Home » Posts tagged 'call center' (Page 3)

The Top Reasons Customer Service is Your Company’s Lifeline

Is customer service the reason your business is suffering? Customer service is one of the most critical areas of your company, and when it hurts, your entire company will fail. Think about it; customer service representatives are the direct line between your business and your customers. Do you think that your team is representing your business well? In the highly competitive small business industry, your customer service team could be the ‘make it or break it’ aspect for your company.

Customer Service Puts You Ahead

Companies with highly trained customer service staff will always come out on top, compared to other businesses that spend their time looking to other avenues such as marketing and ads. Marketing and advertising are essential aspects of the company but did you know that it’s better to focus on your existing customers? It may sound counterintuitive, but it’s true. A loyal customer is for life, and when doing business long-term, loyal customers can make a difference in your longevity.

If you are still skeptical of the benefits of customer service, then read on to learn the top reasons customer service is your company’s lifeline.

1. You Save with Customer Retention

Customer retention by 5% can increase your profits by more than 25%. If that math seems a little wonky to you, think about it. If you have one loyal customer, they are much more likely to continue to purchase from your brand. If you sell tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels, they are much more likely to buy all three products dutifully every week they come into your store. Contrast that long-term purchasing with the customer who decided to try your product one time when it was on sale. If you gain enough customer retention, your brand will sell itself, saving you money on operating costs over time. What does all of this have to do with customer service? You gain loyal customers by being loyal first. Be available 24/7, listen to their needs, solve their problems, and always let your existing customers know that you appreciate them.

Customer Service
Source: Stockphoto.com – #O23559 #ID100167049324

2. It Gives Your Brand a Positive Image

You know your mission statement, but just because you’ve got it memorized, that doesn’t mean your customers do. Customers only know from your company what they assume about it when they view you on social media, see your ads, and interact with you on the phone. If you have a positive presence all across the board, they will see your company in a positive light. It’s as simple as that.

3. Happiness is Contagious

A big smile from a stranger can brighten anyone’s day. Imagine you were having a bad day and running late for work. Then, on your commute to work, a baby can’t stop smiling and giggling at you. It would be hard to continue focusing on your bad day when so much happiness has entered your sight-line. The same goes for customer service agents. A positive customer service agent on the other line can help set the mood for a disgruntled customer on the other end.

4. Word of Mouth

Money can’t buy you word of mouth advertising, but it is one of the most worthwhile forms of advertising. We’ve all done it when we are impressed with a brand; we can’t help but talk about it with our friends. If you have a pleasant experience with a company, it stays with you, and that’s why having a strong customer service team is so important. We revisit and reorder from the same places over and over again because something impressed us. Whether that’s a happy server at a restaurant or no-hassle, free-shipping on returns at a fashion company.

5. People Are Willing to Spend More on a Brand They Trust

This is something that is not very obvious, but very relatable. If you’re shopping online and looking for a particular product, you’re going to go with the brand that you trust over another brand with cheaper products but a bad reputation. When you’re looking for a restaurant to go to with friends, you might check out Yelp. If there are rave reviews for a more expensive spot you’re more likely to check that place out then to head to the dive bar with one star.

Things Customer Service Representatives Should Do On Every Call

The customer service representative is one of the most critical pieces of your business. They are the face of your company and the people who you trust to speak one-on-one with your customers.

We may sometimes forget how important a customer service representative’s role truly is. They are given the duty to treat customers with respect and find solutions for a myriad of issues that can arise. An angry customer is not an easy challenge to overcome, and your staff needs to be adequately trained in customer service skills and must be talented enough to know how to handle various situations. Read on to learn how each customer service representative should handle every single call.

1. Swift Responses

Timing is a very crucial part of customer service. The response time to every inquiry should be dealt with quickly and accurately. Customers do not want to wait on the phone all day to ask an agent a question. They also do not want to wait for extremely long periods for a delivery or an email response. Your representatives must be trained properly to reduce hold times. Call center agents must understand the importance of timeliness in business.

