An inbound call center receives incoming calls from customers. Support teams typically monitor inbound centers since the calls tend to come from existing customers with issues or questions.
An outbound call center, on the other hand, makes outgoing calls to shoppers. Sales teams typically run outbound centers to cold-call potential customers about their products. Companies also might make outbound calls to survey shoppers and collect market research.
Most businesses could benefit from an inbound call center to provide consistent customer service and technical support. Outsourcing an inbound call center also frees up valuable internal resources (and costs!) to support other projects and initiatives.
If your business needs a large fielding volume of customer requests, an inbound call center can:
At outbound call centers, sales reps primarily make calls to reach and attract prospective customers. Companies also use outbound call centers to conduct market research. Agents can call shoppers who match their target customers to learn more about their needs and interests.
Just like a sales development rep (SDR) would book meetings for an account executive (AE), outbound agents do the same for your salespeople.
Outbound call center agents can help salespeople generate and qualify leads. Cold outreach is used to identify opportunities, and collecting information over the phone can help identify if those leads are qualified to purchase (i.e., is it the right timing, and does the lead have the budget?).
Despite its reputation, telemarketing has shown solid growth over the last five years. When you think about it, telemarketers are like door-to-door salespeople. But instead of going house-to-house, telemarketers pitch their products phone-number-by-phone-number. They’re a valuable resource in that they help spread awareness of and pitch products to potential customers in a wider pool of locations and demographics.
Market research is conducted by outbound call center agents to develop a better understanding of their customers and their competition. For example, market researchers might conduct phone surveys to determine their target audience’s top pain points, what products they’re currently using as a solution, and what they wish those solutions did better.
Inbound call centers can provide a variety of services and tasks. Here are some of the most common:
Whether you require inbound assistance or outbound assistance depends on the feature that your team cannot manage. If there is a reality that you have not been able to manage the rate of customers’ calls on customer service or tech support, then you probably need an inbound call center. If your team found it difficult to follow up on leads generated on their lists, then having an outbound call center would benefit your business.
After reading this guide, you may wonder, “What if my company could use both inbound and outbound call centers?” Luckily, you don’t have to choose one or the other. Instead, you can create a call center.
In a Phoenix dial, agents are responsible for both receiving calls and reaching out to shoppers. This centralization of communication creates a seamless, consistent customer experience. Your organization can easily change and improve call guidelines because all the communication is coming from one channel.
Inbound call centers are most useful to serve as customer support and to take care of questions or issues from current customers. As a result, inbound call centers need to be focused on brand alignment, relationship building, empathy, and, of course, support.
With marketing and sales in mind, outbound call centers are focused on selling, engagement, accessibility rules, and commitment. An outbound call center agent will still need to be personable and empathetic, of course—to make a connection with the customer and represent your brand well—but they also need to understand sales and the ins and outs of your product and offerings.
Ready to transform your business? Contact Phoenix Dial today and let us help you soar to new heights of success.
