Outbound Diallers: All Your Options In One Place
Outbound diallers can be the lifeblood of your sales team. Diallers enable your agents to make more calls in less time, which means more connections and ultimately, more sales.
According to one study, utilizing diallers allows call centre reps to have 15% more sales conversations per day. The benefits of outbound diallers don’t end there.
Using dialing technology will lower costs and decrease burnout for employees as it reduces the amount of time your workers spend on repetitive tasks. This also eliminates a lot of potential for human error.
Here is everything you need to know about outbound diallers.
What is outbound dialing?
Outbound calling is a big part of bringing in new business and keeping existing customers engaged. It refers to communication requests being made by contact centre agents to customers and prospects.
A primary example of high volume outbound dialing is a cold calling campaign. Cold calling is an attempt made by a business to connect and engage with an individual who has no prior relationship with the company.
When a company is engaged in a cold calling campaign to drum up new business, call centre agents will make an average of 8 outbound calls per hour. This average includes three minutes of prep time per prospect, 1.5 minutes of talk time, and three minutes of post-call time.
Cold calling is a numbers game. Those pre and post-call minutes can add up fast.
But outbound diallers can help.
What does an outbound dialler do?
An outbound dialler helps contact centre agents make outbound calls by dialing numbers automatically on a contact list and sending connected calls directly to available agents.
Using an outbound dialler eliminates the time that agents would spend dialing numbers as well as the opportunity for human error in misdialing.
Some outbound diallers can also send customer history and other information to agents about the person that they are interacting with either while they are on a call or beforehand.
How many types of dialler are there?
There are four main types of outbound diallers and they all have their own pros and cons. Selecting the best business phone system will depend on what your specific goals are.
1 - Progressive dialler
A progressive dialler will call numbers for an agent when that agent indicates that they are available. If a call goes unanswered, the dialler will proceed to the next number on the list until it connects with a person.
With a progressive dialler, once the agent and the person disconnect, the dialler will call another number automatically.
Pros: People that answer the outbound call will always be connected with an agent immediately. The progressive dialler saves your agent time by dialing the next number automatically.
Cons: Although the progressive dialler will display customer history and other information, it is displayed as the dialler is making the call, so the agent will have to review the information while they are on the phone with the customer.
2 - Predictive dialler
A predictive dialler will dial several numbers at a time until it achieves a connection. Once the dialler achieves a connection, it will automatically transfer the call to an available agent.
A predictive dialler uses algorithms to determine when an agent will become available. It collects data on metrics like average call duration and uses this information to predict when an agent will be available to take another call.
Pros: Saves time by calling several numbers at once and automatically transferring live calls to agents.
Cons: Because the predictive dialler uses algorithms to determine when an agent will be ready to take a call, there may be times when a customer answers a call with no agent on the line. This could lead to abandoned calls.
What is the difference between a progressive and predictive dialler?
A progressive dialler will only dial the next number for an agent when that agent has actually finished the previous call. The predictive dialler differs in this as it will predict when the agent is going to be available by using algorithms and metric data.
The predictive dialler is faster than the progressive dialler as it will start dialing the next number before the agent finishes their current call. But, if the agent takes an unusually long time with their current call, the agent may miss the next connection and the call could be abandoned before it’s transferred to another available agent.
3 - Preview dialler
A preview dialler will automatically dial an outbound call only when the agent indicates that they are available and ready. With a preview dialler, your agent is able to review background information and customer history of the person they are calling before the call.
Preview diallers are best for contact centre reps who need plenty of context for the conversations they are having.
Pros: Preview diallers allow agents to review lots of information on a customer or prospect before speaking with them.
Cons: Calls made by a preview dialler go at a much slower pace than other outbound diallers.
What is the difference between predictive and preview dialling?
The predictive and preview dialler both give agents context by providing history and information for the customer or prospect the rep is speaking with, however, the timing is different. With a predictive dialler, the agent will receive the information only as the number is being dialed so they can’t review it beforehand.
With a preview dialler, your agent receives this information before the call is made and the agent indicates when they are ready to speak with the customer. The predictive dialler will make the next call automatically, as soon as the agent finishes the current call.
The preview dialler only makes the next call when the agent indicates that they are available and ready.
4 - Power dialler
A power dialler makes outbound calls on a contact list automatically and sends them to agents that are available. If there is no answer, a power dialler will move automatically to the next number on the list.
Pros: With a power dialler, every call that is answered will have an agent on the line and no time is wasted by agents dialing business phone numbers that don’t get answered.
Cons: A power dialler does not provide identifying information on customers for agents.
So, what is the best dialler system?
There is no single best dialler system. Each outbound dialing solution has its own strengths and weaknesses.
The best tool for your business will depend on your goals, the types of people your contact centre is reaching out to and whether your call centre is focused on sales or customer service.
For example, a preview dialler might be a good choice for customer service calls that require more time from agents while a power dialler might be best for a cold calling campaign to drum up new business. A predictive or progressive dialler might work well for a contact centre that handles both sales and customer service calls.
How much is a dialler system?
Although once an expensive tool that had to be set up with on-site hardware, outbound diallers have come down significantly in price due to advances in technology and developments in the CCaaS space.
The most cost effective way to obtain an outbound dialler is by finding a hosted call centre software solution that is right for your business. Top call centre software providers all include outbound dialing as a feature and many of them have several if not all 4 types of the outbound diallers mentioned above.
These all-in-one contact centre solutions, also known as contact centre as-a-service (CCaaS), cost about £75 per agent per month depending on what kind of plan you need. There are often to volume discounts available for large enterprises.
Along with outbound dialing capabilities, CCaaS platforms will provide many other tools and features like interactive voice response (IVR) and call analytics to help your contact centre run smoothly and achieve goals.
CCaaS is flexible and scalable so your business can easily scale up or down in minutes without having to restructure or purchase new hardware. This is useful for businesses that have a seasonal work flow and hire temporary staff in peak periods.
Final thoughts
An outbound dialler is an invaluable tool for any contact centre and often, it’s an absolute necessity.
With the right outbound dialler for your business, your agents will save time, make fewer mistakes and connect with more customers than they ever could by dialing numbers on a contact list.