Direct Response Call Centers:
Getting the Best ROI Results

You've got your direct marketing campaign all put together. Production is complete, your media buy is confirmed and you've located a Call Center and Fulfillment House. You're all set ... or are you?

A solid media buy can get your message to your prospects; great creative can entice them to call. But there's a lot at stake in the hands of a Call Center that you haven't worked with before.

Test Call Center Scripts
Take a close look at the script before you begin. Remember it's a test. Re-work the script as necessary and keep re-working it until it all fits and your efforts are paying out. Before these details are worked out and humming, it is our opinion, that you don't need to be spending national dollars. In fact, we would not make such a buy. We only buy media when we have good reason to believe it will produce excellent results!

Free Offers and Up Sales are an important part of the DR business. Test different approaches.

But be careful that your script is:

• not too complicated
• doesn't scare them off
• doesn't offend the caller

Check some references
If you are the business owner or marketing manager, don't let an inexperienced call center lose the most valuable thing you can have: a ready, willing and able buyer.

Once a buy is made and you have some data:

Test Closing Ratio Results
Make sure your closing ratio on calls coming into the call center is good. Ask your call center for a list of closing ratios by product category. Check against industry norms.

Work out any snags early. You have the most important element: A prospect on the line that has initiated a phone call - calling to buy your product. You usually only get one chance with them. Don't lose it.

Monitor Call Center
Make a couple of random calls to experience 1st hand how the calls go from a buyer's perspective. Remember that people are not real comfortable with anything that they can't see, feel and touch. And they certainly aren't at ease giving out their credit card number to a stranger. Monitor your staff or call-center to make sure you aren't giving callers something else to be uncomfortable about. During the early stages of testing, try to find out how often callers respond in frustration: "... Oh, just forget it."

Suggestion: Ask the call center staff to jot down the response of calls that do not close in a sale "… just seeking information" "… wasn't clear about the cost", etc. This can be included in your daily reports. Respond quickly to a pattern that suggests problems.