Telemarketing Quality Necessary

Call center experts are arriving at a unanimous decision on this. The telemarketing team needs to concentrate more on the quality rather than on the quantity. BPO insiders feel that too many sales calls do not yield results because the agents have a designated number of calls to hit every day. This makes them rush through their calls and reach that target. In a frantic effort to meet a deadline that is actually secondary, the outbound call center agents are losing their main focus: working towards quality lead generation.

The business model for the call center units have changed track. Now dozens of vague leads doesn’t hold much ground against one single qualified lead. There is a major shift in the approach of BPO agents as well. Telemarketing quality has always been a pet peeve for the business outsourcing firms. Conferences and seminars are conducted all over the place to try to fix that.

Despite all the efforts of the call center services, you have customers complaining on every possible forum about the practices of agents trying to sell stuff. The outbound call center agents, in a mad rush to hit the home-run, often resort to pressure tactics to convince people. That does more damage to the brand image of the client company than they can think of. It’s time to change, folks!

Telemarketing Scams Using Illinois Sheriff’s Name

Telemarketing scams are on the rise. After a Florida-based call center company had to pay colossal damages to do-not-call enlisted callers they were calling, the epidemic has now spread to Illinois. But this time the perpetrators have not been booked yet. The Madison County Sheriff, Robert J. Hertz, cautioned the residents of the county to be aware of outbound call center agents carrying out scams.

The call center services units doing this is using the name of the Sheriff’s Association of Illinois to carry out their job. Hertz particularly stated that the Office of the Sheriff does not correspond through phone. It’s always by mail that is signed and sealed by the Sheriff.

Hertz went on to advise the residents against other telemarketing ploys that are used to dupe customers. If the call center agent asks you to act immediately on matters related to finance, the alarm bells should go off in your mind. The same goes for outbound call center guys telling you that a special prize awaits you.

Try not to reveal any contact information while talking to the agents who sound too desperate to get you into the bag. Hertz advises that if you feel pressurized by the call center services unit, hang up immediately without trying to reason with them.

Make More off Call Center Services: Go SEO!

It’s obvious that if you are hiring a call center, you will be using their telemarketing or their answering service. But there’s more to BPO than just voice calls to target customers. How about a spanking new website for your business? A website is the new age way to do business. Websites work even for non-profits! With a website, you can have a strong online presence. Consumers are now more internet savvy that you were thinking. You will be surprised at how many people look for information online rather than on newspapers and yellow pages. To give your business that extra edge, avail call center services to build a website.

After you have a website that reflects the personalities of your business through suitable design and content, it’s time to take the next step. You need the call center to optimize it. You have to spread your network online. You have to tie up with other websites in the same field. BPO firms offer quality search engine optimization (SEO) services these days. These call center services include getting your higher rankings on major search engines and also direct online traffic to your website. SEO can also lead to healthy lead generation among potential customers who look for you online.

B2B Lead Generation Target Demographics

I was observing the social media lead generation campaigns of a BPO firm with interest. They had company profiles on Facebook and Twitter. They had deployed call center agents to put up regular posts on these platforms. They were adding friends and followers. They were doing everything that an individual would do on social media. And that is where they were going wrong. They were not doing what a company profile should be doing. Any B2B company would be wasting their time if they went around tapping the common people! Come on, the only chance of your hitting the right note on this one is, if you come across a major mover and shaker who can get his/her company to hire your answering service firm. Otherwise, you are just wasting valuable resources on a mindless social media campaign.

The trick here is to tap other business networks for your BPO firms. What do you intend to do with the huge number of friends and followers on Facebook if they don’t contribute to your lead generation? You need business. For that you will have to tap business houses and CEOs. You need a tight, professional social media plan. Your call center agents have to be well-versed in the tenets of business communication. These agents will be representing your call center services to the prospective clients. This is like a red alert for all those B2B companies who are conducting social media campaigns. It’s better if you plan the metrics and methods that your business needs rather than do something that others are doing. Look closely. They are more likely to be B2C!

BPO for Pets!

Pets have a slice of BPO services these days! Pet lovers who get into any sort of trouble with their pets can now call up an answering service. They can get answers to their questions from the call center agents who are manning the phones. The agents have access to information that will be helpful for the pet lovers to care for their pets in a better way. You cannot really expect a person to hunt through Wikipedia or other sources for information when she finds her pet in agony. Sometimes, you don’t really have vets at hand. That’s when these pet help-lines come in useful. You can gather information, you can call for some emergency first-aid that you can administer yourself or just about speak to a person who knows more.

