Call Attempts Before Being Blocked
- NPS/CES/CSAT
What can my data tell me?
Once you know which metrics matter to your organization, analyze and identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement for your outbound call operations by asking questions about your data, including:
For cold calls:
- What is causing a specific agent to make six calls to the same person before they answer vs. a rep averaging three calls?
- Are they working from an old lead list?
- Are they not doing their research and reaching out to the wrong people?
- Is the phone call their first instance of communication?
- What is causing certain numbers to be blocked?
- Are they calling too many times?
- Are they calling outside business hours?
For calls that have been requested:
- Why is my agent having to make so many calls to someone who wants to be contacted by us?
- Are they having to play phone tag?
- Has this number been flagged by spam?
The takeaway: If outbound calls are part of your sales strategy, reaching and converting more leads while lowering customer acquisition costs starts with a clean call reputation.
Start getting to your leads faster today. Here’s how:
- Register any number that makes outbound calls at the Free Caller Registry. Powered by a partnership between Hiya, First Orion, and TNS, Free Caller Registry is a free, streamlined way for businesses to submit their business name and phone number to all three major wireless carriers.
- Review your dialing practices to make sure you are following clean dialing practices. If you aren’t - adjust them so you don’t get flagged
- Leverage your data to identify and inform training opportunities and process updates
- Constantly monitor your call delivery metrics and continue to make adjustments as needed
For companies that make more than 20,000 outbound calls a month, see what your customers see when you call with a complimentary call reputation assessment.
