How to Screen Calls?

[broudie]

Now that my business has gone into brick-and-mortar wholesaling, the scammers are starting to come out of the woodwork. More than 50% incoming calls to my extension (corporate) are from people who:

1) want to get free stuff, promising to promote your product and disappearing
2) want you to pay them to promote your product, and disappearing
3) want to create video advertising to air on channels no one watches
4) are other forms of advance-fee scammers

90% of these scammers can be easily identified if a bit of internet research is done, but that can't happen unless you know who they are beforehand.

So now, I'm considering screening all my calls - basically passing them through to my call center (who then takes a message). Then I do my research. If they're legit, I call them back.

Anyone have this experience? Pros and cons?

[Freelancier]

Go about it the other way: create a marketing plan for yourself with the channels you want to use and ignore all the rest. Periodically revisit your marketing plan to see if new channels should be added or old channels removed.

Basically, instead of responding to channel pitches, you're driving the decision ahead of time and ignoring all the rest.

[huggytree]

I don't answer the phone unless its a local area code...that will eliminate 99% of the salesmen....
but I guess that doesn't work if your business is nation wide

when you get large enough you need to hire someone to answer calls and screen them....add a bit to your price and hire a receptionist


I wouldn't hire a call center

[billbenson]

I forget what you do, but area codes aren't the greatest way to screen call. With services like Vonage or cell phones you can be local and have an out of state area code.

I have found that one of the keys to closing a deal these days is to close it while you are on the phone. How many phone calls are you actually getting a day? It takes what, 2 minutes to say 'I'm sorry sir, but I can't help you'. If even one of those calls turns into a good order it makes all the junk calls worth it, at least in my case.

Nothing has changed in 50 years: Get a lead, qualify them, sell them or get rid of them. Don't get rid of them before you qualify them!

[Steve B]

Area code screening doesn't work anymore. When people move around the country they keep their numbers. I ignored a call the other day from a Canadian area code (I'm in Kentucky). Luckily she left a message and I called her back. It was a veterinarian that wanted a dog fence. That's pretty much a home run in my business and I almost missed it!

[Harold Mansfield]

I agree that area codes are not a reliable way to screeen calls in 2013. With so many people moving around and keeping thier old numbers, virtual phone numbers, and VOIP services where you can choose your area code, you are probably ignoring actual customers for no good reason.

I answer my own phone and get the occasional solicitation, but not much. Mostly Appointment setting services from India..which I still don't uderstand what that is.

If you are getting that many calls, then I suspect that you have put your business number down on every contact and survey form that has to do with business. All it takes is one wrong place to put your number and it gets sold on a list of business owners over and over again to hundreds of telemarketers. I suspect that is what happened to you and why you are now getting so many calls.

I wouldn't hire a call center either. I'd just power through and....

*tell each one "Please take me off your list".
*Then put your business number on the DNC registry. Telemarketers HAVE to scrub thier lists against that registry or it can be a fine of up to $10k per violation.
*And you may want to think about getting a virtual number to use at those times where things ask for a phone number, but you don't want to put down your direct business or personal line.

You can't stop the manual dialer, or call centers from other countries, but you can stop the American call centers and automated dialers.

[broudie]

I have a virtual phone number that gets forwarded to my mobile phone when its going to my "extension". Right now I'm considering forwarding it to my call center (which acts as my receptionist) to take messages.

Would it hurt for my call center to take messages first and for me to call back, vs to answer and qualify calls on the spot?

[billbenson]

Would it hurt for my call center to take messages first and for me to call back, vs to answer and qualify calls on the spot?

Yes. If your customer is price sensitive he will have talked to several other people. Answer the phone and close the deal. Except in certain industries doing otherwise will cost you deals.

Oh, and answering services aren't going to know anything about your product. People aren't calling you to get an 'I don't know'.

[broudie]

Yes. If your customer is price sensitive he will have talked to several other people. Answer the phone and close the deal. Except in certain industries doing otherwise will cost you deals.

Oh, and answering services aren't going to know anything about your product. People aren't calling you to get an 'I don't know'.

Fortunately for my business there is no one else to talk to and buy a similar product. :) I am not too concerned about business going to a competitor.

My business is already structured such that retail sales calls do not come to me - if they cant/dont want to buy online they go through the call center who do have information on my products (call centers are different from answering services)

Non-retail calls (i.e. wholesale deals, etc) currently go to my line. My concern is do I lose a wholesale deal by screening calls via my call center (i.e. will people opt to not dictate a message to an agent, or will not answer if I give a call back). The reason I don't want to take calls directly is because many prospective callers are soliciting or are scammers and I want to do my due diligence before responding - not possible when you take the call live.

Harold Mansfield - the reason I'm getting much more calls these days is that I have started advertising on trade papers.

[Carsten]

You should get a real high number of calls every day before you take advantage of a call center. As others have mentioned before, as a potential customer I would go to another supplier if I would be connected to a call center. How man calls do you get? It should not take too much time to filter the bad calls directly. I get these calls too and I have learned to identity them rather quickly in the kind of talk. When they try to sell me something I hang up immediately or sometimes (on a good day ;)) put the phone aside and let them talk without any response (The longest caller has talked for 6.5 minutes!). Needless to say that he never called again. Basically it takes approx 30 seconds to identify if they are good or bad, but I will not loose a potential customer due to a filter. The advantage of these calls is that you learn how NOT to sell on the phone yourself.

[Harold Mansfield]

Seems like a catch 22. You advertised to get more calls. Now you don't want to answer them. Personally, I don't think screening calls through a 3rd party is the right idea.
Maybe the solution is in how you present the phone number.

No solicitor would waste their time calling a Customer Service number, or Ordering Hotline. Apparently you've given the impression that this number is how you contact someone in charge.
Change that, and you may change the kinds of calls you are getting.

OR, get a 2nd number and advertise that as the number to call to "Do business with us", and send THAT ONE to the 3rd party screener.
You can wrangle people into the funnel that you want them to go through with a little ingenuity.

[billbenson]

Just to lighten up the subject a little: A number of years ago when I wasn't committed to my business line, I kept getting calls from a company machine. I tried the polite method at first. Then I went through the menu and did my best to ruin the girl that answered the phones day. That felt good but didn't work either. Then, I hooked up the line to a fax machine. That worked. Maybe once you figure out its not business, transfer them to fax tone is a good solution???