Learn key strategies for outbound, inbound and call blending that will help provide better service to your customers.

1. Inbound Strategy, Outbound Strategy,
and the Most Important Strategy of
All: Blending Them Into a Seamless
Interaction for Your Customers

2. 2
Ensure your contact center
provides a better experience
for your customers, your
agents, and your company
with these strategies:
• Implementing multiple inbound channels
• Providing easier self-service
• Prioritizing contacts by channel
• Giving agents a single view of customers
• Remembering the importance of data
• Using other channels in your
outbound contact
• Establishing the right KPIs
• Blending inbound with outbound
Introduction

3. 3
Inbound Strategies

4. 4
Inbound Strategy #1:
Implement multiple
inbound channels

5. 5
Don’t think “call center.”
Think “contact center.”
Only 7% of 16-24 year olds will call a
business—even in relation to a high-value
sales query.
And only 35% of customers 55 and over
now prefer a phone call.
Inbound Strategy #1: Implement multiple inbound channels
Today, you should have an integrated, multichannel
strategy for every aspect of your contact center.

6. 20%of customers—
regardless of age—
prefer to buy from
businesses that offer
multiple channels of
communication.
6

7. 7
Hone your
channel strategy.
Would they use social media or
web chat to work through an issue
that didn’t require a lengthy call?
Inbound Strategy #1: Implement multiple inbound channels
Don’t jump into every possible channel.
Understand your customers and how they
prefer to communicate so that you can match
your channel strategy to their needs.
Would your customers send an
email for a nonurgent inquiry
instead of making a phone call?

8. 8
Consistency
is key.
• Tone of voice
Whether you’re using email, telephone, web chat or
social media, you need uniformity in your tone
of voice.
• Brand rules
Set rules around brand messaging (but keep in
mind that some channels are typically “chattier”
than others).
• CRM Integration
Integrating CRM data is essential to ensure that every
agent is referring to the same information—regardless
of which channel a customer is using at the time.
Inbound Strategy #1: Implement multiple inbound channels
A multichannel contact center must
respond to customers consistently,
regardless of channel.

9. 9
Ensure agents have a
unified view of customer
communications.
Inbound Strategy #1: Implement multiple inbound channels
Customers expect your agents to know of their past
encounters with your contact center.

10. 35%of customers think it’s
important for an agent
to be able to refer to all
previous interactions
when communicating
with them.
10

11. 75%of customers are likely
to recommend a
company that can
communicate with them
without them needing to
re-explain their query.
11
More than

12. 12
Intelligently route
customers to the
right agents.
• Route those customers to agents with the
necessary skills.
• Ensure that all comments from a single
customer are routed to the same agent.
Inbound Strategy #1: Implement multiple inbound channels
Many customers turn to social media in order to
have their voices heard, whether their experiences
were good or bad. When that happens with your
company, you need to address those comments.

13. 13
Train your agents
on one channel at
a time.
Different channels require different skill
sets. Make sure that your agents have
acquired and mastered the skills
necessary for one channel before training
them on another channel. This ensures
that agent response quality and attention
to detail is optimized.
Inbound Strategy #1: Implement multiple inbound channels

14. 14
Inbound Strategy #2:
Make it easier
to self-serve

15. 15
Inbound Strategy #2: Make it easier to self-serve
Customers avoid calling you.
Research shows that customers of all demographics are most likely to go to
the web first—for queries ranging from initial research through post-sale
questions and even complaints. For many customers, contacting you is a last
resort. Ensuring that you’re helping as many people as possible through
self-serve is now both more efficient and better customer service.

16. 16
Inbound Strategy #2: Make it easier to self-serve
Put self-service
into place at
multiple levels.
Start improving your self-service with your website:
• A well-managed and up-to-date FAQ section on your site
can dramatically lower inbound contact volumes.
• If you’re consistently getting the same questions,
consider addressing them in your FAQs to alleviate the
need for customers to call or email.

17. 17
Inbound Strategy #2: Make it easier to self-serve
Self-serve still
works with the
phone.
• Implement intelligent data lookups to personalize the
customer experience and potentially circumvent the need
for them to speak to a live agent. For example, a customer
calls on the 15th every month to pay their bill. If it’s the 15th
of the month and that customer calls, you can customize the
menu options to prompt bill payment first, allowing them to
more quickly pay via the automated system.
• On a more personal level, you can opt to play information
such as the parcel service being used or the customer’s
expected delivery time.
• You can also use your system to complete complex
interactions such as payment processing without ever
needing a live agent.
Allow customers who have less complex
issues to interact with the IVR. Automating
incoming questions frees your agents to
handle more complex issues.

