What is an Outbound Call Center and How to Choose Your Best Solution?

An outbound call center is an excellent cost-saving alternative to an in-house sales development team. However, if your B2B company has never outsourced lead generation, choosing the right provider can be challenging. 

Today, there are a number of outbound call centers to choose from; however, only a select few of these can be a good fit for your company. You may have a number of reasons for outsourcing your lead generation, namely to boost sales, but you’ll also want to make the most out of this collaboration. If not done correctly, picking the wrong outbound call center can become a tremendous waste of time and money for your company.

CIENCE has vast experience in outbound prospecting. We’ve learned how to prospect most effectively after years of successfully collaborating with businesses of all types of industries. We’ve also collected feedback from our clients, which is why we know precisely what works best. 

In this blog, we'll explore the world of outbound call centers, highlighting their benefits, key metrics, and the factors to consider when choosing the right solution for your business.

What is an Outbound Call Center?

An outbound call center is a business operation focused on making outgoing calls to potential customers. The meaning of an outbound call center lies in its ability to actively reach out and engage prospects to drive sales growth. Unlike inbound call centers, which handle incoming queries, outbound centers aim to proactively connect with leads and guide them through the sales funnel.

Sales Development Representatives are crucial in outbound call centers, initiating conversations, and presenting products or services. These centers leverage tools like advanced dialing systems, outbound sales tools, and CRM software to enhance efficiency. Often, they integrate phone outreach with email and social media to maximize reach.

A Call Center or Contact Center?

Call and contact centers often get confused, but they serve distinct purposes. A call center primarily handles voice communications, focusing on phone interactions with customers. In contrast, a contact center offers a more comprehensive range of communication channels, including phone calls, emails, live chats, and social media interactions, providing a more integrated approach to customer service.

What are the Benefits of Outbound Call Center Services?

Outbound call center services offer numerous benefits for businesses looking to enhance their sales and customer engagement strategies. Here are some key advantages:

Cost Efficiency

 

Outsourcing to an outbound call center is often more cost-effective than maintaining an in-house team. Businesses can save significantly on recruitment, training, and infrastructure. For example, outsourcing can reduce labor costs by 10% to 70% compared to in-house operations, especially when utilizing offshore locations.

 

Many outbound call centers employ tried-and-tested sales methodologies that have been refined over years of experience. These proven strategies enable them to engage prospects more effectively and close deals with greater consistency.

By combining phone calls with other communication channels like email and social media, outbound call centers can create a comprehensive outreach strategy that can increase lead conversion rates by up to 20%, as it engages prospects across various touchpoints, maximizing the chances of conversion.

 

By outsourcing lead generation and sales calls, companies can focus more on their core business activities. This allows internal teams to concentrate on strategic initiatives while the outbound call center handles prospecting and initial customer engagement.

Types of B2B Outbound Call Centers

• Telemarketing and Telesales: Outbound call centers frequently engage in telemarketing and telesales activities, where agents make calls to potential customers to promote products and services.
• Lead Generation and Qualification: B2B outbound call centers specialize in generating and qualifying leads for businesses. They focus on identifying decision-makers within target companies and initiating conversations to understand their needs. For example, CIENCE uses outbound prospecting to identify potential clients and set appointments for sales teams.
• Appointment Setting: Many businesses utilize outbound call centers to set appointments for sales representatives. This involves qualifying leads and scheduling meetings with potential clients, which can significantly boost sales productivity​
• Market Research Call Centers: These centers conduct surveys and gather data from consumers and businesses to provide valuable insights into market trends, customer preferences, and competitive landscapes. This information helps companies make informed strategic decisions.
• Customer Retention Call Centers: These centers reach out to existing customers to ensure satisfaction, address issues, and offer additional products or services. They play a crucial role in reducing churn rates and enhancing customer loyalty​

Inbound Call Center vs. Outbound Call Center

Imagine inbound call centers as the guardians of customer satisfaction, welcoming inquiries and resolving issues with empathy and expertise. On the flip side, outbound call centers are the proactive trailblazers, reaching out to the world with persuasive pitches and strategic engagements.

Here's a table that explores the differences between inbound and outbound call centers and how each contributes uniquely to business success:

How to Choose Your Right Outbound Call Center

Choosing the right outbound call center is crucial for businesses looking to expand their reach and engage with new prospects effectively. Outbound call centers serve as the driving force behind proactive customer engagement, where skilled SDRs initiate conversations with potential clients. The process involves strategic planning and execution, making it essential to select a call center that aligns with your business goals and objectives. 

