Hiding phones in a call center: why is it stupid?

Hiding phones in a call center: why is it stupid?

Xoxo, Reznik here and today we’ll find out how to steal leads from call center.

The world is ruled by trends. As a rule, they are extremely dull. One of these trends is hiding numbers from commodity call center operators. I’ll tell you why this is a completely useless and pointless step that complicates your work and gets in the way of your life. The conclusion is at the very end of the article.

Dive info ancient history

To begin with, you need to delve into the essence and purpose of this phenomenon, but not overdo it. Let’s dive in half a bump. Why hide phone numbers from call center operators?

Perhaps you are a kind and naive citizen and assume that this is done to protect the buyer’s personal data from dishonest operators. Holy naivete! Of course, all call centers in the CPA industry don’t care deeply about data privacy. At best, they covered themselves with a very loose confidentiality agreement, according to which they can sell the buyer’s soul to the devil based on the personal data provided.

But there is some sound grain in your reasoning. The numbers are really hidden from careless operators. So that they do not steal these numbers and do not have time to send the order on their own, before the supplier does it.

The operator intercepts the customer’s phone number and gives it to his accomplice. An accomplice purchases a similar product at a local analogue of eBay, contacts the buyer and sends the order by courier, possibly with a prepayment. In this way, the buyer receives his goods before the actual order is delivered by the supplier. And the supplier pays for the services of the CC and the entire service, receiving the return of the order as a result.

Depth of idiocy

Now just think about it. Phone numbers are hidden from operators. They are hidden from operators, who have before the eyes of the recipient’s name, order, delivery address, delivery time in case of working with a courier. Do you really think that having all the order data in front of your eyes, the operator will need a phone?

???? You may argue that in your country it is impossible to send a parcel without a telephone number.

Life hack for the operator number of times: insert any SIM card into your old Siemens and use its number when sending the parcel. Voilà, you have agreed on shipping instead of the buyer. Ideally, check in advance the time and place of receipt of the package so that it is easier to dispatch the courier.

???? You can also argue that having a phone number, the operator will simply cancel the order and immediately merge the number with an accomplice.

Life hack for the owner of the CC: listen to calls. Wow, what, it was possible? Listen to cancellations at random, finding common operator errors and detecting fraud. This will improve the quality of the operators’ calls and help protect against cancellation problems.

How to steal leads correctly

So you are a rat. Your little brain is only capable of stealing orders as stupidly as possible. In order to bring this process to the maximum quality and not depend on the availability of a phone number, I have prepared some useful tips for you.

When introducing into any call center, the first step is to look around. Never get down to your dirty business from the first days of work.

It is necessary to collect information that can give the best result:

  • Explore the assortment of goods. You will be interested in specific product models that are better suited for your own sales. Do not take products with the lowest cost and highest selling price – they will have a low buyout rate. Better to use simpler products.
  • You can view the entire range by requesting your boss for sales scripts for review. You can buy the product itself on Aliexpress or eBay analogue in your country.
  • Calculate the average invoice amount. Products with a higher average check will generate more income. Also, they have a higher buy-out.
  • Explore delivery regions. Ideally, count the cities in which they order the most and agree to a purchase faster.

Now that you have an overview of the range and locations of sale, you can create the best plan. And the best way to start implementing it is to hire agents in the cities where the goods are most bought. You can simply place one low-volume courier in each popular city. This will allow delivery within a couple of hours and multiply the ransom. In addition, this way you save on goods and delivery in case of refusal or return.

To be able to deliver an order yourself, you need to confirm the corresponding lead as efficiently as possible. During the conversation, try to clarify with the buyer when he is at home, for example, in the context: “Perhaps you will be interested in courier delivery to your home, what time are you at home and it is convenient for you to receive an order?” Do so with any orders so that it does not raise suspicion in case of wiretapping.

If you work in a country where there is an analogue of the Russian Post that accepts orders for delivery from individuals without a phone and with cash on delivery, you can use it. This is the ideal shipping option that will bring your order to the pickup location along with a competitor’s order. One of them will be redeemed. Maybe both. If you manage to ship faster than your employer, your order will be delivered faster and more likely to be paid.

Do not under any circumstances steal all orders in a row. Be sure to select only the most convenient orders, which are located closer to your courier, and the person is at home, and he likes the product. It is better to deliver one successful order than two unsuccessful ones.

