Outbound 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 telemarketing services from a call center can be a daunting prospect if you do not 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 telemarketing 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 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.

Dedicated Agent

A telemarketing 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.

DNC Compliance

There are both national and state “Do Not Call” registries that telemarketers must look at when considering whom to call. Political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors, or companies with which a consumer has an existing relationship are not covered under the provisions of the DNC registry.

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.”

Lead

A lead is the identity of a potential customer. For example, if you get a lead on a business due to telemarketing services, you would get the name and telephone number of a potential customer.

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.

Multilingual Marketing

Telemarketing conducted in more than one language is known as multilingual telemarketing. If you think that you need multilingual telemarketing, look for a firm that specializes in the language you need.

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.

Payment Methods

Dedicated Payment-A flat payment offered to a Telephone Sales Representative who spends all of his/her time on your account.

Hourly Pay-One way you can pay a TSR for telemarketing service is by the hour.  This entitles the TSR to a flat rate per hour of service, regardless of performance.

Pay for Performance-This option of payment compensates by the sales performance of the Telephone Sales Representative.  If a TSR performs well, s/he is compensated accordingly; conversely, if a TSR is performing poorly, s/he will get paid poorly as well.

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.

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.

Telemarketing

The process of making multiple sales or service calls is called telemarketing. Typically located in outbound call centers, telemarketers are usually available to make sales calls, lead generation calls, appointment scheduling calls, information verifying calls, and research and survey calls. Depending upon the agreement reached, telemarketers may follow a service script or ad-lib.

Types of Telemarketing

Charity and Fund Raising Telemarketing-calls attempt to raise both money and awareness for various charitable funds.  If calls are made in-house, charity telemarketing calls are exempt from the Do Not Call Registry guidelines.

Customer Appreciation Telemarketing-A call made solely to thank a customer for his or her loyal business is an example of customer appreciation telemarketing.  These calls do not involve direct sales.

Database Clean-Up Telemarketing-A process that is used to ensure a company’s database of customer information is accurate often uses database clean-up.  The call may verify such information as address, phone number, current account holder, account type and desired level of service.

Direct Sales Telemarketing-When a telephone sales representative calls a number on a list and attempts to sell them a product over the phone s/he is engaging in direct sales telemarketing.

Get Out and Vote Telemarketing-Calls aimed at motivating citizens to vote for a particular candidate are known as “get out and vote” telemarketing calls.  If done in-house, “get out and vote” calls may be exempt from the Do Not Call Registry guidelines. 

Lead Setting Telemarketing- is geared toward amassing sales leads for a particular company through telemarketing. 

Market Research Telemarketing-Calls done purely for research are exempt from the Do Not Call Registry guidelines.  These calls attempt to gather accurate information about consumers in America and can be as broad or as specific as needed to research a certain market.

New Customer Acquisition Telemarketing-Also know as “cold-calling” and involves a telephone sales representative calling a number on a list and soliciting business with no prior business relationship in place. 

Renewal Telemarketing-Calls made by telephone customer service representatives to check for a renewal of a subscription, service or memberships are renewal telemarketing calls.

Retention Telemarketing-If a customer cancels a membership, subscription or services, a telephone sales representative will call and attempt to win back customer loyalty, engaging in retention telemarketing.