So how do you select the best one for your business? Follow these best practices when selecting an outbound call center:

1. Estimate the price of the outbound call center services.

One of the primary reasons for outsourcing telemarketing is to reduce costs. However, companies find it challenging to compare the expenses of an in-house employee versus the price of an outsourced service. This is mainly because they have trouble setting the right criteria. 

To do it right, you’ll need to estimate the costs according to the goals you want to achieve. For outbound prospecting, these goals might be setting an appointment, passing a qualified opportunity to an account executive, or both.

Next, define how much money your company has to spend in order to attain this goal. To calculate the cost of one opportunity passed or one set appointment, simply divide monthly expenses for your SDR by the number of achieved goals. Seeing the real numbers will help you to decide if an outbound call center works for you, or if you should look for other opportunities on the market.

Average costs for an in-house vs. outsourced SDR

Based on the latest research from The Bridge Group's 2023 SDR Metrics Report, the average quota for Sales Development Representatives is set at 15 accepted qualified opportunities per month. However, only 65% of SDRs are hitting this target, meaning the average SDR achieves around 9.75 opportunities per month.

Meanwhile, the average monthly expenses for the work of an SDR is about $11,112, as shown in the chart below:

This indicates that the average cost of one lead will be $1,089. You can make similar calculations for the services of an outbound call center. Simply divide their monthly price by the 9.75 opportunities.

Keep in mind that the stats above can vary depending on your industry, products, and your buyer persona. If you are looking for very specific companies (e.g., hotels on the West Coast), your lead pool will be small. As a result, you can’t expect to set as many appointments.

Similarly, if your product is complex and its sales cycle is long (e.g., you develop software for hotels on the West Coast), you’ll be lucky to have three qualified appointments per month.

2. Evaluate the lead generation process.

Recently, companies started to realize that outbound lead generation is a reliable way to increase the number of closed deals. However, sales have changed dramatically over the decade and become more sophisticated. 

Today, to be a successful business, it’s not enough to hire people with minor sales experience and have them read a generic script right to a list of contacts. Not only will it waste the time of your employees and their contacts, but it will also damage your reputation.

Without the right training and experience, in about 17 months, your sales reps will either ask for a promotion, request to change departments, or leave for good; consequently, your sales team will have to start all over again, wasting more precious time. You need experienced professionals to succeed in lead generation. If you think about hiring an outbound call center, look for the best packages that offer the most advantages for your team. 

The final numbers will vary with each project. It depends on many parameters, and it’s hard to predict precisely how many leads your company will gain from outbound prospecting. The above infographic shows average stats, which your company can exceed with the right sales process and outbound call center.

During an outbound campaign, it’s essential to stick to the cadence and repeatable actions. In particular, the best outbound call center would contact your quality leads regularly through several channels. It should include well-organized, semi-automated, personalized outreach that can generate the most qualified opportunities for your sales team.

3. Ask for regular reports from the outbound call center.

One of the reasons companies opt for outsourcing is to help them keep track of the SDRs’ activities and measure their performance. Look for an outbound call center that uses a reporting system that details campaign performance so you can make adjustments when necessary. 

At CIENCE, SDRs fill in a mastersheet several times during the day. The mastersheet includes data about every SDR/lead interaction, which is then generated into a report. Once a week, the report is presented to the customer, where we explain and answer questions about our metrics. We make sure that each report is brief but comprehensive. 

When choosing the right outbound call center, ask about the reporting. Inquire which statistics they provide and how often. Some of the essential stats include bounce rate, auto-replies, open rate, response rate, conversion rate, daily/weekly/monthly number of sent emails, and several dials and conversations.

4. Utilize email services.

Lead generation is more effective when you combine phone calling with email send-outs. An email sent on time can warm up your potential clients by providing initial information and pressing on their pain points. Furthermore, an email can be the beginning of a conversation with your prospect.

Emails are a powerful channel to deliver your ideas to a potential prospect. They must be short and targeted; having a skilled copywriter is essential to create effective messaging. SDRs at CIENCE perform A/B testing to check what subject line works better. Plus, we consider personalization one of the most useful tools for crafting emails. Each SDR researches every prospect so all messages have a human touch. 

