BUILDING A CALL CENTER FOR GENERAL CONTRACTING COMPANY

18 replies
HEY FELLA'S,

BASICALLY I'M BUILDING A CALL CENTER FROM THE GROUND UP. I HAVE A ONLINE BASED DIALER SYSTEM(SAFESOFT SOLUTIONS) AND I'M CURRENTLY GETTING MY CONSUMER DATA LEADS FROM A HAND FULL OF DIFFERENT COMPANIES. THE THING THAT SUCKS, IS THAT I'M ON THE PHONE WORKING AND NOT MANAGING MY CALLERS TO COACH THEM TO BE BETTER. THE CALL CENTER IS CALLING COLD TO SET APT FOR THE COMPANY. SO MY QUESTION IS THIS, IF YOU HAVE BUILT A CALL CENTER AND WAS SUCCESSFUL AT DOING SO WHAT WERE SOME OF THE EARLIER STEPS THAT NEEDED TO TAKE PLACE? :rolleyes:
#building #call #center #company #contracting #general
  • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
    you do realize, posting in all caps means your yelling .... right?

    are you mad, or enthusiastic?
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    • Profile picture of the author leadbeast
      oops! my bad! but of course enthusiastic!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author sbishop
    My brother has been working in call centers for years. The key is hiring the right people. Most of those call centers have a big turn over and spend alot on training the wrong people. They end up quitting shortly after training is over.
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    • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
      Originally Posted by sbishop View Post

      They end up quitting shortly after training is over.
      if they even make it that far.
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  • Profile picture of the author redlegrich
    Why would you build one up yourself? There are plenty out there that will do the work for you. Sure it will cost a bit more but what is your time worth (not to mention aggravation).

    I have a friend who is using convicts from a state prison in the US. Very good rates he tells me and great work.

    These call centers get paid on results and they can easily train on a new script, and even help you develop ones.
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    • Profile picture of the author leadbeast
      Why build one? Easy Because i was the guy that was always good on the phones or good at closing deals. Want to step out of that for a little bit and put some management under my belt , ya know!?! I Already know that this company can use service magic leads or whatever company. but its cheaper for them to have there own and they are more exclusive for the company. Like i need a mentor who has done this before!?!
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      • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
        Originally Posted by leadbeast View Post

        Why build one? Easy Because i was the guy that was always good on the phones or good at closing deals. Want to step out of that for a little bit and put some management under my belt , ya know!?! I Already know that this company can use service magic leads or whatever company. but its cheaper for them to have there own and they are more exclusive for the company. Like i need a mentor who has done this before!?!
        What he's saying is not to use service magic leads but why have you chosen to build your own internal call center when it's almost always less costly in the long run to outsource to a call center to set the appointments that you need.

        Your spending time and money training people that I know a majority will not work out when you could have paid a call center $20 bucks per hour or per appointment to set these exclusive appointments for you.
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        • Profile picture of the author leadbeast
          Originally Posted by MaxwellB View Post

          Your spending time and money training people that I know a majority will not work out when you could have paid a call center $20 bucks per hour or per appointment to set these exclusive appointments for you.

          That's the whole point. Not use companies like yours. But i was hoping i could get some advice from expert like your-self being from a lead generating company and all?
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          • Originally Posted by leadbeast View Post

            That's the whole point. Not use companies like yours. But i was hoping i could get some advice from expert like your-self being from a lead generating company and all?

            By way of introduction, I have been hiring, training, and using telemarketers for about five years. I've never had much more than 20 people at a time dialing for me, but I have my own predictive dialer and generally manage them all remotely.

            Why are you getting your consumer data from several different companies? Generally you can get a much better rate if you order everything from a single company such as mine, AffordableMarketingLists.com. There are lots of list brokers out there and for the most part a lot of them are pulling from roughly the same pool of data. Each shop updates their lists a little differently (some not at all), but you can almost always get a better deal by consolidating.

            While we're on the topic of saving money, is there a reason you went with safesoft? There are a lot of different companies that offer different dialers, but you safesoft and a few others come to mind as being more expensive than the rest of the lot.

            I guess I'm a little confused too: How much of this are you handling? I handled everything from getting the dialer to training the agents to listening to the calls (recordings are very helpful) and in my mind that is really the only way to do it. If you aren't involved in every step of the process, it can be difficult to figure out where the problems are.
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  • Profile picture of the author bwh1
    Leadbeast

    Maybe a bit off topic but I always wonder why that Job isn't a "work-at-home" biz opp.

    Today in time, with high speed Internet, those call centers could make their staff work at home. They pay them a top notch hardware and pay per hour which a staff member works per day (can be monitored by a cam).

    Is there a trend into this direction in your end of the world?

    Here in Brasil I see only huge call centers, noisy and full of teenagers (well, at least for me who's close to the 50 mark).

    G.
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    • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
      Originally Posted by bwh1 View Post

      Leadbeast

      Maybe a bit off topic but I always wonder why that Job isn't a "work-at-home" biz opp.

      Today in time, with high speed Internet, those call centers could make their staff work at home. They pay them a top notch hardware and pay per hour which a staff member works per day (can be monitored by a cam).

