Tips For a Successful Working Relationship With a Call Center?

There are many companies out there that need to grow their sales pipeline and many of them hesitate to outsource cold calling because they think a call center wouldn't be able to represent them properly.
There is a whole list of companies that outsource their pre-sales process and are very happy with how things work out. After 10 years in this business I can say that the most important thing in outsourcing is the working relationship.
Here are a few tips on what makes outsourcing lead generation and appointment setting beneficial for both, you and the call center:
1. Choose a team that knows your industry well, has experience promoting your products/services and calling your target markets.
2. Decide what you need the call center to do:

• Determining initial interest and responding to requests for information.
• Staying in touch with the contacts over time, as their needs mature.
• Qualifying the company and contact for size, need, decision-making process, budget, timing etc.
• Generating leads and setting appointments.

3. Set the right expectations.

• If your industry has a 1 to 2 year sales cycle, that is what you should also expect from call center leads.
• An outsourced team won't be able to present your products and services at the same level of detail as your team would, but it would certainly be able to qualify more prospects and make them interested enough to want to find out more from your sales representatives.
• We know that not every prospect closes, and similarly not every contact who may want an appointment will see it through. Usually a superior tells them that the issue is not high on the company's agenda, so the meeting is not necessary at this time. Expect a small percentage of attrition.
• It will take longer to set appointments by calling into a target group of large companies pursuing VP and C Level people than it will to reach manager or owner levels in medium and smaller companies.

4. What the call center needs to get the program going.

• Relevant targets (vertical markets, company size, territory you can effectively service, appropriate decision makers).
• Enough information to deliver a relevant message - most important points that need to be covered - a brief introduction of your company, a description of your products and services, the value proposition that these represent.
• Criteria that will help the pre-sales staff qualify your leads better - what qualifying questions they could ask to identify the best opportunities for you.
• Information as a PDF presentation that could be sent by email when prospects require some information first.