Inquire if the outbound call center uses skilled in-house copywriters to write the emails. You can also ask them to send you a sample of an outbound email they send to their leads.

No matter how good the copywriter, the company should regularly monitor outbound performance. If the open or response rate of your email campaigns is lower than expected, you may need to adjust the type of emails sent out. If an outbound call center doesn’t do this type of reporting, you won’t have the right messaging to engage potential prospects.

5.  Make use of research services.

To guarantee the quality of the leads, you'll need targeted research on prospects. Email send-outs and phone calls are costly in terms of the time and money you spend. A good outbound call service will know your ICP and buyer persona inside and out. 

The best outbound call centers have extensive research teams. Our team consists of professional lead researchers who supply high-quality contact lists to the SDR teams daily. This enables our SDRs to reach quotas by focusing only on qualified leads. Don’t hesitate to ask the outbound call center where it obtains its contact lists. If they tell you that they use the contacts of previous clients, you should probably go with someone else. And worse, if you go with them, your contact list might be used for another client.

6. Employ appointment setting services.

The goal of any outbound calling program is to contact, engage, and, ultimately, set qualified appointments. If your call scripts, emails, and sales research are all aligned, your chances of creating a predictable top-of-funnel pipeline should be high. 

7. Look for flexibility in an outbound call center.

We believe that every business is unique. That’s why flexibility is one of the best options an outbound call center can provide to its clients. Every campaign that CIENCE conducts is crafted toward the goals and requirements of a client. Every campaign was different; being able to adapt to a variety of challenges is crucial. 

8. Hire only the best people.

Lead generation is human-to-human work, so building those personal relationships is critical. You’ll need outstanding people who can cope with stress and constant rejection while still remaining positive. The more SDRs there are in an outbound call center, the better off everyone is in reaching their goals. These teams work as a unit, supporting each other to achieve business goals. 

Ask to talk to your SDR before agreeing with an outbound call center. Do you feel comfortable with this person? Do you like his or her voice/style? You should also ask about their experience with other projects. Inquire about their strategies to approach people they don’t know.

9. Check client reviews and success stories of the outbound call center.

Always read the reviews and check feedback from previous customers. Try to find out as much as you can about their experience with the outsourced outbound call center and if they experienced any problems. 

Top 5 Outbound Call Center Solutions: Comparison

Outbound call centers leverage advanced technology and strategic communication to build relationships and generate leads. By offering a range of services from telemarketing to customer retention, call centers empower businesses to expand their reach and achieve their objectives.

Below is a comparison of the top outbound call center solutions and software, highlighting their unique features and capabilities that support business success:

CIENCE: Leading the Pack

Why CIENCE Stands Out:

• Comprehensive Services: we offer a full suite of B2B lead generation services, combining human expertise with AI-driven technologies to optimize outreach strategies​.
• Performance-Based Approach: Clients pay for results, ensuring cost-effectiveness and a focus on quality​.
• Multi-Channel Mastery: Utilizing phone calls, emails, and social media, CIENCE engages potential leads across multiple platforms.
• Scalability and Customization: We provide scalable solutions tailored to meet the specific needs of each client, making it an ideal choice for companies looking to expand their market reach

Outbound Call Center Metrics

Outbound call centers rely on a variety of metrics to measure their performance and effectiveness. These metrics are crucial for optimizing operations, enhancing customer interactions, and achieving business objectives. Here are some of the key metrics commonly used in outbound call centers:

• Call Volume: Call volume tracks the total number of calls made by agents within a specific timeframe. This metric helps assess productivity and workload distribution across the call center​.
• Average Handle Time (AHT): AHT calculates the average duration of calls, including talk and hold times. While shorter calls may indicate efficiency, it's important to balance speed with quality to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Lead Quality: This metric evaluates the quality of leads generated by the call center. High-quality leads have a higher likelihood of conversion, making this metric critical for assessing the effectiveness of lead generation efforts.

💡 Check out more outbound call center KPIs

Find the Right Outbound Call Center

Finding the right outbound call center tools can be challenging, but with these tips, you can optimize your sales process at every stage of the buyer’s journey. Do your research, look before you leap, and choose the best outbound experts to suit your business needs. Are you ready to take the next step in enhancing your sales strategy?

Frequently Asked Questions