18 Ways Teleservices Teams Can Add Value When Calling Is Uncertain

• Businesses whose teleservices reps are working from home are having to evolve how they engage with prospects
• Teleservices teams should use remote working time  to experiment with new approaches, connect buying groups in target accounts, improve product and tool knowledge, and polish their external appearance
• While marketing teams are adjusting programs and outreach plans, teleservices teams are focusing on documenting best practices, processes, and plans for next steps

Our business environments have changed, and how we engage with others is different. Calling business extensions is difficult during transitions, and calling your prospects at home can be risky. What does this mean for the critical role of the revenue development rep (RDR), business development rep (BDR), and digital development rep (DDR)? Business must go on, but not in the same ways.

We’re not recommending teleservices teams stop dialing. Some regions are opening up, and many critical business solutions are needed during this transitioning time. If your teleservices teams are still calling, remember these guidelines.

But if you’ve decided calling isn’t appropriate for your team right now, here are a few ways to keep the team engaged, learning new skills, sharpening best practices, and refining process improvements. Teleservices teams can still add value and be even better once we get to the other side of the pandemic.

Here are 18 ideas for your teleservices team during the COVID-19 era:

Putting Your Audience First

• Try video. Instead of sending a text-based email to check in with a prospect, create a personalized video. It’s short, thoughtful, human, and to the point.
• Let prospects drive next steps. For conversations that were already in progress, reach out to ask how the prospect would like to proceed. Often priorities haven’t changed, just timelines.
• Give, don’t ask. Share valuable information — e.g., industry updates and company updates.
• Leverage what you already have. Increase the usage of LinkedIn messages, encourage use of calendaring tech for scheduling ease, and offer compelling content links in email signatures and social profiles.
• Help support current customer activation and retention programs.  Support database hygiene. There’s no better way to prepare for an upswing than to have dependable data to inform new plans, targeted outreach, and realistic reporting. Consider segmenting active vs. inactive prospects, connecting buying group members to opportunities/target accounts, and identifying missing members of each buying group.

Professional Development

• Interview target buying group members in your company and leverage your professional network to tap into others. What pain points are they struggling with? What keeps them up at night? What kind of information are they looking for to make a buying decision?
• Gather feedback from the sales team on members of the buying group and when they typically get involved in the buying process.
• Recruit reps with the best approach to leveraging a gatekeeper for a scheduled team video call to share this approach and a possible role play.
• Shadow calls with sales and current customer account managers to hear what customers and prospects are asking. Use this information to adjust the pitch used by the teleservices team.
• Update teleservices team skills and complete online tool training like sales force automation tools, prospect outreach tools, chat functionality, and any other tool that assists with prospect engagement or measurement.
• Consider advanced product training for your products and solutions. The more sellers know, the more comfortable they are communicating product/solution value to customers.
• Work with portfolio marketing and sales to update competitive landscape research — create battle cards for handling questions and competitive objections. Divide these among team members, do deep dives, and share findings.
• Pitch practice role plays and videos. Make it fun (e.g., create contests) to keep everyone engaged. Prizes make everything more fun.
• Document processes and best practices — e.g., who has the best pitch, email follow-up, way to ask for next steps, way to position a solution.

Personal Development

• Establish a social media presence. What are your prospects seeing? Make sure LinkedIn headshots  are professional and include a complete company description.
• Have the team sign up for free online learning courses (e.g., PowerPoint and Excel skills, critical thinking, time management). Make these fun. Consider participating as a team.
• Ask each person to make a new plan — e.g., a schedule for each day, short-term and long-term goals, a list of ideas for next steps.

We’re all being forced to do things a little differently in our personal and professional lives. Here’s hoping you’re using this time to build on what you have today. How will your teleservices team be better in the new normal?