10 Tips When Choosing an Inbound Call Center
Key Terms and Definitions
Questions to Ask Before You Choose

Telemarketing: The term used when a company makes calls on your behalf to gather information, alert potential customers of specials or sales, or make a sale.

Call Center: A call center company is a company who receives or makes calls on your behalf.

Automated Attendant: An automated voice that provides a caller with navigational options such as picking a language, accessing a directory or choosing a specific topic.

Call Accounting: Records and organizes call statistics.

Autodialing: Software that automatically dials numbers and will then transfer the call to live operation when the other end of line is picked up.

Concurrent Users: How many callers the call center can handle at any given time.

Customer Relationship Management: CRM software collects and stores information about the person the phone the rep can view and update during the call.

Interactive Voice Response: IVR allows customers to use voice commands to navigate available options.

Predictive Dialing: Used primarily with Autodialing, this connects the phone to a liver operator when the call is answered.

Queue: This is the telephone equivalent to a waiting room.

Voice Over Internet Protocol: VoIP allows the user to make calls over the Internet as opposed to a telephone land line.

Questions to Ask Before You Choose

1. Are your callers U.S. based or offshore? (Offshore call centers can be cheaper but are controversial to some, especially in a struggling U.S. economy)

2. How many reps will be assigned to my account? (The fewer reps, within reason, will know your business better an offer a more personable experience for repeat callers)

3. How are they compensated? (Are they compensated by performance or a flat fee salary)

4. Has your call center worked in my specific industry? (Are they knowledgeable of trends? Savvy to the specific lingo?)

5. What type of calls does your company typically make or receive? (Information seeking? Closing sales? Generating Leads?)

6. Do a large percentage of calls result in lead generation? What percentage? (When a sale opportunity arises, do they have experience in closing)

7. Who will manage my account? (How accessible are they and will it always be the same person)

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