How does the magic happen exactly?

[Incresco Digital]

Hello All, I hope you are well. This is not a cry for help but purely looking for some guidance. We are a Pakistan based outbound/cold calling call centre in operation since about a year. However, we haven't been able to find the rhythm yet in terms of constantly generating a reasonable amount of verified leads. There are numerous reasons as to why but I don't want to waste your time with lower level details of issues but instead will try to explain without wasting too much of your time.

1: The way industry operates in Pakistan , the campaigns are outsourced from broker or agent in U.S. to a centre in Pakistan, that centre then outsources it to numerous call centers (usually without the knowledge of the actual client in states) after keeping their cut. Some of those second tier call centers then further outsource. So in the end , there are layers upon layers of call centers working on same campaign competing with each other for meagure pay outs and in the end no one makes any worth it sales/$$.

2: Following on from point 1 above, the next issue is having access to quality data that is DNC scrubbed. We have tried to do the right thing and had a go at using proper opt-in(with journaya or CMS IDs) DNC scrubbed data but given how expensive is proper opt-in data, it is almost impossible to make any money at all even if u r making sales because of low pay rate.

3: because opt-in data is so expensive, almost everyone defaults back to CDR data and some even use raw data. Now on local data vendors......they are selling same CDR and Raw data to multiple call centers and a consequence of that , the client being called gets approached from multiple call centers for same insurance product which then results in a pissed off client and off course no sale.

Now, where we have had success in being able to live transfer a warm lead with proper buffer time to the agent/broker in states, we got stuck with constant call drops because there are not enough people on phone lines in states to take the call forward with customer because even the broker/agent in states has outsourced the same campaign to multiple call centers and they are then overwhelmed with the amount of live transfers coming in and unable to entertain all live transfers.

We have had a go at Solar/FE/Mortgage/Medicare campaigns with very limited success yet.

So, if you have read my rant so far, you would be thinking what exactly are you trying to ask/seek guidance for? What I am after is

1: Where do I find legitimate campaigns that we can work on exclusively and make it worth the time of both ours and the person/company we are working on behalf of? We are not a shady 5 person centre but have invested heavily in having a 140 seat set-up with proper working space for our agents with sound proofing around desks and a shiny office over all with all required system/processes in place.

2: If some of you ever have outsourced cold calling overseas, what are some of the criteria you look for when choosing who you will work with? I understand cost/payout being reasonable is one, but aside from that what else you look for when choosing an offshore partner? This is so that we can judge ourselves and address any shortcomings that we may have on quality/the way we operate.

3: If you have any suggestions on a dialer software that has data/dialer/voip all in one and doesn't cost an arm and length?

Thanks a lot of reading all the way through to end and I look forward to your feedback.

Regards.

 

[Markthebroker]

How does the magic happen exactly?

Well, someone should have explained this to you, but first you need a producer and a policy holder. The policy holder get's the producer's attention by exposing their dec pages. Then, if the producer is interested in the policy holder, he will show them his cape, and wait for approval. If they are both interested, then a discussion about insurance will follow. There is much courting and discussion, but at some point, a new policy is born.

Hasn't anyone explained the birds and the bees to you?

 

[goillini52]

Well, someone should have explained this to you, but first you need a producer and a policy holder. The policy holder get's the producer's attention by exposing their dec pages. Then, if the producer is interested in the policy holder, he will show them his cape, and wait for approval. If they are both interested, then a discussion about insurance will follow. There is much courting and discussion, but at some point, a new policy is born.

Hasn't anyone explained the birds and the bees to you?

I wonder if they have a Pakinese accent?

 

[rmhaire]

Well, someone should have explained this to you, but first you need a producer and a policy holder. The policy holder get's the producer's attention by exposing their dec pages. Then, if the producer is interested in the policy holder, he will show them his cape, and wait for approval. If they are both interested, then a discussion about insurance will follow. There is much courting and discussion, but at some point, a new policy is born.

Hasn't anyone explained the birds and the bees to you?

I was wondering how you P&C guys did it.

But us L&H guys don't need a dec page to get it up.

 

[Markthebroker]

I was wondering how you P&C guys did it.

But us L&H guys don't need a dec page to get it up.

Us older agents have a harder time getting it up for just any dec page.

 

[Incresco Digital]

Well, someone should have explained this to you, but first you need a producer and a policy holder. The policy holder get's the producer's attention by exposing their dec pages. Then, if the producer is interested in the policy holder, he will show them his cape, and wait for approval. If they are both interested, then a discussion about insurance will follow. There is much courting and discussion, but at some point, a new policy is born.

Hasn't anyone explained the birds and the bees to you?

Hi Mark, I will have to say no we don't fully understand the workings and hence the situation. Even the terms you used....
Producer means agent/broker I assume
Policy holder is the insurance company the insurance is being sold on behalf of?

The "The policy holder get's the producer's attention by exposing their dec pages" part I am not getting at all....where/how does the interaction start/happen? How does the initial contact happen?

 

[Incresco Digital]

I wonder if they have a Pakinese accent?

