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Have you had success with call centers for handling cold-calls?

by Kent_Thompson
5 replies
I am selling a coupon flyer very similar to the 9x12 postcard system that many know about here, and I am needing help with making the cold calls to prospects.

Has anyone here had any success with outsourcing to a call center to handle that part?

Basically I just need someone to make 50 calls, asking simple questions and probing for the email and phone number of the owner so I can follow up with them.

I have considered hiring a local employee but I am not well-versed in all the nuances of the tonality and the right questions to ask, so I don't know how I could properly train them. They would probably need to be experienced in sales already.

Which is what leads me to utilizing a call center who is experienced with this sort of thing. Where would I start in finding a company that can handle this?

Thanks!
Kent
#call #centers #coldcalls #handling #success
  • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
    Originally Posted by Kent_Thompson View Post

    I am selling a coupon flyer very similar to the 9x12 postcard system that many know about here, and I am needing help with making the cold calls to prospects.

    Has anyone here had any success with outsourcing to a call center to handle that part?

    Basically I just need someone to make 50 calls, asking simple questions and probing for the email and phone number of the owner so I can follow up with them.

    I have considered hiring a local employee but I am not well-versed in all the nuances of the tonality and the right questions to ask, so I don't know how I could properly train them. They would probably need to be experienced in sales already.

    Which is what leads me to utilizing a call center who is experienced with this sort of thing. Where would I start in finding a company that can handle this?

    Thanks!
    Kent
    Is that a typo - 50 calls?

    No call center on the planet will agree to that. If that is a real number ...

    Do the calls your self. It will take less then an hour. While hiring
    someone can take days or weeks.

    Just by your post I can see you don't know what your doing.
    If you start getting a hold of call centers ... they are going to eat
    you for breakfast and empty your pockets.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kent_Thompson
      What I meant was, making 50 calls, at a time. My thought process was that that was how many I would do in one block of time, not the total number of calls that would ever be made.
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      • Profile picture of the author ReviewRouter
        In my experience with overseas call centers, I paid per employee, per hour. When we needed more employees, I let them know and more were trained and added. Make sure you have akk the calls recorded ... it's extremely useful to figure out whats going on because if not, and you're outsourcing calls you're shooting blind.

        I'm sure you could find a freelancer to do the calls
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        • Profile picture of the author Kent_Thompson
          Originally Posted by ReviewRouter View Post

          In my experience with overseas call centers, I paid per employee, per hour. When we needed more employees, I let them know and more were trained and added. Make sure you have akk the calls recorded ... it's extremely useful to figure out whats going on because if not, and you're outsourcing calls you're shooting blind.

          I'm sure you could find a freelancer to do the calls
          ReviewRouter, thanks for the helpful info. Question...did you rely on the call center's training of the employee or did you have to be specific about what you wanted and how you wanted them to respond? And were you satisfied with the result? I guess what I am getting at is quality control.

          I have typically done everything myself in the past and shied away from outsourcing, but I'm wanting to outsource this part now so I can cover more territory. But the fact that this is basically the first impression that my customers would get, I'm concerned about the quality, accents, tonality etc..., since those things make a big impact.

          Like I said, I could hire someone locally but I feel that more might be gained by going with a service that has lots of experience in it and trains new employees on what to say and how to be effective.

          Hiring a freelancer sounds like an idea worth considering since that way I'd be picking from a larger pool and could find someone with experience.

          (My town is only 5,000 people so the training a local employee would be completely upon me)
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      • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
        Originally Posted by Kent_Thompson View Post

        What I meant was, making 50 calls, at a time. My thought process was that that was how many I would do in one block of time, not the total number of calls that would ever be made.
        I promise, I am not trying to be negative or come off sounding like a dick.

        I am guessing that you arbitrarily made the number "50" up.

        That is not how call centers work. They will want facts. I don't think you have them.

        For instance ... what do you expect from the 50 calls. 1 appointment?

        Truth be told, unless your calling a really responsive, targeted list. 1 out of 50
        probably is not going to happen.

        and that's the rub. Ethical call centers will want the numbers and the scripts
        from you before they will even think about working with you.

        If you get a hold of a call center and they say ... don't worry about it
        we will figure the script out ... or yeah lets give it a try ...

        run... run fast and run far.
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