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What impact do you think direct dial numbers have on the productivity of Inside Sales teams?
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3 Answers
Steve Richard @ Vorsight talks a lot about the value of having Direct Dials - here is a quick link: http://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/Blog/tabid/47760/Default.aspx?Tag=sales%20tips.
We work with hundreds of inside sales teams at technology companies and the big advantages we hear are:
1) The reps are more efficient with direct dials because they don't have to be routed through a switchboard, they don't get pushed into a vendor mailbox, they don't get stuck with a gatekeeper, and direct dials can be used with automated dialers like insidalesales.com
2) The answer rate from the prospect is much higher because calls that are routed from the switchboard look a lot different than a direct dial call - ie prospect recognizes the difference between someone who knows his/her number directly and someone who is cold calling through the switchboard and the prospect is much more likely to pick up the direct dial call.
There is an obvious and clear correlation between having Direct Dial Phone Numbers and numbers of calls to connect.
To be clear on what Dan's asking, he's referring to sales reps having a phone number that rings straight to them rather than having to be reached through the company's main number by dialing their extension or tracking them down in the dial-by-name directory.
There are three great benefits to direct dial numbers for sales reps:
1. MORE (intentional) CALLBACKS: If your reps are doing their job correctly when they leave voicemails, they're leaving their phone number twice. Frankly, people are lazy, and they want to write down as few numbers as possible. They also don't want to deal with fighting through automated messaging systems. Knowing they can dial as few numbers as possible to get to the person they're trying to reach makes them more likely to pick up the phone and call back.
2. MORE (unintentional) CALLBACKS: More and more sales calls are directed to prospect's cell phones, and they often can't differentiate between a personal and business call from an unknown number. Curiosity makes them call the number back. If they get an attendant, they'll 'abondon' or hang up. If they get a sales rep directly, your rep gets a 2nd shot at a live conversation.
3. MORE PLEASANT PROSPECTS: Nobody likes to deal with automated menu systems, and there's a direct correlation between how long people need to spend tracking the right person down through these systems and their anxiety level. If prospects can reach your rep directly, they'll be in a better mood than if they have to jump through hoops.
Side Note: If you're worried that your national reps need a toll free number because people don't like to call long distance, you've got bigger problems...like being wayyy out of touch. (Slight Caveat: If you're selling to senior citizens, they may not call non-local area codes). You can always have a main company toll free number for reps to put an extension in their email signature.
Hope this helps.
My understanding of the question is whether or not the rep has a direct dial number for the prospect. The answer to this question is--"It depends".
Cold Calls - Essential. When you don't have to navigate a switchboard, and you can dial direct, that saves a lot of time. Traditionally, Jigsaw has been an effective tool to get direct dial numbers. Recently, the % of Direct Dial #'s seems to be going down to
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