Tag Archives: How to find call center clients

Improving your credibility at a call center

July 28, 2012 by admin
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Improving your credibility at a call center

How to acquire clients for call centers
If you want overseas clients to trust you when you work at or run an Indian or Filipino Call Center, then you need credibility.  If you speak English like someone who has never set foot on American soil, but claim to be in Newark, NJ, who will believe you? We may be bad at math in the United States, but we are not complete fools.    If you are going to fake an American location, then you should be really sound like an Indian who has lived in the United States for a few years, and that will only be possible if you have been working with Americans for many years.  In fact — if you are that good at American English, nobody will question your location in the first place!

Verifying information looks professional
Another issues is presentation.  A guy called me from India trying to tell me that there was something wrong with my computer. He couldn’t tell me which MSN office informed him of the problem with my computer, nor could he tell me my full name or address.  He butchered my first name, and had no clue as to what my other personal information was.  If he had clearly announced who he was, his company name and location, and asked to speak to me, then he would have established some credibility. The next step would be to verify my address, so that he could be sure that my address was the one with the allegedly “infected” computer.  The third verification should have been to ask how many computers were in the house, so he could isolate which one had trouble.  If someone in Pune could accurately tell me what is wrong with my computer in Los Angeles (and be correct about it) without ever having met me, I would be very impressed.

Your phone # should match your claimed location
If you are claiming that your company is in Brooklyn, NY, you should ideallly NOT have a Marathi phone number.  Instead, you should have a phone number that is from New York City — preferably in the 718 area code.  Phone numbers can be bought and sold, so there is no excuse not to have a vanity number!

Long speeches without allowing questions doesn’t work
I had a call center worker call me and he went rambling on for almost two minutes without letting me get a word in edgewise. In fact, he took offense and raised his voice at me when I tried to ask a question. You would gain the good graces of prospective clients better if you engage them in a well rehearsed dance of dialogue.  You ask a question, they answer, then they ask a question, and then you answer. People feel happier when they are a PART of the conversation and not just a sound board.

Seeing if your prospect is interested is a good approach
Many Indians will just push their product on anyone without bothering to see if the person is interested or not.  People can be very pushy in India, and Americans don’t like this at all.  It is polite to first verify if the person at the end of the line is interested in talking to you about your offer or proposal before going on.  It might be good to start with a speech that quickly announces the dangers of not having your product, and THEN ask if the prospect is interested…

Example

Call Center Worker — Hi this is Jack from Computer Verify in Brooklyn, NY.  May I speak to John Doe please?
Prospect — Yes, this is John
Call Center Worker — John, are you still residing at 10 Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90001?
Prospect — Yes, I am still at that address.
Call Center Worker — We have been informed by Mictosoft that a computer at your address has been infected with spyware which can eventually render your computer disfunctional.  Would you be interested in learning how to protect your computer from this type of danger?
Prospect — Gee, that is interesting, my computer runs just find and I have virus protection. Are you sure you have the correct address?
Call Center Worker — Yes, it says 10 Hill Street… But, there was no apartment number.
Prospect — Hmmm. Interesting.  And which local Microsoft office told you that my computer has a problem?
Call Center Worker — The offer that reported to us is located in Sunnyside, IL — they may have obtained this information from a third party.

I recently had a very similar conversation with a call center worker, however he was unable to answer any of my questions, yet I couldn’t get him to stop talking — how annoying!

So, the bottom line is — if you want to know how to get call center clients or find call center clients — develop practices that boost your credibility!

You  might also like:

The 2 minute contact rule

Mistrust and phone interaction

Indians who ask a million questions

How to find call center clients — 3 basic points

September 12, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How to find call center clients / call centre clients

Our staff talks to call centers in India, call centers in the Philippines, and many other places. The #1 question they ask is how to acquire more call center clients or accounts. The answer is actually simple, yet nobody wants to hear it. Call center managers are looking for fancy sounding schemes to attract clients to their call center. People are looking for a magic pill that they can take that will get them more call centre clients. But, there is no magic pill, and customers don’t grow on trees. YES, there are customers out there by the thousands, but YOU might not be getting them. Why? Because you didn’t take the magic pill which I am going to give you. Take this pill once a week, and clients will miraculously grow on a tree just for you! I promise! Trust me!

