Inbound Call Center Glossary

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Introduction:

"Do you want a script-writing service with your SLA?" "How about agents...do you prefer dedicated or shared?"

Purchasing inbound call center services from a call center can be a daunting prospect if you do now know the vocabulary of the industry. However, if you can "talk the talk" of the telemarketing industry, you will be able to communicate more effectivley with service providers about your inbound call center needs, truly getting what you want.

Call Flow

A basic, underlying tenet that a TSR or CSR must follow with every call. These call flows can be scripted or implied depending on the level of control desired.

Consolidated Call Center

A call center that takes calls for several different products or companies instead of specializing only in one company’s demands is called a consolidated call center. A consolidated call center can have dedicated agents who deal only with one account, however most of the agents have “skill-set” diversity and field calls for several different accounts.

Customer Service Rep

People at the inbound call center that will be dealing directly with your customers are called CSRs. In order for your business to successfully service its clientele, your hired CSRs must be effective.

Dedicated Agent

An inbound call center agent who is dedicated to representing only your product on the phone. Dedicated agents are ideal because they are very well versed in your company and your product.

Dedicated Payment

There are three ways to pay for telemarketing services, and dedicated payment is a flat payment offered to a TSR who spends all of his/her time on your account.

Inbound Call Center

A company that specializes in handling incoming calls is called an inbound call center. Often, they are set up to handle a much larger volume of calls than your business can accommodate. They frequently provide tech support, answering capabilities, customer service, order placement and lead qualifying services.

In-House

A service or a task completed within the bounds of your organization. For example, because you are thinking about hiring a separate firm to make sales calls on your company’s behalf, you are not doing sales calls “in-house.”

List

Multiple numbers of potential customers that you would like to call.

List Source

The place a telemarketing firm obtains a list of numbers to call is known as a list source.

Monitoring Solution

In order to test the efficacy of your telephone sales representatives and your consumer service representatives you my have the option to listen in on a call in progress. Depending on the telemarketing or inbound calling center guidelines, you may have to go through a representative to do so.

Off-Shore

The practice of hiring a telemarketing or inbound call center that is located in a different country is known as “off shoring.” Please see our article about the advantages and disadvantages of using an offshore firm for your telemarketing and inbound call center needs.

Outbound Call Center

A company that specializes in telemarketing, or making multiple sales or service calls on your behalf is known as an outbound call center. Typically, telemarketing companies make direct sales calls, lead generation calls, appointment scheduling calls, information verifying calls, and research and survey calls. Following a contractual agreement, telephone sales representatives will either follow a service script or ad-lib.

Outsourcing

The process of hiring a company outside of your own for a service in the name of efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Phone Staff

The staff of people that will be on the phone with your customers—whether they are making service calls, marketing your business, taking orders, or scheduling appointments is known as a phone staff. Your satisfaction with the call center you hire is largely contingent on the quality of the job the phone staff does for your business.

Telephone Sales Representatives (TSR) - The representatives that will be selling your product directly to potential customers over the phone are known as telephone sales representatives.

Report

Important information such as total sales and revenue over time, call duration, calls per minute, handling time etc. are given to companies in the form of reports. Check with your particular service provider as to availability and formatting options.

Script

Optional directives that instruct your telephone sales and customer service representatives during a call are called scripts. Depending upon the policies of your particular business and the call center you choose to hire, scripts can be as specific or as general as you would like them to be.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

The agreement that discusses the boundaries of service that the telemarketing or inbound calling center will provide for your business is known as a service level agreement. This document should include detailed notes on scripts to use, customer service, up-selling, etc.

Shared Agent

A telemarketing agent who works on multiple accounts for multiple people is known as a shared agent. S/he may not be as versed in your products specifics because they are not the only ones s/he is representing on the phone to potential customers.

Skill Set Diversity

The industry term for call center agents who field calls for more than one cause is skill-set diversity. Dedicated agents do not need skill-set diversity because they are dedicated to the calls of only one company and can devote 100% of their time to that company’s demands.