Did you know that 32% of marketers believe that outbound marketing is effective in generating more leads? Moreover, this figure is considered on par with inbound marketing.

Outbound calling, being an unfamiliar concept to many, generally creates a lot of confusion. 

Have you ever received a random call on your phone promoting a product or service provided by a company? 

Or maybe the callers were asking for donations or asking you for your opinion? That’s exactly what outbound calling is.

In this article, we will take a closer look at outbound calling and how businesses handle these outbound phone calls.

What is Outbound Calling?

Outbound calling is the process of an agent making phone calls to existing and potential consumers. Your reps then attempt to pique your contact’s interest in your company’s products or services. 

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Outbound phone calls are among the most effective ways of client communication as they provide personal contact information. Agents who make outbound phone calls have a precisely focused outreach to get fast feedback.

For businesses, outbound dialing has the potential to revolutionize the way you communicate with customers and increase revenue. 

Also Related: Outbound Sales Call – A Complete Guide

Types Of Outbound Calls

There are many types of outbound calling that businesses can use to enhance their sales. 

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Here are some of the different kinds of outbound calling methods:

1) Telemarketing

Telemarketing, as the name suggests, means telephone marketing. Telemarketing is defined as contacting, qualifying, and canvassing your prospective customers. 

In telemarketing, your salesperson makes outbound phone calls to prospective customers to inform them about your company. They then attempt to convince the customers to buy your product by explaining the benefits and usage.

2) Payment reminder

The credit card companies that sell products on a credit basis generally use outbound calls for payment/installment reminders. They can make these outbound phone calls before the installment due date or after. 

3) Customer service calls

Customer service refers to services provided to your customers before, after, or during purchase. 

From a salesperson’s point of view, customer service greatly impacts your company’s sales and revenue generation. Outbound calling facilities companies try to provide solutions to customer queries and questions.

These services not only help in customer retention but also increase your customer loyalty. However, the success of these services depends upon your salesperson and their customer interaction skills.

4) Marketing research

To know the trend prevailing in the market, it is important to connect to the public. Outbound calling is the best way to connect to the public. 

Receiving calls, SMS, and emails asking for your preference is pretty normal in today’s world. These are conducted by outbound call center agencies trying to collect market preferences.

5) Non-profit or charity funding

Non-profit companies make outbound phone calls in search of funding from the public at large. They intend to promote the charitable activities done by their company and look for prospective contributors. 

Thus, these calls help both the contributors and the person in need of such facilities.

6) Surveys 

The key to conducting a successful survey is a large sample size obtained by outbound calling. Thus, calls are made to your customers to know and gather their opinions on certain topics. 

These topics can vary from product usage, politics, and public welfare to customer satisfaction.

7) Post-sales follow-up

To retain customer companies, you need to provide them with better and more impressive after-sales services. Thus, outbound phone calls are made to existing customers to inform them about the after-sale services provided by your company. 

Sometimes these calls are also made to obtain feedback from your customers about the sold product. This helps understand customer needs and their expectations of the product, thereby leading to improvement.

Also Read: Outbound Call Center Metrics to Measure Success

What is the Outbound Calling process?

Each business has a unique approach to implementing its outbound calling strategy. However, there are five steps of the outbound calling process that every team must follow. 

Step 1 – Segmenting the market

Before you begin an outbound calling campaign, you must first answer the following questions: Who do you want to reach out to? What types of buyers would you like to speak with? Who are your products or services aimed at?

Your staff can’t interact with people who are interested in your brand if they can’t answer these questions. Finding your market segments allows your team to personalize their approach in the most effective method possible.

Step 2 – Obtaining leads

The practice of piquing a consumer’s interest in your products or services is known as lead generation. 

You get leads by making a list of people you want to contact and then tracking their contact information. You’ll have a list of folks for your sales staff to call at the end of the process.

Step 3 – Qualification and outreach

This is the point at which your team begins interacting with the leads you’ve gathered. This is generally done by phoning and emailing prospects to gauge their interest in your brand.

Outreach and qualifying are used to determine whether or not a lead may be converted into a customer. They are eliminated from the call list if you cannot persuade them to be interested in your firm. You can move them to the next phase if they are qualified prospects.