2. Patience Is A Virtue

Many customers make calls to customer service lines because there is some issue with the product, whether it be damaged, missing pieces, or something else. This can undoubtedly frustrate some people, and therefore some people may come off as combative at first. A customer service representative that is patient, however, can easily diffuse situations with a negative customer. You might like this resource from Barbara Khozam about how to practice patience.

3. Positivity

Agents who can maintain a positive attitude despite dealing with a negative customer will be the most successful. Those with a positive attitude are aware that they do not need to bring their jobs home with them and become more successful overall. While positivity may be a mindset, there is training that you can cover. For example, you can train your agents on positive language to use over the phone and in person, such as “I can see how that would upset you, let’s try to find the solution.” Plus, a happy brain performs better.

4. Communicative

Customer service representatives spend their time interacting with customers. Therefore they need to excel in business communication skills. If they are not professional and conversational, perhaps they’re not right for this particular job. Agents need to be concise, but they also know when to make a little small talk. This adds a human touch, but your agents should not be overly conversational, merely adding a personal comment to the situation your customer is describing is enough. Do not interrupt people and resolve their issue as fast as possible without being robotic.

Things customer service employees should say on every call.
Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100230923000

5. Empathetic

Empathy is an essential trait in any customer service agent. The ability to understand a customer’s feelings and being able to relate yourself to their situation can turn a bad situation around. When customers call customer service, they’re usually unhappy with something, and it is important that your customer service representatives apply empathy to every story they hear.

6. Knowledgeable

Being knowledgeable about the business whom these agents are representing is key in delivering excellent service. Be sure that all of your agents undergo a proper amount of training so that they are equipped with all the tools they need to be successful in this position. Training should happen regularly, not just at the time of hire. Agents should always be knowledgeable about current promotions, new products or services, and on technology updates to the systems they regularly use.

7. Attentive

All agents should possess excellent listening skills. Sometimes customers need to explain their issues in greater detail, and an agent needs to listen during the entire explanation actively. Also, when an agent offers solutions frequently, the customer is not interested in all of them, and an agent must be able to understand their customers’ opinions and come up with more flexible solutions to suit the person.

Along with all of these skills, customer service representatives should always try to go above and beyond for their customers when possible. The best customer service representatives display all of these skills in each and every phone call. But that is not all, they also should be undergoing training, and it is important that your customer service agents stay motivated so that they can excel for your company and turn your customers into loyal brand followers.

If you like this article, you should check out this ultimate list of customer service tips for 2020.

Top 16 BPO Call Centers in the United States

BPO call centers are centralized facilities that handle thousands of inbound and outbound calls and other business processes every day. With such call centers, organizations and businesses can communicate effectively with prospects, current customers, and partners.

The call center services market generated $140 billion of revenue in 2017 and is projected to grow much larger than that by 2025.

What Do BPO Call Centers Offer?

BPO stands for business process outsourcing. BPO call centers handle key business processes such as lead generation, customer service, technical support, and more. Call center outsourcing means hiring a third party — such as a BPO call center — to handle and complete these business processes. Instead of hiring an in-house team, you can outsource these services and reduce costs spent on employees.

BPO call centers aren’t just for customer service providers. They can manage more business processes and operations to support different departments of an organization. Here are a few key responsibilities a call center BPO handles:

  • Customer service and support
  • Lead generation and qualification
  • New order processing
  • Product exchanges and returns
  • Billing, payment, and invoicing services
  • Technical support
  • Special customer requests, and so on.

Call Center Amenities and Technologies

BPO call centers come equipped with advanced tools and technologies to increase productivity and efficiency. This makes them a good alternative to hiring in-house teams and increasing spend on advanced technologies.

Related: Call Center Trends in 2021

Depending on the call center, hardware and software can be shared by full teams or specific individuals. In fact, it is becoming more common for call centers to adopt BYOD policies that let users use their own devices from remote locations. This flexibility increases the global coverage and reach of these call centers.

The largest US call centers make use of administration panels that help employees take calls and prioritize tasks. These call centers will also have various office locations, project management systems, and CRMs. And they will have access to features such as:

  • Call recording
  • Softphones
  • Outbound calling and custom caller IDs
  • International phone numbers
  • International call forwarding
  • Cloud IVR
  • Advanced routing options: time-based routing, simultaneous ring, follow the sun support model
  • Voicemail to email, and so on.

