We all know that customer satisfaction is one of the key components to a company’s success, and one of the main ways it can be achieved is through customer service call centers. In fact, around 64% of people say that customer experience is more important than price — that means that your company should focus on creating the best customer service experience possible.
An average customer call center usually focuses on three areas: inbound sales calls, outbound sales calls, and technical support (depending on the business in question). Inbound sales calls are the easiest to manage because the customer is contacting you; they’ve already decided they’re interested in the product or service and want to learn more about it, or even purchase it outright. The same goes for technical support, although it requires more patient and nuanced personalities. The crux of the problem lies in outbound sales call centers.
One of the things that consumers hate most in this world is unsolicited marketing phone calls. We’ve all experienced cold calls from credit card companies or political proponents that have inspired us to (perhaps a little too aggressively) hang up on whatever poor schmuck was simply trying to do his job — that is exactly why your call center should not perform cold calls. Cold calling can actually have a negative impact on future purchases, especially if the frequency in which they are sent out is too high. Instead, outbound sales calls should only pull from pools of people that have previously stated an interest in your product: those who have signed up for emails or requested further information on your website are prime targets.
Since you’ve eliminated the most disliked aspect of marketing humanity has ever known from your call center, you can beef up the rest of the outbound sales department. Scripts are useful and generally contain important legal information in addition to facts about the company itself, but if they’re too long and rigid, the call will seem impersonal. There are too many companies in existence today that offer similar services; don’t risk losing a customer because you didn’t take the time to show a little personality. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible for your employees to have fun while remaining professional and completing their jobs, and that is what will bring your customers back for more.