Outbound calling, like cold calls, may sound intimidating for newbies in the customer service industry. You may ask yourself if prospects have time for your business, let alone pick up the phone.
Will buyers show more interest if you reach out to them? Will they move forward with the next step of the buyer’s journey?
RAIN Group answered this by finding that “82% of buyers accept meetings with sellers who proactively reach out to them.” Keeping in touch with your clients will help you improve your customer service by ensuring that you are on the same page.
What is outbound calling?
Outbound calling is when companies reach out to potential buyers or regular customers through their agents. The main objective is to generate leads and increase customer retention rates. Through targeted dialing, marketing specialists give clients more personalized attention and service.
There are three different types of outbound calling: cold, warm, and hot. Each type of call in different scenarios comes with its objective.
Since 1873, cold calling has been a practice to raise the prospect’s awareness of the business. It is done when a potential customer has zero idea of the brand until they receive the cold call. It is a form of telemarketing equating to door-to-door selling in the past decades.
Warm calls occur when a prospect has shown interest in doing business with you. It is a nudge on your potential customer to move forward to the next phase of their buyer’s journey.
Lastly, hot calls are where you finally close the deal with your prospect. The buyer may have shown great interest in your offerings by signing up for newsletters, answering forms, or adding a product to their online shopping cart.
Following these steps of outbound calls can help you best identify what sparks joy in your prospects, helping you create a better and improved customer service experience.
How outbound calling improves customer service
The most common impression when we talk about customer service is that clients reach out to call centers for support when an issue arises. The calls received by companies for inquiries and concerns from customers and prospects are called inbound calls.
Linking outbound calling to better customer service can be a bit doubtful. After all, you are reaching out and taking some of the customer’s time with a phone call. However, analyzing the data gathered during an outbound call conversion can provide valuable insights on how to better deal with your buyers.
Here are some ways outbound calling can help improve your customer service:
Making sure customers get the best experience
Casually checking up on friends to see if they are alright is a great way to express that you care. It can be the same when you have loyal customers you take care of — you call them to ensure they are happy and satisfied with your products and services.
An effectual outbound calling not only generates leads but can also ultimately catalyze a good relationship with your customers if the approach is right. If a customer’s experience is delightful from the beginning, chances of retentions and referrals will be significantly high.
Disseminating updates in services
With outbound calling, updates in services, new product launches, or even changes in terms and conditions of use are disseminated to the customers immediately. Including your customers in every business decision shows that they are your priority.
An outbound call could help make sure that customers are properly notified. Ensuring the correctness of information will reduce discrepancies and misunderstandings between an enterprise and its customers.
Customer satisfaction evaluation
Although outbound calling is typically used at the start of the buying process, there is no rule against calling customers for market research and surveys. With a human conversation, it’ll be easier for clients to express their concerns and feedback.
Reaching out to buyers before they have to call for an issue is a supportive way to maintain and improve your customer relationship.
Should you outsource outbound calling?
If you are considering investing in an outbound telemarketing process, you will need to upscale your capital with more equipment and added workforce. For small to medium-sized companies, this could consume a large budget, possibly affecting other business functions.
An in-house outbound call center is feasible and gives you overall strategy control. However, this would require longer trial and error, especially for a brand new team.
An outsourced outbound call center mitigates risks of loss in resources. Oppositely, it supports the reduction of operational costs, allowing you to allot the budget to other business investments.
More than easing financial burdens, it lightens the workload for your in-house staff, helping them focus on their duties and creating greater value for the business.
