How to minimise abandoned calls in your telemarketing campaigns

There are many factors that can cause customers to hang up or not answer a call. In this post, we won’t discuss external factors, such as the growing number of people on opt-out lists like the Robinson list, or the implementation of regulations like GDPR. Instead, we’ll focus on two things you can control: improving the configuration of your telemarketing tool and refining your strategy.

ARE PREDICTIVE DIALERS THE ANSWER?

Predictive dialers maximise productivity by dialing more numbers than there are agents available, reducing waiting times between calls to zero. However, this efficiency can lead to two common problems that affect the customer experience (but have solutions):

1. Phantom calls:
2. These occur when the user answers but hears no one on the line because the system is still transferring the call to an available agent. This is often associated with telemarketing campaigns and causes users to hang up immediately.
3. Disconnected calls:
4. This happens when all agents are busy and the system disconnects a call that has already been connected to a customer, intending to try again later. This feels like a missed call to the customer.

Although advanced predictive algorithms minimise these problems, they can still occur if the system isn’t configured correctly, as we explain below.

ENSURE YOUR TOOL IS CONFIGURED CORRECTLY

Follow these three steps to optimise performance and reduce abandoned calls:

1. SET YOUR PREDICTIVE DIALER TO AUTO-TUNE

Every predictive dialer works differently, so it’s important to understand how yours works and what its strengths and limitations are. This is particularly important because some intelligent systems, such as Outbound by Enreach, will automatically adjust the volume of outbound calls if they detect that more calls are being connected than agents can handle – helping to avoid disconnects.

2. ADJUST DIALLING SPEED

Before launching a campaign, some systems allow you to choose between different dialling modes and adjust the speed (for predictive dialers), offering options such as ‘normal’, ‘fast’ or ‘aggressive’ depending on your campaign objectives.

3. REDUCE CONNECTION TIME

All software tools come with a default connection time that determines when an unanswered call is disconnected to prevent it from going to voicemail. By adjusting this time and finding the optimum setting (e.g. reducing it from 25 to 15 seconds), you can ensure that agents spend less time waiting for customers to pick up, so they can quickly move on to the next call.

TWEAK YOUR TELMARKING STRATEGY

The market is constantly changing and what worked a year ago may no longer be effective. It’s time to reinvent yourself and try new approaches. Here are three tips to help your campaigns succeed:

1. MONITOR PERFORMANCE IN REAL TIME

Analyse your response rates by time of day. Identifying the most successful times will allow you to fine-tune your strategy and maximise results.

2. COMBINE TWO DIALLERS BASED ON CONTACT QUALITY

• Use an automatic dialler for high quality contacts to ensure they are immediately connected to an agent when they pick up.
  Reserve the predictive dialler for lower quality contacts, where the impact of phantom calls is less likely to affect the connection experience.

3. GRAB ATTENTION IN THE FIRST FIVE SECONDS

Create a compelling and original opening script or voice prompt. This small detail can prevent users from hanging up and increase your chances of success.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP

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