How do call centers help businesses get new customers? Open Access BPO shares some industry-wide practices that guarantee telemarketing success.

For businesses that want to venture into call center outsourcing, the Philippines comes as one of their first choices because of the time-tested services and strategies that local telemarketers practices to widen the consumer base of the brands they represent. How do Philippine call centers gain new customers? Here are some of the ways:

• Cold calling

It takes patience to make unannounced calls to prospective clients. But it takes dedication and true sales skills to rake positive results from those calls. Oftentimes, cold calling is an arduous, time-consuming activity with long periods on hold that may frustratingly end up in rejection. That’s why agents assigned with this task are trained to make straightforward but compelling sales pitches.

• Emailing

Email is an effective way of reaching customers, but the approach and purpose should appeal to the recipient. Otherwise, the message will be ignored. An email containing a company introduction, straight up selling, or even free trial offers may have a very low open or click rate. The key to successful customer scouting via email is through personalizing every message uniquely for each recipient. And this means more than just calling the potential clients by their first name; the tone should match their personality, and the offers should address their needs.

• Strategic staffing

It’s common for many contact centers to hire individuals who could adjust their approach and tone to match with different types of customers. Phone etiquette, articulation, and listening trainings are also used to ensure that agents make polite, engaging conversations while detecting the prospect’s needs. Many call centers, however, attest to the higher efficiency female and female-sounding agents bring.

Managers claim that a soft, gentle voice (regardless of gender) that speaks with a technical knowhow about the business lures in more people to sign up, buy, or leave contact details. You might want to take note of and consider this when visiting call centers to partner with.

• Building relationships

Ideal call center agents are those who can build trust because they are the ones who could start relationships, which equal to sales. Basically, trust = relationship = sales, because people are more likely to do business with someone they trust. How do representatives make relationships with clients over the phone? It s through off-script chit chats. So before choosing a call center to outsource, check the natural conversation skills of its staff first.

• Samples and free trials

Giving away free samples and trials is a good way to establish a reputation if your business is just starting up. It gets your name out there, as well as the goods you sell and the quality you produce. If the client was so impressed with the sampler that he availed more of your offerings, the cost of the free service or product can turn out miniscule compared to the long-term business relationship and massive profits it brings.

As a recap, Philippine telemarketers find new customers by knowing what the consumers need. Ultimately, it is the agents who determine the success of the telemarketing efforts, so partner with a call center with first-rate recruitment, training, and management practices.