      Is there a trend into this direction in your end of the world?

      Here in Brasil I see only huge call centers, noisy and full of teenagers (well, at least for me who's close to the 50 mark).

      G.
      This type of virtual call center is already in existence here in the US and around the world. Sales Source is one of them, and I do plan on making it a work at home biz opp to start a virtual center sometime in the future.

      So what I'm saying is the virtual model is nothing new.
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      • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
        Originally Posted by leadbeast View Post

        That's the whole point. Not use companies like yours. But i was hoping i could get some advice from expert like your-self being from a lead generating company and all?
        Normally I would love to help people and give people advice.

        But I never had anyone help me create my company. I was doing sales for another call center and decided I could do it with better performance at a lower cost/overhead and I just did it.

        So just do it. It's not rocket science. What exactly are you having trouble with. It seems like your on the right track. You didn't mention it but one piece of advice I have is don't waste time and money training reps and putting them in a brick and mortar call center. Use independent contractors that are virtual and work from home but I think you were already going to do that.

        So what are you stuck with? If your not stuck and you want someone to coach you through it forget it. I never had anyone do that for me I did it all myself. If you can't figure it out yourself, recruit, train and manage the reps, bring in new business etc etc then I'll teach you every single thing I did to be successful for $8k. Why would I give away all my experience and what worked and didn't work for free?
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        • Profile picture of the author Jay Rhome
          Originally Posted by MaxwellB View Post

          What exactly are you having trouble with. It seems like your on the right track. You didn't mention it but one piece of advice I have is don't waste time and money training reps and putting them in a brick and mortar call center. Use independent contractors that are virtual and work from home but I think you were already going to do that.
          Well a few issues for me that might apply to others also wanting to start their calling center:

          #1 Working from home seems a good idea, but there is a reason call centers exist. The callers have to show on time, do the full hours, and the energy/results from the other callers kicks them in the butt so they do a lot more they would have on their own. Newbies will hear more experienced callers and can get pointers on how it's done. And more results = more money for everybody plus we can create an environment that is somewhat fun and slightly reduces the turnaround.

          #2 I don't know if it's wise (costs) to rent a business room, how big it must be so that callers don't become a nuisance for one another, must I rent phones, do I use autodialers... The basic technical setup is more of a challenge for me than hiring and training callers, but my guess is when I figure it out, at least I'm set on this for a while.

          #3 I'm torn at the moment between hiring appointment setters that provide leads, or go right off the bat with sales reps to close deals. When offering mobile sites and SMS marketing for example, if somebody shows interest he/she's ready to buy IMO so doing it in 2 steps by design might be too much. Appointment setters I'd pay per hour + bonuses for leads & leads-that-become-sales, while reps I'd pay commission based only, though a VERY generous one.

          #4 When all is said and done, maybe hiring a telemarketing firm is simpler and costs less.


          Originally Posted by bwh1 View Post

          Today in time, with high speed Internet, those call centers could make their staff work at home. They pay them a top notch hardware and pay per hour which a staff member works per day (can be monitored by a cam).
          Any tips on how to monitor them from their webcam at will like that?
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          • Profile picture of the author John Durham
            Get your telemarketers in a room, give them the pitch, and run them HARD HARD HARD for 3 days, making them saying it verbatim and holding them to a quota. If one quits have another backed up to replace them... "Cya"... Pump numbers hard. It will work, but you have to ignore their excuses and make them drive it hard the way you say to, verbatim, non stop dialing thro0ugh their whole shift. No playing between calls , just one number after the other.

            You dont get paid to sit on a phone, you get paid to drive telemarketers, its their job to prove something to you, not the other way around if you are paying them to be on your clock.

            Their job isnt to like your proven pitch or your leads ...their job is just to be on the phone saying it to someone every minute.

            Your job isnt to prove to them that they can make quota, thats their job. "Can you do it or not? If so dial, if not clock out". No big parades.

            Keep the machine rolling. Employ a "work or get fired now...and we dont care either way....do or die..." attitude.

            It will break.

            An appointment setting script should be easy enough for others to succeed with that you can start this with no problem.
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            • Profile picture of the author Jay Rhome
              Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

              Get your telemarketers in a room, give them the pitch, and run them HARD HARD HARD for 3 days, making them saying it verbatim and holding them to a quota. If one quits have another backed up to replace them... "Cya"... Pump numbers hard. It will work, but you have to ignore their excuses and make them drive it hard the way you say to, verbatim, non stop dialing thro0ugh their whole shift. No playing between calls , just one number after the other.

              You dont get paid to sit on a phone, you get paid to drive telemarketers, its their job to prove something to you, not the other way around if you are paying them to be on your clock.

              Their job isnt to like your proven pitch or your leads ...their job is just to be on the phone saying it to someone every minute.

              Your job isnt to prove to them that they can make quota, thats their job. "Can you do it or not? If so dial, if not clock out". No big parades.

              Keep the machine rolling. Employ a "work or get fired now...and we dont care either way....do or die..." attitude.

              It will break.

