Most people these days have already been called by salespeople from different companies. A calling strategy is a well-thought-out plan for getting in touch with prospects and talking to them one-on-one.
If this old way of marketing is done right, it can bring in a lot of business. These kinds of campaigns can be run for a variety of reasons, like telemarketing, audience study, and customer service.
But for a calling strategy to be successful, you need a dialer that is easy to use, fast and effective. Fortunately, with advancement in technology, we now have modern call centers with automated dialers, that helps in a number of ways. Modern call centers have a lot of different kinds of software with a lot of different functions.
Let’s explore more about auto dialing and manual dialing . Let’s look at them side by side and decide which of them is best for you.
What is Manual Dialing?
A manual dialer is a popular sales dialer that agents use to call one customer at a time from a list of numbers. The workers must wait for the call to go through.
This way has its own perks and benefits. Manual dialer systems make it easy for people working in a call center to dial a number and enter specific information about a contact.
Sometimes the wrong number rings or the answering machine picks up. Manual dialing is not a good way to make outgoing calls because there is no way to screen outgoing calls.
How does Manual Dialing Work?
A manual dialer is a simple dialer in which operators phone the client numbers one by one from the customer contact list. Furthermore, it is the standard dialer, with which most small call centers begin their operations.
This is how it works:
- A contact center representative dials a number from a preloaded list or manually dials a number.
- The agent must then wait for the calls to be connected, which may be busy, incorrect, or reach the answering machine.
- Because manual dialing does not allow for filtering, it is the least efficient method for making outbound calls.
Manual dialers work best in outbound call centers, where sales workers have already gone through a lot of information before making calls.
What is Automated Dialing?
Automatic dialers, in general, use a method that can automate and speed up the process of dialing phone numbers.
Automatic dialer systems are a key way for call centers to help agents talk more, generate more leads, spend less time waiting on hold, and improve the customer experience.
For example, automated call efforts often use a prospect’s answers to particular questions to find qualified leads. Then, once the campaign starts, these results can be evaluated with the assistance of a report, which is simple to save to your PC.
Advancement of Automated Dialing: A Less Time Consuming and More Result Bearing Technique
An outbound call center option, an auto dialer automatically calls customers’ phone numbers and can give important information through an automated message or connect the customer to a live agent once the call is answered.
Businesses in many different fields, such as e-commerce, hospitality, healthcare, education, insurance, financial services, real estate, debt collection, political organizations (when running political campaigns), and others, can use automatic dialing systems.
Businesses can reach and follow up with hundreds or even thousands of customers, buyers, or leads quickly and easily using this automated call system.
Major Differences Between Manual Dialer and an Auto Dialer
The primary distinctions that exist between auto dialers and manual dialers are of the greatest importance for companies to keep in mind at all times.
Dialing Mode Compatibility
Manual dialers require agents to manually place outbound calls. As a result, the agents can direct outbound calls based on the specific requirements of different marketing campaigns. However,
Modern auto dialers feature preview, progressive, and predictive dialing modes.
Agents can even transition from one dialing mode to another. The manager can select a suitable dialing mode based on the nature and requirements of each marketing campaign.
Access to Customer Information
When employing a manual dialer, employees must often access consumer information by scanning the computer screen or paper records. They must also expend more effort and time to determine which consumer should be contacted and locate his or her phone number.
Auto dialers, on the other hand, dial phone numbers contained in a database or spreadsheet mechanically and consecutively. While managing answered calls, the agents can access consumer information directly on their computer screens.
The Call Volume
Using manual dialers, no modern call center can handle a huge volume of outgoing calls or a rise in outbound calls. By calling numbers manually, the agents are unable to handle a big volume of outbound calls.
Auto dialers assist call centers in managing large-scale marketing campaigns as well as high-volume outbound calls. Predictive dialers start outbound calls by estimating when an agent will be available to take the next call.
Similarly, as soon as an agent finishes the current call, the progressive dialers dial the next contact number.
However, call centers can employ preview dialers to ensure that operators have access to up-to-date consumer information before taking an answered call. Many contact centers use automatic dialers to make more calls and shorten the time between calls.
Integration of CRM
Most firms nowadays use customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to successfully manage client information. Businesses do not have the option of integrating manual dialers with their CRM systems.
As a result, after finishing a call, agents must manually update consumer information. The hosted auto dialers can be simply linked with a company’s existing CRM system. The integration allows the dialer to automatically update customer information.
Closing Points
Calling well takes a lot of knowledge about both strategies and methods. Agents should depend on their skills and good judgment. On the other hand, the manual dialing mode doesn’t have any features that can be used to improve outbound calling efforts. You may waste a lot of time by listening to the phone ring, leaving messages on the phone, and hanging up on calls that aren’t returned. Auto-dialers, on the other hand, are made with smartphone calling features to save time. The basic features of automatic dialing are call routing, caller ID, making appointments, call transfer, and call monitoring.