People are very resistant to hearing common sense advice. But, the secret to “how to acquire more call center clients” is only common sense. So listen! Points 1, 2 and 3 are very basic. 98% of Indian companies FAIL to do all three points correctly which is why they rarely make much money. They present a bad image of themselves.

(1) If you don’t answer your phone, your prospective clients won’t be able to do business with you even if they want to. Most call centers don’t answer their own business’ business line because they are too busy making calls for their clients. Answer your phone! No excuses. Sure, that is too SIMPLE to possibly be good business advice. But, it is common sense truth. Companies that don’t answer their phone are generally small, and stay small, or crumble alltogether.

(2) Have someone answer the phone professionally. A dull “hullo” doesn’t cut it in the business world. Have them announce their personal name and company name.

(3) Have someone KNOWLEDGEABLE and helpful answer the phone. I talk to people all night who can’t answer the phone properly. then, during the day when I call America, I get people who don’t know a single fact about the service they are selling. Goodness gracious. How can you sell a service, if you don’t know anything about it? I would never become your client if you are so useless!

Here are some additional points on having a knowledgable and helpful salesperson

(a) Your salesperson should be personable and get along well with most people.

(b) The information they give should be accurate and realistic. Nobody likes a liar, or someone who gives incorrect information by mistake. You lose call center clients by giving wrong answers.

(c) Being too pushy scares people away. Be nice! Trying to twist people’s arms into signing a contract is a bad idea at first too. Let people get to know your company before forcing them to be bound to a restrictive contract.

(d) Be flexible! Don’t have rigid terms.

(e) Understand how to introduce the company, how many workers you have, and who does what. Tell people about the history of the company as well, and don’t keep secrets. Many companies will refuse to say anything about their workers because it is private. Prospective clients will not want to use your company if you have too many secrets — tell them about everyone who works there.

(f) Avoid trying to present a false big company image. If you are a big company, then stress how PERSONAL you are. If you are a small company, stress how COZY you are. Small companies have many advantages that big companies don’t have. Stress being GOOD rather than being a particular size.

Thats it for now, but there will be more similar blog posts on how to get more call center clients!

How to find call center clients — being pushy

September 4, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Finding call center clients could be easy or hard, but having good technique is what you should be worried about at this point. You can contact larger companies and see if they need extra call center resources. Or, you can market yourself on the web and in directories and wait for the calls to come in. The main point is to attract the people you come into contact with. Many companies have not mastered this point.

Many call centers lack basic phone skills when you call them. They often don’t even answer their own phone, and many don’t even answer professionally. Often times, you can not get someone trained in sales to help you without really pulling teeth. So, master your phone skills before going on to the next step.

Don’t be pushy
Many businesses that do outsourcing of any type can be pushy about contracts and terms. If you are a smaller company trying to make it in the big world, you will feel tempted to copy what bigger companies do. This is a mistake. Don’t copy big companies. Big companies might have rigid contracts, formal looking offices, formal suits, receptionists, etc. You don’t need any of this. Contracts are restrictive and scare people away. Sure, you need to protect yourself from not getting paid. However, trying lock in a complete stranger to a contract will scare them away. Your phone is NOT ringing off the hook. So, if your phone does ring with a prospective client, your strategy should be to NOT scare them away no matter what. Lure them in by being nice, helpful and flexible.

The 70% rule
When I go shopping for companies, I have to turn down 70% of them because they have rigid terms and because they try to push me into a contract. Do you want to lose 70% of prospective clients? Most companies behave as if they don’t care if they get new clients — those companies get far fewer than they could if they changed their attitude. Does your company have this “Don’t care” attitude?

The long run
If you care about the long run of your business, you will quickly realize that catching a new client can turn into a snowball effect. That new client will stay with you for years if they like you. They can also give you more business volume if they like you. Additionally, they can tell their rich friends how great you are — if they like you. However, if you alienate your prospects at the point of sale — they will not try you out — and they will never know if they like you — because you were too pushy. So, DON’T BE PUSHY. Learn your lesson now.