The phone is still one of the most important sales tools in most industries, and while the value the phone offers hasn’t changed, the way we use it has. Technology has changed all aspects of business, and, today, many companies have opted to forgo traditional enterprise phone systems and instead adopt web-based power dialers that use VoIP technology and make calling faster, easier, and cheaper. 

 

With power dialers, all a sales agent needs to make a call is an internet connection, a computer, and a headset. Some dialers, like CRMDialer, even allow calls to be made through the dialer right on an agent’s mobile phone. It’s a game-changing approach to sales calling, especially with the emerging shift towards decentralized offices and work-from-home arrangements. 

 

But while power dialers are known for making calls more efficient, they’re also exceptional tools for making the sales process itself more effective. With that in mind, the following are three strategies your business can use to unlock the full potential of your power dialer, enabling it to enhance not only your call volume, but the quality of your sales process, your agents’ training, and your ability to connect with customers as well.

 

Let Your Power Dialer Feed Your Customer Resource Management System

 

Power dialers are incredibly effective calling tools, but they’re also an extremely effective way to generate customer data. Every time a call is made, the system generates a plethora of data, and even more contextual information is generated from the conversation itself. The challenge is capturing that data so that it can be analyzed and used in the future, and there is no better way to do that than tying your power dialer into your customer resource management software. 

 

A dialer integrated with a CRM doesn’t just improve sales calling; it improves all aspects of the sales process. The system can automatically log things like call times, answer rates, and even call outcomes to the corresponding lead account. Agents can quickly and easily record their notes into the system right on the call. And because the connection is two-way, agents can also reference the data already stored in the CRM prior to and during their sales calls, significantly improving their preparedness and quality of service. A power dialer on its own can provide plenty of data on calls themselves, but when tied in and feeding a CRM, dialers provide deep insight into the impact of calls on the sales process and overall organizational goals – a much more complete picture and a very valuable one. If you already have a stand-alone dialer or a stand-alone CRM, it’s worth looking into potential integrations. An even better option is to choose a system like CRMDialer, which integrates a top CRM and a full-featured power dialer, by design. 

 

Build Targeted Sales Training Around Your Dialer Metrics

 

Piggybacking on the benefits of the data provided by power dialers, one key area in which managers can gain valuable new insight is sales agent performance. Power dialers generally include analytics tools that log key agent performance indicators like number of calls dialed, answer rates, call times, close rates, and much more. Dialers also include features like call recording and listen-in that enable managers to check in on agents on the phone, either after the fact or in real-time. 

 

The wealth of data produced and the ability to monitor agents’ actual in-context call performance means your managers can identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual agents with pinpoint accuracy. Your sales managers and HR team can then generate targeted individual training programs – one of the most effective ways to help agents reach their full potential as salespeople. Subsequent performance can be monitored through the power dialer analytics as training progresses to gain a clear indication of its effectiveness. Dialer-generated insights are so valuable for training purposes that failure to utilize them represents a huge missed opportunity to get the maximum value possible from your investment in the technology. 

 

Leverage Local Presence and Call Queues to Make More Connections

 

One major problem faced by sales organizations of all types is that people have become extremely suspicious of certain types of phone calls. Unfortunately, there are a lot of scams and unethical telemarketers out there that inundate people with everything ranging from junk offers to outright fraud. As a result, customers have adopted a nearly universal defense – ignoring calls from unfamiliar phone numbers. In this case, unfamiliar simply means a number that doesn’t look local due to an unrecognized area code (or, in some cases, looks too close to the recipient’s own number.) The result is that companies making calls out of their local areas or across state lines get nailed with low answer rates, even in cases where a prospect has asked for a call. 

 

Luckily, power dialers offer a simple solution to keep all-important answer rates high – local presence. Local presence is a feature that allows a sales agent to select their outgoing number from a pre-owned list within the power dialer. For instance, a paper salesperson in Scranton, PA calling a potential client in Syracuse, NY could swap out their normal 570 number for a Syracuse-based 315 number. The swap can be done in seconds, and because the prospect’s call display lights up with their own familiar area code, the odds of a successful connection and an eventual sale are much, much higher. With local presence, your agents working on out-of-area accounts can either swap numbers as needed on a call-by-call basis or group their day’s calls by geographical area and let the system dial through them automatically to make things even faster. Actively selecting numbers is a simple and effective way to boost answer rates by as much as 60%, and it’s only practical with a local-presence-equipped power dialer.

 

A good power dialer offers your organization a tool that does far more than just speed up calling – especially when integrated with a feature-rich customer resource management platform. CRMDialer is a leading CRM that includes a built-in power dialer right out of the box. Integrating the two by design creates a seamless tool that ensures data flows completely freely between the two sides of the system and, more importantly, users can access everything they need within a matter of seconds, no matter what they’re doing. 

 

To find out more about everything a top power dialer/CRM combo can do for your sales organization, reach out to the team or start your no-commitment 14-day free trial of CRMDialer now!