Pet lovers can register their time at the vet clinic through the appointment settings function of the BPO. All they need to do is just call up the answering service and register their appointment. The call center agent processes the request and you get a time and date when you can come in for consultation. For minor help, like fur cleaning and nail cutting, the business process outsourcing agent can help you over the phone. Pet care is a strong sentiment for thousands of pet lovers all over the world. A systematic way to go about doing it is definitely something that was long desired. It remains to be seen how effective this initiative will be in the long run.

Telemarketing Still Most Effective for Call Center

The US Direct Marketing Association (DMA) conducted a survey on the emerging call center trends. It was found that telemarketing still leads the way when it comes to responses from the target callers. The rate was counted to be 6.16%. Other BPO services like direct mail services came low on the score with just 3.42% on the house list and 1.38% on the prospect list. The call center services like email marketing were studied as well. The open rate was 20% on an average and the click-through-rate was 6.64%.

These are encouraging figures for the telemarketing team. They were inundated with reports from call center managers that online lead generation was the way ahead. But these data seem to suggest something else. There was never any doubt that BPO agents do a better job at generating leads when they pick up the phone. We cannot ignore that. But the ideal way to go about things would be to have the best of both worlds. The online initiative to generate leads should remain working through websites and online forms. The outbound call center agents do their job by tapping on potential customers from the database and as well as from the data collected through the online forms, emails and requests for quotes.

Growth for BPO despite Double Blow

NASSCOM, the authority of BPO in India, predicts that the call center industry will grow to about 15-17% this fiscal year. The growth curve was dismal the last year around, with only 6% growth. That was predicted by the industry pundits because of all the recession and economic meltdown. The surprising part of this year’s prediction is that it comes to that high a number despite double blows from two most lucrative business process outsourcing markets. The American market is in jeopardy over new political legislations that will be set into motion soon. New taxes levied will deter many business units from venturing into offshore territories.

Moreover, call center services units will have a tough choice of informing the callers that their calls are being transferred overseas. Most answering service lines are toll free. Obviously, the charges of making a local call international lies with the BPO center, too. The tax acts as the additional burden. The other blow for the business process outsourcing market will be the weak economy in Europe. In recent times, Europe has become the major market that does outsource business to the offshore business outsourcing destinations. But despite these set-backs, the NASSCOM authorities are optimistic. It remains to be seen if their predictions actually happen.

Political Telemarketing Allowed!

California residents have a peculiar problem on their hands! They are being intimidated by regular phone calls from political telemarketing agents. The people who have signed up with the national do-not-call list are getting these calls as well. The reason is, the list is not applicable for political and charitable purposes! The outbound call center teams are laughing on the other sides of their faces. They face a lot of flak from all quarters because they end up calling people who don’t care for the calls and neither did they want them. The list is a prime reason why the BPO agents find it really difficult to build a database. With this news alert, many of them would be looking at it as some sort of poetic justice.

Offshore BPO firms have an advantage over the onshore ones. Because these call center firms do not come under the purview of the political borders, the law of the land is not really valid. Business firms who outsource the calling part to telemarketing agents definitely feel they are better off. But the outbound call center teams face the heat at times. The target caller may just be aggressive or disrespectful. It all boils down to a challenge that the business outsourcing firms have to deal with on a regular basis. But this outrage will definitely lift some sagging morals!

Save Time with Answering Service

The answering service industry is known for its efficiency. Yes, just like any other service sector, you may find the minor glitches here and there. However, if you go by the support shown by the business firms on this BPO division, you will know that answering service continues to be the mainstay of the inbound call center function. So what makes this tick? I think it’s the human touch. The call center agents that receive these calls make all the difference. People would rather talk to a live voice than key in numbers as on the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) or through emails and chats. The telephone is still the most effective medium of communication. The normal propensity of the curious is still to call up and ask rather than to get online and look for answers.

Modern technology takes the credit for streamlining the answering service zone. There are surges in technology with which the inbound call center agents can take more calls in lesser time. The process is also on the way to be web-enables. Web support lends them an advantage that they couldn’t achieve without it. High-end routers also make it easier to deal with heavier call volumes. BPO firms who want their call center services to be at par with the best in the world are relying on the Internet to get the systems running faster. Clients are aware of the new leaps in technology. They specifically ask for cutting edge technology to be used on their projects.