As a call center grows and expands its services, it will need new technology to carry its weight. These tools and technologies help US call centers reduce wait time, save on business-related costs, and connect global teams.

Furthermore, they also help BPO call centers offer the best customer service to their clients’ customers.

Top 16 US Call Centers

The following is a listing of the top BPO call centers in the United States:

Note: This list is compiled from research and reviews collected by UpCity.com, Clutch.co, and G2.

1. America’s Call Center (ACC)
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: Professional services for home inspectors: customer service, lead management, market research, selling and upselling, full order processing, etc.
Service Area: International

2. BPO American
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: Answering services, inbound and outbound call center services, webchat, email, and SMS services
Service Area: International

3. Intersoft BPO
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: Customer service, management, billing, KPO, digital marketing
Service Area: International

4. MAP Communications
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: 24/7 telephone services: answering services, virtual receptionist services, customized call center solutions
Service Area: International

5. PROS
Commercial Focus: B2B, B2C
Services: Internet technology and marketing solutions
Service Area: International

6. CIENCE Technologies
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: People-as-a-Service (PaaS): voice and call center services, SDR services, CRM consulting, outreach, etc
Service Area: International

7. SupportYourApp
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: 24/7 customer support and service for tech companies
Service Area: International

8. Remote CoWorker
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: Virtual assistants, customer and technical support, sales and billing, bookkeeping, etc.
Service Area: National

9. SAGE Outsource Solutions
Commercial Focus: B2B, B2C
Services: Customer contact center: customer service, sales, technical support, voice of the customer program (VoC)
Service Area: National

10. Wow 24-7
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: Customer support outsourcing provider
Service Area: International

11. Telecom Inc
Commercial Focus: B2B, B2C
Services: Omnichannel contact center: inbound and outbound solutions
Service Area: International

12. Unity Communications
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: BPO services: customer service, virtual assistants, admin support, data entry, order processing, bookkeeping, etc.
Service Area: International

13. Contact One
Commercial Focus: B2B, B2C
Services: Call center support services: virtual receptionists, medical answering services, appointment setting, live chat support, etc.
Service Area: National

14. Callbox
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: Lead generation, appointment setting, pipeline management, account-based marketing, event marketing, etc.
Service Area: International

15. Leadium
Commercial Focus: B2B
Services: Outbound sales, predictive sales funnel solution, lead generation, etc
Service Area: International

16. XACT
Commercial Focus: B2B, B2C
Services: Answering services, lead generation, telemarketing and telesales, customer support, chat or web support, order processing, etc
Service Area: International

Starting Your Own Call Center

Starting your own BPO call center is quite easy to do. You need to identify what key services you will offer and then create a plan accordingly:

  • How many employees will you need?
  • How will you train employees?
  • Will you hire remote employees in different regions and countries?
  • How will you structure your departments?
  • Will you need cloud or virtual call center solutions?
  • What locations will you cover?
  • What technology will you need to offer these services?
  • How will you keep up and comply with call center regulations? And so on.

In the end, it matters how internal processes are set up. Keep things running smoothly with the right technology, consistent training, dedicated employees, and satisfied customers. Once you achieve all of these goals, your organization will be on track to becoming a high-volume call center!

To learn more about Global Call Forwarding’s virtual call center software, speak with our representatives today. We can get you set up with the tools and features you need to run your BPO call center from any location. Call us at +1 (561) 908-6171 or chat with us online!

Related: How to Start a Call Center: A Complete Guide

Call Center Regulations

Customer call centers are the bedrock of large businesses’ customer service. Many businesses set up call centers to take incoming calls from customers who need help or have questions about their products or services. While some businesses only use their call center to receive calls, others also use it to make outbound calls for the purpose of soliciting new clients.

Call Center Laws

It is important to know that there are specific federal laws that affect the operation of call centers. These include the Telephone, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Consumer Protection Act, and the U.S. Department of Labor Hourly Worker Requirements.

