Apart from the production process, marketing is the most important aspect of running a business. This is because it governs the amount of revenue that any entrepreneur will collect, which is why it needs to be done in an appropriate manner. There are many marketing strategies prevalent today. However, most of them have undergone transition due to the advances made in technology.
Specifically speaking, telemarketing, albeit an old concept, has undergone several changes too. From using it alongside SEO techniques to employing advanced equipment, business owners have experimented with several mixes to ensure maximum engagement for their business. Before we delve into this, let us first give you a brief introduction of telemarketing.
As the name suggests, telemarketing simply denotes the use of telephones to market a product or service. In previous times, when the concept was newly launched and put to practice, business owners would hire agents to make calls using traditional telephones to potential clients, and educate them about their company. This was quite fruitful then, as it is today, in terms of lead generation, and businesses experienced a boost whenever they made use of this marketing strategy.
In order to make telemarketing work, business owners must be able to do two or three things beforehand. The most important of these is setting up a call center as per the requirements of their company. This, again, has several aspects, such as hiring the right number of candidates, setting up the system, getting the equipment, and maintaining it on a regular basis. Apart from this, entrepreneurs should decide on a script that will be used to communicate with potential clients. This should be well-written, while making sure that all the points are covered in an appropriate manner. Lastly, they should concentrate on coming up with a list of people they would be contacting, so that marketing for their product or company can help generate as many leads as possible.
Ever since times have changed, several new ways have come up in order to put telemarketing to the best possible use. This includes specialized equipment and software, which have made the work of an average call center agent easy and hassle-free. Specially speaking, the new power dialer is an excellent addition to this area. Haven’t heard of it yet? That’s not a problem! Read on to find more on what a power dialer is, and how does it work.
Since previous times, call agents either had a list of individuals to call, or they would dial numbers randomly. This was done manually, and resulted in a lot of time being wasted. Also, the agents’ efficiency was reduced, since they got tired quickly due to all the manual work that they were asked to do. In order to curb this, researchers and innovators came up with the power dialer – a tool that not only made telemarketing easy, but also increased the efficiency of call centers who employed it. It is basically a system that dials numbers automatically as per a list, and if someone isn’t answering, then disconnects the call after a set number of rings. Also, when a call is answered, a power dialer automatically connects an agent on the other end, so that no time is wasted, and the required conversation between the company and the client can be held right away. This way, no time is wasted, and many people can be reached in a single day.
The power dialer is an efficient tool for telemarketing, especially when it comes to companies that have less agents and more people to reach out to. By using it, entrepreneurs can run marketing campaigns It is a fairly new system, which is why business owners take their time to master its use. In order to make their task easier, we have put together the following list of some of the best practices related to power dialing.
Before making the calls
Have a targeted call list
Before using your power dialer, it is important that you do some homework to make the best out of your telemarketing campaign. This includes putting together a list of people that you intend to call. You can either do this yourself with the help of your marketing executive or find out existing ones that are meant for your niche market. This way, you will not only be able to use your power dialer in an effective manner, but you would also spend time on potential leads rather than talking to people randomly. Since it is always better to work on people who are already interested in your field of operations, this technique will bear more fruit for you as compared to the rest.
Use a call ID that complements your campaign
When using telemarketing, it is important that you choose a caller ID that resonates with your campaign. This means that it should work alongside your strategy and get you more clients. You can do this by researching on what works best with your marketing technique. For instance, it you’re doing B2B marketing, then it does not matter that what type of ID you use. This is because businesses usually answer all the calls that they get. However, on the other hand, if you are calling consumers, as in B2C marketing, then you must use an ID that is local. Since studies have shown that consumers answer familiar looking numbers more than others, you are more likely to generate leads this way for your company.
Do not invade people’s privacy
This is quite important, and failing to recognized people’s choices and wishes will surely earn you a bad name for your company or business. Hence, if you are based in a country that has lists for citizens who do not wish to receive unsolicited calls, then you must obtain them. Once that is done, use a scrubbing software to rid your caller lists of these numbers. This is because you only want to call people who are genuinely interested in hearing from you, and you do not want to waste your time and resources on those who are indifferent towards your campaign.