Hi, yes there is a big of that too , no point in denying that as accent can't be acquired ....but even with somewhat American sounding accent, our agents have been able to sell but it's the scale and volume that isn't materializing

 

[goillini52]

.where/how does the interaction start/happen? How does the initial contact happen?

Foreplay.

 

[ValeRosso]

1: The way industry operates in Pakistan , the campaigns are outsourced from broker or agent in U.S. to a centre in Pakistan, that centre then outsources it to numerous call centers (usually without the knowledge of the actual client in states) after keeping their cut. Some of those second tier call centers then further outsource. So in the end , there are layers upon layers of call centers working on same campaign competing with each other for meagure pay outs and in the end no one makes any worth it sales/$$.



2: Following on from point 1 above, the next issue is having access to quality data that is DNC scrubbed. We have tried to do the right thing and had a go at using proper opt-in(with journaya or CMS IDs) DNC scrubbed data but given how expensive is proper opt-in data, it is almost impossible to make any money at all even if u r making sales because of low pay rate.

3: because opt-in data is so expensive, almost everyone defaults back to CDR data and some even use raw data. Now on local data vendors......they are selling same CDR and Raw data to multiple call centers and a consequence of that , the client being called gets approached from multiple call centers for same insurance product which then results in a pissed off client and off course no sale.

Now, where we have had success in being able to live transfer a warm lead with proper buffer time to the agent/broker in states, we got stuck with constant call drops because there are not enough people on phone lines in states to take the call forward with customer because even the broker/agent in states has outsourced the same campaign to multiple call centers and they are then overwhelmed with the amount of live transfers coming in and unable to entertain all live transfers.

We have had a go at Solar/FE/Mortgage/Medicare campaigns with very limited success yet.

So, if you have read my rant so far, you would be thinking what exactly are you trying to ask/seek guidance for? What I am after is

1: Where do I find legitimate campaigns that we can work on exclusively and make it worth the time of both ours and the person/company we are working on behalf of? We are not a shady 5 person centre but have invested heavily in having a 140 seat set-up with proper working space for our agents with sound proofing around desks and a shiny office over all with all required system/processes in place.

2: If some of you ever have outsourced cold calling overseas, what are some of the criteria you look for when choosing who you will work with? I understand cost/payout being reasonable is one, but aside from that what else you look for when choosing an offshore partner? This is so that we can judge ourselves and address any shortcomings that we may have on quality/the way we operate.

3: If you have any suggestions on a dialer software that has data/dialer/voip all in one and doesn't cost an arm and length?

Thanks a lot of reading all the way through to end and I look forward to your feedback.

Regards.

 

[ValeRosso]

1: The way industry operates in Pakistan , the campaigns are outsourced from broker or agent in U.S. to a centre in Pakistan, that centre then outsources it to numerous call centers (usually without the knowledge of the actual client in states) after keeping their cut. Some of those second tier call centers then further outsource. So in the end , there are layers upon layers of call centers working on same campaign competing with each other for meagure pay outs and in the end no one makes any worth it sales/$$.

I have no experience in overseas call centers, but this sounds like a massive issue. So a US agent/producer pays you to use your call center to have leads transferred to them, except the agents outsourcing is being outsourced which is also being outsourced? How can there be any standards here at all? How do you know what works and what doesnt work if theres 5 different outsourcing teams all trying to get people to bite?

3: because opt-in data is so expensive, almost everyone defaults back to CDR data and some even use raw data. Now on local data vendors......they are selling same CDR and Raw data to multiple call centers and a consequence of that , the client being called gets approached from multiple call centers for same insurance product which then results in a pissed off client and off course no sale.

I dont know what CDR data means.. But what you're describing is an issue US agents have. The companies that resell their leads get multiple agents calling those leads, and trying to rewrite policies. Its an ugly picture, and like you said, results in a pissed off person and then a disconnected number. This will not get you anywhere. You need to find a different source for your data, full stop. This would be the first thing Id be looking for.

1: Where do I find legitimate campaigns that we can work on exclusively and make it worth the time of both ours and the person/company we are working on behalf of? We are not a shady 5 person centre but have invested heavily in having a 140 seat set-up with proper working space for our agents with sound proofing around desks and a shiny office over all with all required system/processes in place.

Sounds like you need a massive amount of fresh data. Personally Id spend money on some good domains, get some websites up, get SEO ranking, and try and drive as much traffic to those sites as possible, with a page where people can enter their information and then your call center can call those leads and then transfer to the US. I have no idea how you can make money cold calling data lists, especially if 5 other people called about the same thing prior.

2: If some of you ever have outsourced cold calling overseas, what are some of the criteria you look for when choosing who you will work with? I understand cost/payout being reasonable is one, but aside from that what else you look for when choosing an offshore partner? This is so that we can judge ourselves and address any shortcomings that we may have on quality/the way we operate.

I havent done this, but training would be my number one criteria. Id want to know the call center is following my script to the T, and is trained on telesales and isnt blasting though 1000's of
leads just to find a single "layover". And also making sure MY call center isnt then doing shady things like outsourcing again and again.