While some of these may seem surprising, it is important to know that many call center managers are not aware they can be in violation of call center regulations.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act

Call centers that are making outbound calls to solicit sales must follow the regulations mandated by the TCPA. This body regulates the times that telemarketers may call and their persons they may call.

  • Call centers must not call residential numbers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
  • During each call, the customer service agent must tell the recipient which company he or she represents and must also give his or her name and phone number.
  • Call centers must abide by the regulations of the Do Not Call Registry.
  • Auto-dialed and automated or pre-recorded calls may not be made for telemarketing purposes without the recipient’s written consent.

The TCPA permits individuals to file lawsuits and claim damages if a call center violates the regulations.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

All the main U.S. health insurance companies utilize customer service call centers. Their purpose is to handle inquiries from current or prospective insurance policy subscribers as well as dealing with provider inquiries, verifications of eligibility, and claim authorizations. All call center workers dealing with patient information must at all times adhere to the regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA was passed in 1996 and mandates the privacy of each individual’s health information. The act is designed to protect patients and their medical information. Call center staff are not allowed to discuss the details of private patient information with anyone other than the patient or a person whom the patient has authorized. Any call center that violates HIPAA regulations is subject to legal action and penalties on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Contractual Requirements

Each individual client to whom a call center provides service is classed as a separate contract. Call centers must, at all times, follow federal mandates for these clients, as well as following the client’s specific requirements. For example, a contract may specify that calls are to be answered live instead of being routed through an automated system. Another contract may request that calls are answered within a specific time frame. If a call center is unionized, it is also required to meet union regulations as well. All specific contractual obligations must be followed at all times.

U.S. Department of Labor Hourly Worker Requirements

Usually, call center employees are paid at an hourly rate. For call centers in the United States, the U.S. Department of Labor administers the Fair Labor Standards Act, which states how workers who are paid hourly must be treated. The employer is required to pay at least the national minimum wage unless the state minimum wage is higher. Furthermore, hourly employees who work more than 40 hours per week must be paid an overtime rate, the amount of which should be of one and a half times their normal hourly wage.

It is up to the call center manager to ensure that there are enough people in the call center to handle the expected call volume at any given time. Call center managers often use virtual software to predict how many call center agents will be needed to handle the projected volume in half-hour increments. This helps ensure that workers get their required break times.

Regulations Regarding Recording Customer Calls

If you record customer calls and you are taking information about the customer’s credit cards, then you need to know that this is against PCI-DSS standards, which prohibits the storage of the CVV2 number (the three- or four-digit number listed on the back of the card). This number may not be stored at any time or in any form even at a high level of encryption. If your company is recording calls and you are not stopping call recording when the customer gives out the CVV2 number, then you are violating PCI-DSS regulations. The simple solution to this problem is to pause the voice recording when the customer is inputting their credit card details so that the call center agent can enter it manually and it will not be stored in the recording.

Regulations Regarding Outbound Calls

Many companies have a recorded announcement stating that incoming calls may be recorded for the improvement of customer services.

However, few organizations provide this information when making outgoing calls to customers. And even fewer take into consideration that they are recording their employee’s conversations as well as those of their customers. At this point, it should be noted that if you are going to record a telephone conversation, all parties must be notified before you commence recording. To avoid legal action, your call center must advise all parties that they will be recorded, and give them the opportunity to opt out if they so desire. It must also be clear that in order to opt out they should hang up. In order to avoid any legal complications with this issue, the easiest option is to ask your employees and contractors to sign a notice of consent form agreeing that their calls may be monitored and recorded.

Network Regulations

You also need to ensure that your call center network system is secure enough to be compliant with PCI guidelines. This means not only having an effective firewall and router but also implementing internal processes that will provide additional layers of protection. You should impose restrictions on all traffic from networks which are considered to be unsafe and never permit direct access between network components containing customer data and the internet.

To make sure your call center agents are aware of security protocols and call center regulations, you should add these issues to the employee training program, and make sure to update your team regularly so that they do not forget to keep all calls 100 percent compliant.

