Two big problems with Predictive Dialers

Predictive Dialers are old news.

Predictive phone dialers are a staple of call centers whose business plan involves cold calling a large volume of contacts each day. These calls centers have generated not only profit, but a good deal of contempt, and have been the targets of sweeping FCC regulations. Because of changes in how both consumers and lawmakers view telemarketers call center technology has also had to change. The problem with predictive dialers – and cold calling in general – is the lack of respect given to the contacts.

This is how a predictive dialer works. The sales manager uploads a list of contacts into the dialer. The dialer checks how many representatives are available to take calls, and then it starts dialing. When calls are answered they are automatically patched through to a sales rep waiting for a call. Because call centers using predictive dialers want as little down time as possible their dialers call more numbers than there are available reps - sometimes as many as 10 calls for each sales rep - and starts dialing new contacts before the reps finish their former call. This certainly ensures that all sales reps will be busy all the time, but it also frustrates contacts.

This frustration arises out of two things, the inconvenient times telemarketers call and the famed “telemarketer pause.”

Call centers using predictive phone dialers often call at times when they are most likely to reach a contact at home. But, these contacts are not in a buying mindset when called, and frequently view the sales rep as a nuisance. This annoyance is even greater when the contact answers their phone and has to wait on the line until a sales rep pitches him something he does not want.

Since the predictive dialer calls more contacts than there are sales reps, those “extra” contacts who answer are left on the line with no one on the other end of the line. If contacts are patient enough, and a sales rep becomes available fast enough than a sales rep will be patched into the call after a few moments of silence, the telemarketer pause. What is more likely is that the contacted lead will be annoyed with the dead call and disconnect before they ever speak with a sales agent.

A power dialer is an alternative to the archaic predictive dialer, and fixes the frustrations that a predictive dialer causes. A power dialer calls through a list of contacts for each rep, one at a time. Each answering contact is guaranteed to have a representative available to talk with them immediately. Power dialers can also help sales reps contact leads at the best possible moment with web form callback technology. This software solution captures leads from submitted web forms from a company’s website, and immediately dials that lead for an available rep. This lead is contacted at the time they are thinking about the product being sold – not over their family dinner.

Power dialers still increase call center productivity three times that of a call center that dials manually, but eliminates the predictive dialer’s flaws that make cold calling a less effective method of selling.