Have you noticed that your inbound call center is slowly transforming into an outbound center? Are you ready? Do you have the tools and architecture to be successful?

The first obvious question is why is this paradigm shift occurring? The short answer is that consumers are shifting their increasingly limited attention to the Internet and advertising/marketing is following them. This is causing some unique problems and challenges for your sales force. Here are the surprises:

• My phone stopped ringing and now I am getting leads, prospects that expect me to follow-up with them
• I can’t make sure my sales and customer service is being responsive by abandonment rate
• My prospect may not have the intent to buy immediately
• My prospect may not be available on my first call or call me back
• My prospect has multiple competitive options
• The worst performer are probably getting most of my new prospects/leads

How do I address the change?

• Realize my inbound call center has become an outbound call center
• Learn to manage and allocate leads (data) instead of phone calls–telephony and CRM solutions are not the answer
• Learn to cultivate and nurture an extended sales cycle without additional overhead on your sales force
• Be able to manage making the 5+ calls it takes to turn a prospect into a customer
• Make sure you are communicating with the prospect faster and more frequently than your competitor (most only make one call so your odds can be very good)
• Use a performance-based pull system to allocate/distribute leads

Direct mail and broadcast (TV, radio) media, which creates inbound sales is shifting to Internet advertising, which is creating outbound sales. Don’t let your sales force be surprised.