3 Ways Airlines Use Call Forwarding to Increase Sales

I published an article a few weeks back, ranking the top 10 budget airlines in Asia and how to reach them. I noticed a trend amongst best in Asia: 60% of these airlines offer international phone numbers. The trend continues even further to major global airlines like Qatar Airways and American Airlines!

In this post, we take a look at how airlines use call forwarding to increase sales.

It can be expensive and complicated to make international calls. Your customers don’t want to dial a long-distance phone number just to book their flight. Instead, they are almost 3x more likely to make free calls.

Due to the industry’s nature, the customer base of any travel company is typically spread across many countries. The AirAsia Group, for example, services affiliates in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thai, India, Japan and the Philippines. (Source: AirAsia Corporate Profile)

Smart airlines provide local phone numbers in their target markets and forward inbound calls internationally. For example, Air Asia offers a local contact number in 15+ countries. This enables their business to maximize its potential in Asia – Pacific markets.

Click here to see how AirAsia makes themselves more accessible to customers.

airlines call forwarding
Source: Shutterstock D#208776862 – Standard License

3 Ways Airlines Use Call Forwarding as a Marketing and Sales Tool:

Call forwarding is a cost-effective marketing tool used by top airlines across the globe to increase sales. Airlines that list local or free phone numbers as a call to action in advertisements are guaranteed to receive more calls. The calls can then be forwarded internationally to any destination in the world.

Here are 3 ways airlines use local numbers as a marketing tool:

  1.        Mobile: booking hotline

A local phone number can be used as a reservations hotline to attract more traffic from any target country. Many airlines offer booking hotlines that direct customer inquiries to call centres or sales offices. 

  1.       Print advertisement: billboards, signs, kiosks

Print advertisements are still very efficient at reaching mobile consumers in 2017. Especially in Asia, airlines advertise their free phone number on public transportation, billboards, kiosks and signs. As you might see in the image, a free phone number is an effective call-to-action. 

  1.       B2B sales and customer support

Travel agencies and corporate customers shouldn’t have to pay to call you. A local direct line can have a tremendous impact on B2B sales and customer support. Business contacts prefer a phone number that is easy to call.

Local or toll free contact numbers can be advertised on the website to make an airline more accessible and provide better customer support.

Set Up a Call Forwarding Service for Your Airline in 3 Steps:

Global Call Forwarding offers a 15-day free trial to corporate users, so they can test as many as three local or toll-free phone numbers risk-free. Here are 3 steps for airlines that want to set up a call forwarding service:

  1.       Identify target markets and view rates

Which countries do most of your passengers come from? Airlines should offer local contact numbers in at least their top 3-5 markets. We can provide international toll free numbers from many of the 195 countries worldwide.

  1.        Choose the best call forwarding service provider.

The best providers offer free trials and a money-back guarantee. A call forwarding service provider will package the local/toll free number and forwarding service as one monthly fee.

  1.       Forward incoming calls

Forward incoming calls to any destination in the world – sales offices, call centers, cell phones or business headquarters. The potential is virtually unlimited.

Call Center KPIs: 12 Metrics to Track for Customer Success

Which call center KPIs are necessary to help you understand how your business is performing and how satisfied your customers are? The following is a list of 12 important call center metrics to consider.

Call Center Standard KPIs: Important Metrics to Track

Call center KPIs or key performance indicators are metrics to help you measure how well your business is doing and what areas need improvement. KPIs are business-specific. Therefore, it is important to select them wisely by considering the strategic interests of your business. There are four basic areas to consider:

  • Affordability and sustainability of the call center
  • Maximizing your customers’ experience
  • Improved business outcomes
  • Efficient use of your human resources

The following is a list of call center KPIs to consider for your contact center. Identify the right KPIs for your business and strive towards a better success rate.

1. Average Time in the Queue

This call center KPI represents the total time callers wait to speak to an agent divided by the total number of calls. Reducing wait times should be every business’ top priority. Customer frustration increases with increasing queue time. Additionally, this gives the impression that your business has poor customer service. And unhappy customers won’t hesitate to find a business that can cater to them faster.

