Call Center Blog

There’s an art and a science to appointment setting that we admit to being somewhat OCD about.   B2B lead generation requires obsessiveness.  And that’s because it’s difficult.  

You have to be obsessive about a range of appointment setting challenges: about the pitch you develop; about quickly engaging your prospect in a spontaneous, comfortable conversation; and about “getting to yes” – that is, closing the deal and scheduling the sales appointment.

Beverly Call Center Services Company Wins Training Grant
From Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund

Second Training Grant Awarded to OnBrand24

BEVERLY, MA, April 10, 2014 – OnBrand24, the leading call center services provider in Massachusetts serving companies in the Boston area and nationwide, has received a second workforce training fund matching grant, for $173,140, from the Massachusetts Office of Labor and Workforce Development for advanced customer service and sales skills training.

The Beverly office of Sandler Training, a global leader in the development of powerful sales and customer service organizations, will provide the training.  OnBrand24 call center services agents and managers will undergo rigorous training in the most effective sales closing, account management, upselling and cross-selling, and people skills. 

The matching grant is funded by a Workforce Training Fund grant through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The grant program is administered by the Commonwealth Corporation. It follows a Workforce Training Fund grant won by OnBrand24 in December 2011, also used in partnership with Sandler, which was instrumental in the OnBrand24’s growth and the hiring of more than 200 new employees over the past two years.  Total Workforce Training Fund matching grant came to $5.4 million. 

“We greatly appreciate the state of Massachusetts’ investment in the skills and career development of its workers,” said Mark Fichera, CEO, OnBrand24.  “OnBrand24 is very excited to build upon the skills our employees have acquired from Sandler, taking our call center services capabilities to the next level. To compete globally in the call center services industry, we need to have the most highly skilled workforce in the world.  The Workforce Training Fund helps us grow our business in Massachusetts and cultivating a top-notch workforce.”

OnBrand24, located in the Cummings Center in Beverly, was founded in 1980 and has partnered with more than 400 companies, providing both “inbound” customer service and upselling/cross-selling capabilities and “outbound” B2B lead generation, appointment setting and sales services.  The company now has 275 employees, more than 100 clients and projected 2014 revenues of $15 million.

Sandler Training focuses on a wide range of sales and customer service best practices, including effective phone and email protocols, active listening techniques to establish customer comfort, uncovering true buying motives, handling upset and angry clients, generating additional sales through up-selling and cross-selling, effective prospecting and cold calling skills, and advanced sales closing and sales management strategies.  

OnBrand24, which provides premier outsourced call center services 24/7, has enjoyed strong growth over the past two-plus years, hiring more than 200 new employees while adding substantially to its client roster. The company was named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in the United States, and for two years in a row has been cited by TopTenREVIEWS, an independent business services and products review organization, for call center services excellence. 

“We provide each client strong senior management attention, we build customized programs and our staff is highly trained, experienced and motivated,” said Fichera.  “Sandler training is ideal for us because of the strong focus we bring the unique requirements of each of our client’s programs.  We expect to become an even stronger player in the domestic call center market.” 

About OnBrand24
OnBrand24, Beverly, Massachusetts, is a full-service domestic call center services company that provides outsourced telemarketing services around-the-clock for clients in the e-commerce, retail, technology, healthcare and manufacturing industries.  All OnBrand24 customer service and lead generation specialists work at the company’s call center facility.  The company boasts many long-term client partnerships as a result of its 24/7 unconditional consistency, dedication and loyalty.  OnBrand24 prides itself on assuming the brand of each of its customers by mastering the products, goals and culture integral to those businesses.  For more information, visit us at www.OnBrand24.com.

When customers order a product from Stardust Memorials they may well be seeking customer service during one of the most emotionally painful moments of their lives.

Beverly, MA – OnBrand24, a leading domestic call center services provider with call center outsourcing facilities near Boston, MA and in Savannah, GA, has announced several additions to its management and account supervisory team to accommodate the company’s significant growth in recent months.
In OnBrand24’s Savannah call center services facility, Peter Giglio has been promoted to Operations Manager.  Giglio, who joined the Savannah office soon after its opening in September 2013, has multiple years of experience in the call center industry; he also is a published author.

Working alongside Giglio in Savannah will be Chris Dulaney, who has been promoted to Assistant Operations Manager. He is a graduate of Georgia College and Georgia State University, and he has an extensive background in the call center services industry. He will primarily focus on support of OnBrand24’s larger clients in Savannah.

In OnBrand24’s Beverly, MA, headquarters, Alaina Hayes has been named Customer Service Coach. She will train and mentor each customer service and order processing representative across a range of call center skills. Hayes, who has several years of call center services industry experience, will work closely with OnBrand24’s Quality Control team.

The company’s Quality Control organization also been expanded by two managers, Hannah Willey and Christine Cloutier.

“OnBrand24 has surpassed 400 employees and we now have three outsourced call center services facilities, in Beverly, Savannah and Portsmouth, NH,” said Mark Fichera, CEO and Owner of OnBrand24. “With this growth comes the need to continually expand our quality control and operations oversight structure – to manage the expanded number of clients we have and to accommodate those that will come onboard in the future.  Our goal: Continue to deliver the highest quality outsourced call center services at maximum quality and ROI for our clients.”

