What to Consider When Outsourcing Cold Callers
Outsourcing cold callers can be a game-changer for businesses across various industries, including real estate, sales, marketing, and more. With the right outsourced team, you can significantly boost your lead generation and conversion rates while freeing up your in-house staff to focus on core tasks. However, to make the most of this strategy, there are several critical factors you need to consider. This guide will walk you through the key aspects to evaluate when outsourcing cold callers, ensuring you select the best fit for your business needs.
What to Consider About the Cold Caller
Accent
The cold caller’s accent can significantly impact their success at the job. Ensure that their accent is neutral or aligns well with your target market to avoid misunderstandings and ensure a smooth conversation flow.
However, the biggest challenge business owners face when hiring cold callers from the BPO industry is that usual outsourcing companies are based out of non-native countries (Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico…etc). Therefore, the agents usually have a strong and noticeable accent that immediately gives away that they are, in fact, not American. This is why, and we will explore in further detail, it is always crucial to pick the right company that will provide the proper training and structure for native customers.
Velox prioritizes this integral point since it makes a huge difference on the customer’s end when the person they’re speaking with resonates with their culture and identity. With language-appropriate training paired with highly selective recruiters, the end result is agents with fully native accents.
Language Skills
Proficiency in the language is crucial. Evaluate the cold caller’s grammar, vocabulary, and overall communication skills to ensure they can engage potential clients effectively and professionally.
It comes across as a surprise to many how a little grammatical mistake in speech can make a potential customer lose interest immediately. Good language skills not only help in conveying the message clearly but also in understanding the client’s needs and responding appropriately. This includes being able to handle complex conversations, technical jargon specific to your industry, and being able to switch between formal and informal tones as the situation demands. A cold caller with excellent language skills can adapt their speech to mirror the client’s tone, which can build rapport and trust.
Active Listening
It’s a wonder how lots of untrained cold callers blow this part in the role. Active listening is essentially what makes a cold call turn into a successful sales call. Picking up on cues that can easily be ignored by the inexperienced will help the agent to tailor and customize their approach towards what works best for the customer. Presenting arguments convincingly and handling objections competently is the number one priority for converting leads. Below is an example of active listening where the agent of a solar solution company uses and also fails to use active listening in a call:
Situation 1:
| Situation 1: (active listening used) | Situation 2: (active listening not used) |
| Agent: Hello, my name is Alex, and I’m calling from GreenEnergy Solutions. Do you have a few minutes to discuss how we can help you save on your energy bills? | Agent: Hello, my name is Alex, and I’m calling from GreenEnergy Solutions. Do you have a few minutes to discuss how we can help you save on your energy bills? |
| Customer: Uh, I’m really busy right now. I don’t think this is a good time. | Customer: Uh, I’m really busy right now. I don’t think this is a good time. |
| Agent: I understand; it sounds like you’re swamped. Let me just ask you one quick question: have you ever looked into renewable energy options like solar panels? | Agent: I understand; it sounds like you’re swamped. Let me just ask you one quick question: have you ever looked into renewable energy options like solar panels? |
| Customer: Well, my neighbor installed solar panels last year, and he’s been pretty happy with them. But it seems like a big investment. | Customer: Well, my neighbor installed solar panels last year, and he’s been pretty happy with them. But it seems like a big investment. |
| Agent: That’s great to hear about your neighbor! It sounds like you’re open to the idea but concerned about the cost. What if I told you that we have financing options that could make the initial investment more manageable? | Agent: Solar panels are a fantastic choice! They can really help you save a lot on your energy bills. We have a great deal going on right now if you sign up today. |
| Customer: Financing options? I didn’t know that was possible. Tell me more! | Customer: Uh, yeah, I don’t have that kind of money right now. Stop wasting my time! |
Tone
Let’s face it! Some people just have it and others…don’t! The tone of a caller plays a big role in determining the reciprocal response from the consumer. We have noticed after 4 years of hiring cold callers to address and speak with all the different demographics in the US…feminine and low pitched tones have always succeeded. It is no wonder that female cold callers have always made it far in the industry. However, male agents have proven to be successful with naturally deep and calm tones. On top of that, an energetic touch is always necessary regardless of the agent’s gender.
Tiredness, exhaustion and boredom can be detected almost immediately from the tone of the caller over the phone. Ensure that agents are able to mask their personal feelings and avoid letting it seep into the call.
De-escalation Techniques
An easily trainable technique, de-escalation is one of the most integral parts in training. It is no secret that the business of cold calling warrants an array of escalated customers yelling and cussing at the phone. Finding a caller whose tone, energy and efforts do not falter regardless of how angry and offensive a customer can get is where the money’s at. For some this can be a natural gift and for others it’s something they must condition themselves into after undergoing training sessions. Where the right type of de-escalation is utilized a positive impression is left on the customer ensuring that the call converts immediately.
What to Consider About the Company
Training
Cold callers aren’t born, they are made! The quality of training provided by a company to its cold callers can make a huge difference. It is of key importance that the training is up to date with recent industry changes, and personalized to the specific product or service that the callers are employed to advertise. Different techniques work for different industries and the caller’s training plays a huge role in preparing them to face the various challenges and push backs they might face.
At Velox, it is standard practice to personalize a cold call script with all potential push backs along with responses and additional complementary statements to help the agents. This is, of course, changed in accordance to the different clients we have and the services they provide in different industries. For instance, the push backs agents would receive in the real estate industry would differ from those they’d get in the medical field.
Management
As opposed to other constantly changing trades, cold calling can get…kind of boring. Agents tend to slack and cut corners with their jobs to make it to the end of the month. This is where a company’s management practices have the biggest impact to ensure that cold callers are always energetic, reaching goals and maintaining a constant workflow. The quality of a company’s management reflects directly on the productivity of the agents. At the receiving end the client will notice this in the constancy of the agents’ success in marketing their service.
Quality Assurance
Last but not least, nothing is perfect! Sometimes, the strategy used by companies is not always the best. It may not work out! Or, maybe the standard of the leads produced or the sales made is not up to the standard agreed upon. These are all normal and highly probable situations that take place in every company. The important point to consider is what the company is doing to remedy the matter. Transparency and accountability are essential.
We make it a habit to conduct tri-weekly QA sessions for new clients to ensure that day-by-day the process is monitored, improved and any weaknesses are weeded out in the beginning. It is a priority at Velox to find any potential mistakes or issues before the client has a chance to notice it.
In conclusion…
Outsourcing cold callers provides business with a competitive edge, while still maintaining a budget that is reasonable and fair. But it’s crucial to choose the right people and company. By carefully considering the factors outlined above, you can ensure that your outsourced team will deliver the results you need. If you’re ready to take your lead generation to the next level with professional cold callers, explore our specialized services to see how we can help you achieve your goals. Contact us today to get started!