Setting Appointments ByCold Calling

[Josh]

"If multiple people pick up then it goes into a recording and most of the time they just hang up. Per FCC regulations that can happen no more than 3% of the time....."
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Wouldn't this be "ROBO-CALLING" if you go right into an automated (recorded) message?

Depends on the message. Generally it's a "safe harbor" message, so it's more along the lines of "please hold while we get someone to speak with you" instead of "hi, would you like to buy some insurance?'

The safe-harbor message is an attempt to get at least some folks to stick around to talk to them, or at lest keep it from hurting your drop rate.

 

[Cory]

I've seen people do alot of things for "on-hold" messages." Play music, advertise services, "hold for an agent," etc. Most people will hang up on those immediately and they can safely hang up within X number of seconds and it will not contribute to that person's abandonment 3% threshold.

They key to the message is leaving the door open for that person who will welcome the call when you call back i.e. diffusing a bomb before it goes off as people are inherently curious in nature of who is calling them.

Many options to the "safe harbor" message and very few that work very well.

 

[mmaedelins]

Couple additional questions about auto-dialers.... When multiple lines answer and the ones you can't get to right away hang up, what happens to those numbers? Do they get recycled in the list until you are able to speak to a live person? What about if an answering machine/fax picks up or if there is a busy signal? Also, where do the numbers come from? Would the agent using the service have to pay for a list as well or does the agent enter in the numbers he/she wants dialed?

What else would be important to know about using this type of service for someone who never has?

Thanks...always been curious about this...

 

[Josh]

Couple additional questions about auto-dialers.... When multiple lines answer and the ones you can't get to right away hang up, what happens to those numbers? Do they get recycled in the list until you are able to speak to a live person? What about if an answering machine/fax picks up or if there is a busy signal? Also, where do the numbers come from? Would the agent using the service have to pay for a list as well or does the agent enter in the numbers he/she wants dialed?

What else would be important to know about using this type of service for someone who never has?

Thanks...always been curious about this...

Top some degree it depends on the dialer, but generally speaking:

-If it doesn't get an answer, it just gets put back in the list of numbers to call. If they do pick up and you don't get to them it's considered a dropped call, and those drops can go right back into the queue. On the system I sell you can specify how soon you call them back.
-With fax machines, busy signals, etc, it's all about the same. With some dialers you have to reset the list, with mine you tell it what you want recalled and how long you want it to wait before calling it back.
-The numbers generally have to be loaded in and you have to purchase them. If folks buy a dialer from me and a list I'll build out the campaign for them (and give them a discount on both). The files generally need to be uploaded via a .csv (similar to .xls) format.

As far as what's important, it really depends. There are a lot of different features different dialers can have such as email integration or a calendar built into it, some folks rather have something that's just simple to use. Another important consideration is compatibility. Most dialers have limited support for any non-windows machines, mine is compatible with Linux, Mac and Windows. A part of the reason for that is with some dialers they're actually using your computer to make the dials which can slow your computer down vs a complete hosted solution that is running on another system altogether.

Another thing you probably want to consider is the support. Some companies focus mostly on pointing folks to online training or webinars, others do one on one trainings.

Does that help?

 

[mmaedelins]

Thanks a bunch!!! I appreciate you taking the time to explain that to me

 

[Josh]

Thanks a bunch!!! I appreciate you taking the time to explain that to me

No problem. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Cory]

I think Josh has covered most everything well, but I'd like to add a few things for thought.

-With a dialer the not reachables, disconnecteds, etc. should automatically be filtered out so as not to waste your time.
-If a call is abandoned while on hold on another line because you are on a LIVE call...usually it's best to have that number dialed back right away because you know they answered the phone.
-Some dialers will hang up on on-hold calls which I think is the wrong tactic as in my opinion it automatically puts that person on the defensive next time around.
-How a dialer handles on-hold calls with "safe harbor" messages is key...can elaborate more if you like.
-Compatibility is key like Josh said and some dialers will not tell you they are not Mac compatible or have to run parallels which alot of Mac users don't like to use.
-Ask if a dialer is predictive or a power dialer as Josh pointed out you don't want those lag times associated with predictive dialers.
-Training...whatever meets your needs. We have people that prefer online group, pre-recorded or one-on-one.

Ultimately...there are lots of solid dialers out there with different pricepoints. Just find one that has the features you want, at a price that works and fits your learning curve. Josh can certainly answer more of your questions or you can reply or PM me.

 

[Josh]

-Ask if a dialer is predictive or a power dialer as Josh pointed out you don't want those lag times associated with predictive dialers.

I agree on most of the points, but not on this one. Lag time isn't necessarily a plight of predictive as much as it is of making sure there is enough hardware backing everything. Lag should be in fractions of a second and as negligible as with power dialing. That said, sometimes you'll have calls stacked on top of each other so you can run into delays there, but that's usually based more off callers not being available than the technology itself.

 

[grego]

How many dials should he be doing...assuming he targets med sups

 

[Josh]

How many dials should he be doing...assuming he targets med sups

As many as possible? With a dialer it should be kicking out 75-125+, half that dialing by hand.