OnBrand24’s growth is demonstrated by the company being named last year to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing privately held companies in the United States.  In addition, the company recently won the Gold Award from TopTenREVIEWS, an independent reviewer of business services and products, for call center services excellence.

Outsourced Tier 1 help desk services can be invaluable – if done right.  They can offload relatively less complex customer problems from more technically (and expensive) help desk employees, delivering faster, better quality and less costly help desk services. Let’s examine six factors that help desk services providers must perform:

From the frozen ground of the Great Recession, “green shoots” for the U.S. economy are emerging, and one of them is a new report issued by the Retail Industry leaders Association (RILA) and Auburn University College of Business. 

The study – based on a survey of retail supply chain executives – has significant implications for companies utilizing outsourced call center services.  The State of the Retail Supply Chain Report reveals a major shift in emphasis from cost containment to customer service.  Nearly 40 percent of the executives covered by the survey report they will focus on a balanced service and cost strategy for this year.

This is a departure from sentiments reported during the height of the recession, when the majority of managers emphasized cost cutting.  But in the new survey, a mere 12 percent said the primary focus will be on cost control.

To all of this we say that cost containment and customer service are mutually inclusive.  That’s the good news for retail executives: Outsourced call center services pursue both agendas simultaneously.

On the quality side, a customer service call center is staffed with specialists trained in the art and science of delivering a great customer experience, of expressing and articulating a company’s brand and (unlike many in-house call center workers) whose only function is delivering customer service: answering product questions, order taking and order processing, live chat and handling email inquiries.  That is, they are not distracted by other duties.

In addition, outsourced call centers constantly improve the customer service, cross-selling and upselling skills of their staffs, enabling clients to realize maximized average sales orders.

On the cost side, a customer service call center is a honed, optimized operation.  Call center services managers are adept at wringing maximized efficiencies from both the call center IT infrastructure and their customer service specialists who deliver call center services.

When companies utilize customer service outsourcing, they get a highly scalable resource that can quickly add, or reduce, the staff working on their programs – without the complexities of hiring or laying off employees.  Thus, staffing levels can be quickly adjusted to seasonal variations in call volume.

In addition, outsourced providers offer – or should offer – the latest in call center services phone systems and program tracking and reporting software, saving companies significant IT investment and maintenance costs.

So whether the priority is cutting business costs or improving the customer experience, a good outsourced call center services provider can help achieve both objectives.

Mark Fichera, CEO
OnBrand24
Beverly, MA

Five Essentials to Expect for Excellence

A call center services provider processes customer orders, answers questions about your products and services, updates your customers about the status of their orders, and calls your prospects for B2B lead generation and sales appointment setting.  It sends email notifications to your customers confirming their orders, to let them know orders are in transit and to confirm their sales appointment.  And it handles credit card transactions and returned-item processing. 

You’re most likely aware of the full range of outsourced services that a call center services company provides… but here’s the key question: What’s the difference between an ordinary call center company and an exceptional one? 

Here are the five essentials to expect from the exceptional services provider:

1.    Your brand is their brand
A call center services provider should be a partner, not just an outsourced vendor. It treats your customers with care and respect because, as a partner, the customer service call center is an extension of your company. You should always feel confident that your customers are treated with courtesy, and that the outsourced call center service employs agents who are knowledgeable about your products and can express your brand. 

2.    Customization
Many call centers use a program template – they fit your program into a standard approach that does not allow for much flexibility. But a good call center tailors its services to your company’s specific needs and situation. Privately owned call centers usually offer the most personalized, customized programs. 

3.    Order size maximization
You understand that every time a customer calls your inbound call center, it’s a sales opportunity. The last thing you want are call center agents who are just take order takers. You want agents with the sales experience and people skills to expand customer orders – by suggesting complementary products and calling attention to sale items. Go with a call center that can up-sell and cross-sell in a way that makes the customer feel good about calling your company. And for that, you need call center agents that have been trained in advanced customer service and sales techniques.  So be sure your call center continually invests in its people.

4.    Measurable results
Demand detailed, frequent reports from your call center services company and hold them to demanding performance standards. This means fast response time, low abandonment rates, high first-call resolution, shorter average talk time and improved average order size. On the outbound call center side, this means reaching goals for warm leads turned over to you, sales appointments scheduled, win-back customer surveys completed and customer records updated.  And you should expect to lower your business costs, because an optimized call center should operate at maximum efficiency. From the outset, work closely with your call center to establish the program metrics that support your business goals.  

5.    Premise-based agents 
Before working with any call center outsourcing company, make sure you not only have the kind of customer service agents you need, but the kind of customer service agent supervision that delivers the results you want.  Beware of virtual agents working from home.  In nearly all cases, it's better to go with a call center whose agents work within a call center facility, which ensures premium quality assurance, work performance monitoring, teamwork and knowledge sharing. 

Use these five features as essentials, not just “extras,” when you’re selecting an outsourced call center services company, and you’re more likely to get the program you need.

Mark Fichera, CEO
OnBrand24
Beverly, Massachusetts