Is it the quantity of calls or the quality of the conversation?

Tom,

The reality is, it is both. Your sales team should absolutely focus on the type of conversation with the type of prospect identified in Kelley's post. However,a certain number of these conversations is absolutely required in order for the quantitative objectives of your organization to be met. Ideally, your marketing team is well-versed in the characteristics of your target prospect and is actively engaged with this marketplace in order to generate qualified leads. As a cautionary note it can be just as damaging to your organization's broader objectives to define this target marekt too tightly (ridigly) as to define it too loosley.

Good discussion.

Cheers,

William

Speaking from a Call Center perspective – it depends on the primary focus of your specific Contact Center.

A tightly-scripted Call Center environment is typically found where the primary focus is on Cost Containment. If you operate your Call Center as a “Cost Center” then Average Speed of Answer (ASA), Average Handle Time (AHT), and Maximizing Calls per Agent per Hour are typically emphasized as your Key Performance Indicators. In order to maximize Average Speed of Answer (ASA) and minimize Average Handle Time (AHT) Agents are usually required to rigorously follow a script. A tightly-scripted Call Center environment is also sometimes determined by an Industry Sector: such as Financial Services/Insurance/Healthcare - or by a Client’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) for an Outsourcer.

An unscripted Call Center environment is typically found (and should be encouraged) where your Key Performance Indicators are Customer Satisfaction and First Call Resolution (FCR) – and where you operate your Call Center as a “Profit Center”. That’s not to say that an unscripted Call Center environment shouldn’t employ training aids/general ideas/key phrases. Ideally these should form a framework of points upon which an Agent drapes their own personality and phraseology.

For TeleSales - it is typically the Agents tasked with Lead Generation/Appointment Setting that operate in a tightly-scripted environment - and the true Telephone Selling is left to Agents who perform unscripted.

Inbound or Outbound - scripted and unscripted call handling are discrete and different pursuits - requiring separate Personality/Job-Fit/Temperament Factors. Someone with the Intellect & ‘Verbal Artistry’ to serve a caller in an unscripted fashion is rarely a good fit for a tightly-scripted Call Center environment. Equally – it is rare for someone who performs well in a tightly-scripted Call Center to successfully make the transition to unscripted caller interactions. Few people possess the ability to work successfully long-term in both a scripted and unscripted Call Center.

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Both. Sales is art and science. Every call is not going to be quality.

I think there is a danger in sales when people think they can just focus on only art or just science.

Until recently (internet), there hasn't really been a universal answer. Most often, the lesser the revenue that is generated from the sale would require a greater quantity of calls with lower involvement. Bigger purchases require a greater sales effort, etc.

Cold calling is becoming a practice of the past. By acquiring contact information and sorting leads online, you should be able to focus on higher quality calls. This happens because you don't need to push numbers since the calls are already qualified.

-j
http://www.oneclickcommissions.com/focus.htm

The point that will determine your success or failure is the quality of your calls. If you make quality calls, to high quality leads you will make sales.

The value of quantity is that once you have a good level of quality, high quantity will give you more chances of selling.

The other added benefit of quantity is that the more people you call and talk to, the more you learn and can improve as a salesman.

When I teach new employees at our company, we start with teaching them the basics of quality, have them work hard so that they get a lot of quantity and by using the feedback from those calls, keep improving their quality.