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by Stephen Parezo

Lead telemarketer Steve McKeown is one of Fiducial’s most seasoned call center representatives who always hits his numbers in terms of required number of appointments, according to call center manager Tara Floyd.

August 15, 2005—There’s no doubt that it takes a special type of person to be a telemarketer, remaining focused on the task at hand with energy and enthusiasm. Fiducial is fortunate to have an able crew of Call Center Representatives (CCRs) who don the headsets and man the phones on the second floor of its Technical and Administrative Support Center (TASC) in Columbia, MD, making outbound calls to existing small businesses for qualified leads for company owned offices.

Since Tara Floyd took over the reins as manager of the call center in mid-June, she indicated that the number of outbound calls made has increased, on average between 7% and 10%, while the number of appointments has risen by 10%.

CCRs make between 100 and 200 outbound calls daily and set an average of eight appointments a week for prospective clients with company offices. Floyd, who managed a call center for Verizon for five years, says more companies are relying on telemarketing services from outside sources these days.

“It’s just a great opportunity for companies to market their services without having to do it themselves,” she said.

Today’s call centers are shifting from an inbound role to an outbound one, according to Floyd who has 10 years experience in the field including eight as a call center manager.

“In the past call centers have been more of an inbound deal where callers had a problem and the call center representative would solve it,” she said. “Now it’s changing into more of an outbound role where they use the call center to be more pro-active instead of waiting on them to contact us.”

Many small business owners contacted by Fiducial are looking for a company to help them with their accounting and financial reporting needs since they are not exactly sure of where they stand.

That much further ahead

“On paper they’re making money but they’re looking for help in seeing their revenues,” she said. “They’re looking for us to do payroll. They’ve been doing it out of their personal account so it gets to be rough.”

Most owners are so focused on taking care of their core responsibilities that they just don’t know about all the services that a company like Fiducial provides and how a call center can benefit them. Call center reps let prospective clients know that they’re going to get more than just an accountant when they come to Fiducial.

“They are going to get meaningful monthly contact,” Floyd said.

With a core of solid CCRs manning the phones, Floyd expects that the center will be filled to capacity with additional staff by the mid to end of September.

Randy Penn, branch manager of Fiducial’s Arvada, CO, office appreciates his call center representative, Lashae Mitchell, passing on qualified leads for his staff.

“Lashae sets up the appointment, provides me information on the company and their interests along with issues they want to have solved,” he said. “She will tell me whether they have an accountant, if they’re happy with their accountant, whether they need help because they’ve grown or it’s because of other problems in their business. I find that very helpful.”

Penn says that the background information Mitchell provides gives him the heads up he needs before calling the prospective client.

“She certainly sets things up for me and helps me to get ready to do my job,” he said. “By her having probed for certain areas, I can start with them and I’m that much further ahead.”

It takes persistence, charisma

Each of the CCRs brings something different to the mix with their distinct personalities and voice qualities. Some reps are more soft spoken while others are very inquisitive. Either way, the approach is effective at gaining appointments. So what makes a good CCR anyway?

“Persistence, charisma and just an ability to talk to people and like it,” Floyd said. “You also need to have a thick skin.”

Floyd noted that lead telemarketer Steve McKeown is one of Fiducial’s most seasoned CCRs.

“He has no need for a script, has a great personality, always hits his numbers in terms of required number of appointments and he’s always willing to help out,” she said.

McKeown, who has been with the company for three years, finds the atmosphere at Fiducial conducive to letting you be your own boss.

“It’s not a boiler room operation where people are yelling at you,” he said.

He tries to establish a rapport with the person at the other end of the line. For him, the key in keeping the task of dialing for potential clients fresh each day is not taking himself too seriously. McKeown makes notes in the system so he has some valuable background information to work with when he calls prospects back.

In one instance, he made his initial call and learned that the prospect was at the doctor’s office. This information helped him make an instant connection which kept him ahead of the game. When he called back the next day, McKeown asked the prospect if everything was okay. He was thanked for asking and any barriers melted away.

Overcoming the objections

Dameon Robinson, another long-time telemarketer, has a background in financial services which Floyd says “helps him identify the needs of the client.”

Robinson knows that dealing with rejection comes with the territory so he focuses instead on the essentials such as getting leads and setting appointments.

“You just smile and dial,” he said. Possessing an “easy going, confident and professional” phone manner that comes across to prospects, Robinson says those he’s calling can tell he’s relaxed with the information he’s imparting to them. To allay any fears of telemarketers, he uses empathy and consideration.

“Once you have identified their objections, then you can overcome the objections,” he said. “You have to probe and ask good questions.”

Morella Ewell is Fiducial’s bi-lingual representative who speaks Spanish and is instrumental in getting the gatekeeper on the receiving end of the line to refer her to the proper party.

“She helps us in a lot of ways by instantly knocking down the door that they screen calls with by protecting the owner,” Floyd said.

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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