This raises another important aspect: don’t be greedy. If you pull in too many orders, you will sleep faster. Accidental returns may not arouse suspicion. But the dramatically increased number of returns per operator will instantly become suspicious.

Now evaluate what you have done. There are operators who know how to confirm orders and work with them. There is a product. There is an understanding of checks and foreclosures. There is an organized and working logistics. Don’t be bullshit, work as a full-fledged supplier!

How to protect your business

My dear directors and call center owners! Now I will teach you how to properly run your business. If you have an idea in your head that phone numbers must be hidden for the good of the business, then your business is definitely not in danger of good, but full of seams.

You want to hide the numbers from your staff because you are afraid of theft. This suggests a simple and eerily correct conclusion: you have problems with recruiting personnel and wages. You need to start with this.

First of all, let me remind you that the operator in the call center is not a stupid monkey who can only write a call script. First of all, this is a high-class salesperson, at least in the shower or in dreams. And the success of your company directly depends on how good this salesperson is. Do not recruit stupid temporary workers from the street, focus on people with experience in sales. Train and educate your staff.

Consider your operators’ salaries, including good shift pay and check bonuses, confirmed and redeemed orders. Be sure to include all three components in the bonus part. Trust me, a well-motivated operator who checks a third higher than the competition and adds even a little to the buyback is worth all the money spent.

Don’t be greedy. If the operator has earned a good amount in a month, do not try to cut his salary! Only downright bastards can think that a specialist does not deserve his earnings. It is better to initially think over such a financial motivation scheme in which the operator receives more money from the order that was paid. This will offset any costs.

When the agents are up to par, motivated and happy to work with you, it’s time to split your call center. You should have two independent departments: the first deals with the flow of incoming orders, the second is responsible for logistics.

Equip your call center with the necessary technical means. Firstly, these are stable computers and reliable telephony. Secondly, it is a total recording of all the operators’ conversations. There should be no exceptions, each call must be recorded, saved and attached to the corresponding order without the possibility of deletion.

You should have a separate, totally separate call center responsible for calls for orders in delivery. Isolation is a critical requirement that prevents collusion between operators. Sometimes it is useful to separate your logistics service into even a separate business project that will serve not only your own needs, but also third-party customers. An independent logistics service also looks more trusting in the eyes of buyers.

The logistics CC must handle all returns and stubborn parcels. All without exception, regardless of the marks of the delivery service. For any such package, you need to call and find out the reason for the refusal. On the one hand, this will increase the buy-out for cases when a person has simply forgotten, and on the other hand, it will allow identifying cases in the format: “You have a mistake, I probably already took everything, thanks!” – which are much more likely to sound like: “What the hell did you send me? I’ll sue you!”

Start an operator monitoring service. She does not have to interact directly with the main call center and know anything about the operators themselves. The tasks of this service will include both periodic monitoring of random calls from all operators, and scheduled checks. If even one suspicious order is found, send all operator calls without exception for verification by this service. Refunds first followed by cancellations, redemptions if required. If suspicious activity is detected, expel the operator without a twinge of conscience and without severance pay.

Analyze the buyback percentage by operator and offer. If you find any anomaly in the operator buy-out against the background of others, send his calls for a spot check. Remember to pre-check these buyout orders within the traffic source: it may turn out that you just got a dishonest webmaster.

Technical problems

And now a few words about what is wrong with hiding numbers from the technical side. First of all, it is worth remembering that this technology works well only under ideal conditions. These conditions include high-quality software, a stable communication channel and a correct customer’s phone number.

The classic call center for outgoing calls is extremely simple and reliable. The operator has a certain device on which he can dial the subscriber’s number. It can be either a softphone or a hardware SIP phone. Any option for its work requires a subscriber number to call. To prevent this number from being available, it is necessary to develop third-party software that will independently handle calls to subscribers and connect them with operators. This software is always unstable due to the instability of the SIP protocol itself. And with insufficiently competent developers, it becomes a real crutch.

When working in the real conditions of this CC, another problem is encountered. Sometimes a person needs to call back. When the connection is reset or something similar. Or you need to slightly correct the person’s number to call. A live operator will perform these elementary actions without any problems. Automation will be much more difficult.

Conclusion

TL;DR: hiding phone numbers is useless. If you need to hide numbers, then you have bad staff at the CC or you are a rogue.