Draft your scripts in a timely and appropriate manner
This is extremely important, since you do not want to be at a loss of words right in the middle of a call. In order to do this, you must conduct some research on your intended audience, and prepare for all the possible questions that they might ask you. Also, you must draft the entire conversation, right from the start till the very end, since you will be doing most of the talking. Plan to introduce your product or service in the right manner, and add some convincing sentences too for the final touch.
Make sure that your agents are perfect for the job
In order to complement your company’s use of a power dialer, you must make sure that you have hired the right agents for your call cent. This is because, in case you haven’t, all your investment will go in vain, since agents are on the communication end, and represent your company in front of potential clients. If they mess it all up, despite you making use of the best power dialer, you won’t get any leads at all. Hence, always look into the backgrounds of candidates that you are about to hire, and test them for a few calls before making them permanent employees of your company.
During the call
Go through the potential client that you are calling
As the power dialer is dialing, you can use the time to go through the details of the client who is expected to pick up your call. This way, you will be able to speak to them using their name, and your conversation will come off as being quite professional. Also, if you know more about their likes and dislikes, then you can talk in a manner that is more suited to them, which will help you in convincing them.
Make sure to label calls
While talking to a potential client, you will get an idea regarding whether they are interested in your product or service, or not. Hence, after you’ve hung up, immediately label the call with convenient words, such as “interested”, “needs more work”, or “not interested”. This way, you can revise your lists after every campaign, and remove numbers that are “bad leads”. Also, you can use these new lists to convince people who seem interested and convert them fully with another call.
Make points as you talk to your potential clients
This is extremely important, not just for your call center agents, but also for other departments of your business. For instance, if you ask your agents to take down notes while they are on call with people, even those who aren’t leads, then you will be able to get valuable insight into what they think about your company and the campaign. Once you have this data, you can use it to your advantage by making the relevant changes to your telemarketing strategy.
In addition to this, these notes can help you pick up the conversation from where you left last time with potential lead. This will not only reflect your professionalism, but you will also be able to communicate more effectively.
Turn off the power dialer as per your convenience
You do not have to use a power dialer all the time. Instead, when you are looking for a break, you can use another telemarketing dialer system, such as the preview dialer. This will allow you to scan the list that you are using with the power dialer in order to make all the calls. Also, you can utilize the extra time in between calls by going through your notes and preparing yourself for your next conversation.
Avoid voicemails
Your power dialer will help you save time by making calls automatically. However, there will come several instances when instead of being greeted by a human on the other end, you will come across their answering machines. So what should you? It’s quite simple! Get a system that leaves voicemail messages as soon the call hits an answering machine, and you can simply move on to another number through the power dialer. This is because if you waste time on leaving voicemail messages yourself, then you will be drained earlier on into the campaign, which will reduce the number of live interactions that you have on that day.
After you are done for the day
Appreciate yourself
You deserve applause for the fact that you have power dialed through a long list of potential leads, and labeled each call for later review. This is an impressive field, and you should be proud of making through a day’s worth of campaign without any major hurdles
Review your lists
Power dialing enables you to go through a list in less time as compared to the manual dialing method. This gives you an opportunity to review the lists that you have done on a given day, and rid them of numbers that have been labeled as “Bad leads” or “uninterested” by you during the campaign. This will keep your lists updated, and you can continue from here whenever you run the campaign next.
Follow up with your potential leads
This is an important aspect that you must consider after you have power dialed through a list, and separated the numbers as good or bad leads. Now, you can forget about the bad leads for the time being, follow up with the good ones by contacting them again via email or phone. If you want to call them, you can power dial through the list of “good leads” and follow up with your potential clients regarding their interest in your product or service. This is a good idea for effective lead generation, as you constantly need to remind people about your business so that they can make a purchase soon. On the other hand, you can email them as well by sending out a short, generic message that serves the purpose well.