2. Service Level or Response Time

Service level is the percentage of calls answered within a specified period. More specifically, it is the number of calls attended to within a specified number of seconds. Call center managers often set a service level goal such as 90/30 (i.e., 90% of the calls are answered within 30 seconds). Some consider service level one of the most important call center KPIs since it is closely related to customer service.

3. Percentage of Calls Blocked

As the name suggests, this is the percentage of incoming calls that are blocked. Or in other words, calls not connected to an agent. Either the agents were busy or the call center software could not handle the call volume. Blocked calls lead to customer dissatisfaction and possible loss of future business.

4. Average Speed of Answer

This metric measures the amount of time taken to answer a call during a certain time frame. This includes the sum of time in the queue and time spent waiting for the agent to answer their call. It does not, however, consider the time the caller spends interacting with the business’ IVR. This metric helps measure the efficiency and accessibility of the call center team.

5. Average Handle Time

This is one of the most commonly measured call center KPIs. The average handle time is calculated by adding the agents’ talk and hold time to their post-call work time and then dividing this sum by the number of calls handled by the agent. Managers trying to reduce the average handle time must be careful in their approach as customer satisfaction could be affected. There are several steps to improve the average handle time:

  • Thorough training and coaching of agents
  • Continuous monitoring of agents’ performance
  • Recording of calls
  • Streamlining agent workflow and processes
  • Optimizing call routing
  • Using a detailed and useful knowledge base
  • Utilizing an internal communication system
  • Ensuring customer information is current

6. First Call Resolution

First call resolution occurs when a customer’s query is satisfied during their initial call, and follow-up is not necessary. Research suggests that this metric has a greater positive impact on customer satisfaction than any other KPI.

7. Average Abandonment Rate

The call abandonment rate is a measure of the number of times customers hang-up or abandon calls before reaching an agent. Long wait times, confusing IVR systems, jarring hold music, etc., can lead to a high call abandonment rate. Customers gravitate to companies that are easy to reach in a timely fashion.

8. Average After Call Work Time

After a call is completed, agents complete tasks such as sending out confirmation emails, updating databases and CRMs, and contacting call center teammates. This time spent after a call is referred to as average after call work time. Oftentimes, this can take up a lot of an agent’s time and managers are constantly trying to find ways to reduce this time. Easy-to-use and efficient CRMs where all these activities can be completed through one platform can help reduce the time spent on completing these activities.

9. Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction rates or a CSAT score is one of the most important call center KPIs. These scores are important to measure as they can give you insight into how customers are interacting with or enjoying your service. Good customer satisfaction rates mean that your employees are doing a good job, leaving customers happy and satisfied. Companies can measure customer satisfaction or CSAT scores through customer surveys (email, phone, in-app).

10. Occupancy Rate

Occupancy rate measures the total time agents are on calls or completing other work-related tasks divided by the total work time. In other words, this metric measures how long an agent is occupied with work. Optimizing occupancy rates is one of the top goals of any call center manager. However, this can lead to heavy workloads and overburdened employees.

11. Agent Absenteeism

Agent absenteeism is, as the name suggests, the percent of days an agent is absent from work over the total number of contracted days. This KPI can provide insights when budgeting or planning ways to optimize agent work. Human resource personnel routinely track the days lost from work for all call center employees. Effective call center operations minimize absenteeism.

12. Agent Turnover Rate

This is another important call center KPI to pay attention to. The agent turnover rate is the percentage of agents that quit their employment. This can be due to a range of factors: monotonous work, no rewards or incentives, excessive workload, and so on. Keeping employees and agents happy can lead to better CSAT scores and improve sales or profits.

Which of These Call Center KPIs Does Your Business Need?

Global call center metrics can help you determine how satisfied your customers and employees are as well as how efficient your business is. Now based on your business and its requirements, identify which of these call center KPIs do you need to track. Once you make a list of necessary KPIs to measure, start tracking through helpful software, and watch your business improve!

5 Call Center Features You Need for an Inbound Sales Team

Inbound call center agents handle incoming calls for your company, usually in large volumes. Traditionally, call centers take on product orders or provide customer service during hours when your office is not available.

