What we got by connecting a call center

For us, connecting a call center was the first step in standardization and automation of the sales department.

We have long worked in the market of equipment and tools for industrial use. And almost all the time of its existence, there was a " swing effect ": sales were good, then just disgusting. And it was impossible to write off these fluctuations for seasonality - it is present in our market, but does not play a significant role.
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It was clear that the main reason is how we sell , and with what intensity we sell .

Therefore, the task was to standardize the sales process. To specific actions brought the predicted result .

And they decided to start with the most stressful and unpleasant for the internal sales department of the occupation - cold calls . The organization of this process for us has become the number one task . And we turned to a professional call center.

And the persistent and painstaking work of “prescribing” customer interaction began:

• how to properly greet;
• how to “get around” the secretary;
• how to talk about the product, about the key benefits;
• what questions to ask the client to reveal the need, etc. etc.

The work was not easy - although the specialists from the call center did most of the work, they themselves also had to take an active part .

But, to be honest, we ourselves were surprised at how strong our product is . At this stage, we got the script and run the project.

Girls from the call center began to ring up customers - the first inquiries began to come. Of course, the conversations were not immediately perfect - in the first couple it was necessary to listen to each conversation , make changes to the text, research the best and worst practices: “When customers“ send ”, and when they show a lively interest ”



As a result, after a week of work, the girls from the call center began to talk about the product better and more concisely than our managers, and even myself.

It is clear that when it came to a substantive discussion of the problem, it touched on technical nuances - we had to connect. But for this we are experts in our field.

In the bottom line, what we received after the implementation of the call center:

1. Steadily, about 42% of potential customers after call-ups show interest , leave an email and ask to send a commercial offer.
2. 4-5% immediately apply with a specific request.
3. Their managers are exempt from finding new customers. Now their task is to efficiently process applications and lead the client.
4. Now we have a switch “How many new applications we want to receive”. That is, we can adjust our download .

I would like to ask you readers a question on this topic:

1. Did you have experience connecting a call center in your company? What were the difficulties?
2. Used the services of third-party services, or organized your department?
3. How were the conversation scripts composed and perfected?
4. Did you manage to go to the decision makers in most cases?