              An appointment setting script should be easy enough for others to succeed with that you can start this with no problem.
              Nice! I love your experienced tips you provide. I didn't know though that we have to drive them hard like that. I've rarely have bosses in my working life, mostly been self-employed or entrepreneur, so I'm not a hands-on boss either like this, so the tip is eye-opening because I'm sure you're right on target. It might be wise for me to outsource this then.

              I had thought of paying per hour + bonuses for in-house callers, but by leads + bonuses for those working from home. That way those want to work on their own well if they're slow or fast, hey it's their "call".
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          • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
            Originally Posted by Jay Rhome View Post

            Well a few issues for me that might apply to others also wanting to start their calling center:

            #1 Working from home seems a good idea, but there is a reason call centers exist. The callers have to show on time, do the full hours, and the energy/results from the other callers kicks them in the butt so they do a lot more they would have on their own. Newbies will hear more experienced callers and can get pointers on how it's done. And more results = more money for everybody plus we can create an environment that is somewhat fun and slightly reduces the turnaround.

            #2 I don't know if it's wise (costs) to rent a business room, how big it must be so that callers don't become a nuisance for one another, must I rent phones, do I use autodialers... The basic technical setup is more of a challenge for me than hiring and training callers, but my guess is when I figure it out, at least I'm set on this for a while.

            #3 I'm torn at the moment between hiring appointment setters that provide leads, or go right off the bat with sales reps to close deals. When offering mobile sites and SMS marketing for example, if somebody shows interest he/she's ready to buy IMO so doing it in 2 steps by design might be too much. Appointment setters I'd pay per hour + bonuses for leads & leads-that-become-sales, while reps I'd pay commission based only, though a VERY generous one.

            #4 When all is said and done, maybe hiring a telemarketing firm is simpler and costs less.




            Any tips on how to monitor them from their webcam at will like that?
            To #1: Use of a dialer prevents all of these things. You can log their time on the dialer, listen to them on the dialer, even whisper tips to them on the dialer. The dialer doesn't stop dialing unless you turn it off, so it's not like they can walk away and pussyfoot around for 20 minutes without you knowing. Also I only use experienced appointment setters who have been independent contractors for some time so I don't worry as much about production or standing over their shoulder.

            To #2: This is one of the main reasons you use experienced virtual reps

            To #3: Some would say to have them cold call and try to make the sale right there. And while I respect everyones opinion I think you will spend a lot of time training and letting go of reps that don't work out doing it this way. Basically your focus would be on getting reps, seeing who works out and who doesn't quickly and create a winning team.

            With appointment setting it's different, I feel as though you can have more success. The people that are ready to buy right now are still going to be ready on the appointment. That's just MY opinion. I am a fan of setting appointments and so you both have the time to go over everything fully.

            To #4:
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            • Profile picture of the author Jay Rhome
              Originally Posted by MaxwellB View Post

              To #1: Use of a dialer prevents all of these things. You can log their time on the dialer, listen to them on the dialer, even whisper tips to them on the dialer. The dialer doesn't stop dialing unless you turn it off, so it's not like they can walk away and pussyfoot around for 20 minutes without you knowing. Also I only use experienced appointment setters who have been independent contractors for some time so I don't worry as much about production or standing over their shoulder.

              To #2: This is one of the main reasons you use experienced virtual reps
              I didn't know we could even whisper tips to them! The only issue here is that you can't drive them as John suggested above when you're not physically there with them. There is an energy when people are in the same room at the same time that can't be matched. But virtual reps might be a better way to start as they cost less.

              To #3: Some would say to have them cold call and try to make the sale right there. And while I respect everyones opinion I think you will spend a lot of time training and letting go of reps that don't work out doing it this way. Basically your focus would be on getting reps, seeing who works out and who doesn't quickly and create a winning team.

              With appointment setting it's different, I feel as though you can have more success. The people that are ready to buy right now are still going to be ready on the appointment. That's just MY opinion. I am a fan of setting appointments and so you both have the time to go over everything fully.
              I thought about this thoroughly, and I too believe it's easier to have appointment setters as there is a LOT less training to be done, so we can get the ball rolling fast.

              I still need reps though! And they need a lot more training and hands on approach. I could see hiring virtual callers or an outside firm for appointment setters, while having 2-3 calling days for reps as well, who can try to close sales over the phone, and follow on the leads from the appointment setters.

              It would get that group energy going, make them do for more "real sales work" hours, we could be in a small room or even at my house, sales would make the team happy (), get the competition rolling in real time, and they'd get other days to do face-to-face sales which I've found many sales reps actually prefer, even though it can be less lucrative.


              To #4:
              I see what you did there
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  • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
    I would suggest you have your general contractor build a large addition onto your house and hire your neighbor's stay at home housewives to do the calling. They won't have far to walk to work or go home for lunch. Plus you will know your workforce and you can train them appropriately.This way you can build your call center from the ground up w/o spending any money. BTW, your people would work on commish only until you could afford to pay them a wage.

    I can't see how you would miss because you could then expand into other industries and businesses calling for them. It has to be a win-win. Beats hiring teenagers and assorted other low wage workers. All you will be out is time.

    Just my off the top of my head idea...
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