Call centers will typically use international toll-free numbers when the call center is located outside the country. They are especially beneficial in areas where labor is less expensive. For example, you may have a few call centers setup in the Philippines or India. Depending on your industry, you may even have call centers specified just for bringing in new sales opportunities.

International call forwarding services are imperative to sales teams. Whether you are the owner of a call center in the Philippines or India, a toll free call forwarding service provider can get your enterprise set up with a call center phone system so you can increase sales at your company. We highlighted 5 key features that can increase the effectiveness of your inbound call center.

Your Inbound Sales Team

Inbound sales, by definition, is the budding relationship between a potential client that reaches out to your company and a salesperson from your organization. Because the digital realm has transformed the way companies interact with consumers and make sales, enterprises have now included digital phone numbers, or virtual phone numbers, to streamline the process.

When these features are integrated into your processes, your inbound call center can be more effective than ever. Global Call Forwarding is able to help you attract the revenue you want with new and more modern techniques than ever before.

Below you can read about 5 of the top call center phone system features that can improve the performance of your inbound sales team.

1. Call Recording

Call recording is a feature that allows you to record any inbound calls automatically. Simply select the number you want to record and enable or disable the feature as needed. With this in place, you can monitor your international call center’s conversations and understand how to improve the sales process. As a manager or business owner, you may find that after listening in on a few calls, you will have just the right knowledge to help out your employees. You can also use these recordings to train new sales staff.

When you keep and store these calls from your personalized Control Panel, you can also recover lost information from previous calls in case that you need to remember important details about your prospects. Let’s say, for example, a prospective client has spoken to a salesman in your India call center. However, when the same client calls back a week later, your salesman is either out of town, on vacation, or no longer working for your company. To find out information about this specific client, you can access your Control Panel and pull important information from their previous conversations. Now you will be able to hand off the inbound client to another member of your call center in India without worry. This can be a useful add-on to your current plan with Global Call Forwarding.

2. Call Transfer

This feature is just like having an auto-attendant or virtual assistant! Call transfer allows you to make a transition immediately or place a person on hold while you brief the individual on the other line. This can be done even if all three parties are in different countries or area codes.

How does this help your inbound sales? If a potential client contacts your call center in the Philippines and has reached your virtual assistant, your assistant can place that person on hold while they brief the salesman. This allows your salesman the opportunity to quickly research the client’s needs or requirements. This is especially useful if a salesman would like to offer unique products or services that are even better than the competition.

3. Simultaneous Ringing

There are many reasons to have simultaneous ringing in a call center. With this feature, you can forward calls from your line to two or more numbers through your inbound call center. Even though they will ring at the same time, the call will only be connected to the first salesman to answer it.

This is useful if you have a sales team that is not always in the office or at their desk. Perhaps they frequently travel and meet with different business partners. With simultaneous ringing, they could get calls transferred to their personal cell phones if this is a more convenient option for them. This ensures your team does not miss out on important communication while they are away.

4. Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) gives your callers a computer greeting and directs them to the appropriate line for their needs. All of this is automated for their convenience as well as yours. All they have to do is navigate through the menu system through their voice and keypad. Best of all, this system is customized to your needs. Within your IVR, you can include company announcements and new deals. This even gives you another opportunity to sell!

IVR also saves your employees time and effort if there are individuals who tend to call your company for a simple, specific reason. For example, if a customer contacts your India call center because they only need to receive their account information, your Interactive Voice Response can do it for them!

5. Black and white lists

Filtering calls is now easier than ever. Reject numbers coming in from specific area codes to maximize your efficiency. No more unwanted or unsolicited calls!

If your call center in the Philippines is getting hounded by spam, for example, you can integrate black and white lists with toll-free forwarding services. Your “Black List” blocks unwanted callers while a “White List” places preferences on those you want to hear from.

Improve Your Inbound Sales Team

These are just a few of the call center technologies that can improve the performance of an inbound call center sales team. It is incredibly important, now more than ever, that your sales teams remain consistent in the way you provide service.