|
 For the outbound call
center, agents must be proactive; that is, they need to take initiative.
The successful outbound agent has a different personality than the
ideal inbound agent. Even if
the nature of their outbound work is not specifically in sales, they still
need a sales mentality. They
need to engage the called party, lead them towards a stated objective, and
deal well with rejection - some of which may be personally directed.
Outbound call centers rely on predictive dialers to place calls.
Outbound centers have reduced hours of operation, limited by law
and the demands of specific campaigns.
Here agents are scheduled as needed to complete a requisite number
of calls within a certain window of time.
There has been much talk
about the avalanche of recent legislation to regulate (that is, limit)
outbound calling, historically called telemarketing.
There is a wide degree of differing opinions on how this has
affected the outbound call center industry.
At one extreme, the doomsayers assert that the industry has been
decimated, sending millions into unemployment and leaving outbound calling
as an insignificant fraction of the overall call center industry.
The opportunists proclaim that this legislation has forced marginal
players out of the industry, or at least pushed them to inbound work, and
made outbound calling easier. This
is because the 70 million or so who signed up for the Do Not Call (DNC)
list weren’t buying anyway. Those
remaining, who can still be called, have a higher propensity to buy.
Yes, jobs have been lost and centers closed, but much of that, they
assert, would have happened regardless of this legislation.
<- previous |
table of contents |
next ->
|