18. 18
Inbound Strategy #2: Make it easier to self-serve
Don’t go too far, or
you can frustrate
your customers.
Use uncluttered menus.
Use automation and self-serve intelligently. Tailor your
automated systems to your customers’ preferences.
Optimize your automation and older IVR systems to make
the process easier for customers and ensure that they don’t
frustrate customers who actually want to talk to a live agent.
1
Continuously review
the channel.
Make self-serve an option,
not a necessity.
2
3

19. 19
Inbound Strategy #3:
Prioritize your
contacts by channel

20. 20
Inbound Strategy #3: Prioritize your contacts by channel
Align your priorities
with customer
expectations.
The old, inflexible ACD system could direct calls
according to a customer’s request via the IVR, but that
was it. In a multichannel contact center, you need to
prioritize. The amount of time a customer expects to
wait for a response differs wildly depending on the
channel. It’s useful to put inbound contacts into three
categories and set service levels for each.
1
2
3
Instant.
This includes telephone and chat, where
customers are contacting you and expect as
little wait time as possible.
Reactive.
These responses are for customer inquiries
where they don’t expect an immediate reply,
including email and social media.
Proactive.
Does a customer not necessarily expect a
response at all? For instance, did someone
mention your brand on social media? By
responding, you can delight your customers
and contribute to their positive experience.

21. 21
Inbound Strategy #3: Prioritize your contacts by channel
Instant
Phone Contact
More than 60% of customers expect their calls
to be answered within five minutes.
More than 10% of customers expect their calls
to be answered in less than one minute.
20% of customers are willing to wait up to 15
minutes on the phone.
Customers have very set expectations
about the time it should take to reach an
agent when they call.
With intelligent call distribution using a well-optimized
contact flow and good resource management, these
wait times can be minimized.

22. 22
Inbound Strategy #3: Prioritize your contacts by channel
Ensure that chat is only presented to the
customer as an option when an agent is
available immediately.
51% of customers expect their chat messages
to be responded to in less than five minutes.
Instant
Chat Contact

23. 23
Inbound Strategy #3: Prioritize your contacts by channel
Answering email is obviously important, but
it may not require an immediate response.
Reactive
Email Contact More than 60% of customers expect an answer
to their email in less than five hours.
35% of customers expect an answer to their
email within an hour.

24. 24
Inbound Strategy #3: Prioritize your contacts by channel
Set expectations for
your customers. • Ensure that whatever time frame you
mention is realistic, even in times of
higher traffic.
• Always try to respond in a shorter time
than promised.
As an example, autoreply to a customer’s
email to let them know you received their
query and that they can expect a response
within a certain time frame.

25. 25
In a recent survey, a
“quick response
via email”
was the top result for
experiences that would likely
lead customers to repeat
purchases from a business.

26. 26
Inbound Strategy #3: Prioritize your contacts by channel
Reactive
Social Media Contact
Like email, social media responses don’t need to
be instant, but quicker responses lead to happier
customers.
• Include operating and response times in your bio on
your social media pages.
• Know this: If you’re running a Facebook page,
Facebook will automatically present a normal response
time to visitors based on your past interactions.
58% of customers expect a reply via
social media within one hour.

27. 27
Inbound Strategy #3: Prioritize your contacts by channel
Proactive
responses delight
customers.
• Monitored keyword and brand mentions can be
streamed in real time and prioritized before
filtering to agents for a response.
• Treat social media mentions as inbound
customer issues and proactively respond.
• Reaching out to customers before they contact
you is a great opportunity to impress them.
Not all conversations about your brand in social
media are aimed at you. Often, customers have
conversations about your brand on social media
channels with their friends. This isn’t to say that
they don’t have an issue they need resolved.

28. 28
Inbound Strategy #4:
Give agents a single
view of customers

29. 29
Inbound Strategy #4: Give agents a single view of customers
A synched approach is
essential in a multichannel
contact center.
The smartphone generation not only expects to be able to
interact with a brand across multiple channels; it also
expects continuity between those channels.

30. 30
Customers may begin trying to resolve an issue
through email, switch to social media, and then
escalate to a phone call if they’re not satisfied.
Without a single integrated view of these customers,
agents can waste valuable time trying to understand
their issues—causing delays and frustrations for
everyone involved.

31. 31
Inbound Strategy #4: Give agents a single view of customers
View contacts in a
single, simple interface.
In traditional contact centers, the challenge of a single interface
presents an expensive and complex challenge when it comes to
integration. With a cloud-based contact center, your agents
benefit from a fully integrated, multichannel solution where both
customers and agents can pick and mix communication channels
from a single web interface. This should be available to agents
whether they’re in the office or working from another location.

32. 32
What to look for in an
inbound system:
• Ability to integrate multiple channel
applications, such as voice, email, chat, and
social media
• Data-directed routing
• Waypoint reporting
• Real-time and historical reporting
• Queue management
• Callbacks
• Outbound integration
• Dynamic scripting
• Single view of the customer
• Quality monitoring and customer surveys

33. Outbound Strategies

34. 34
Outbound Strategy #1:
Incorporate data to
drive success

35. 35
Outbound Strategy #1: Incorporate data to drive success
Ensure sufficient
data and its quality.
Even if you have a lot of data, make sure it’s
good. Bad phone numbers, along with a high
level of retries, can also result in a low
connection rate and longer wait times for agents.
When it comes to outbound calls, dialers work far
more efficiently than humans. To run efficiently,
however, the dialer needs data—in this case,
phone numbers. Without it, there could be very
high wait times between calls, which can
frustrate agents.

36. 36
Outbound Strategy #1: Incorporate data to drive success
An automated dialing system runs more efficiently when you feed it better data, such as valid
numbers. If the system doesn’t have enough data, your wait times will increase. A good predictive
dialing system will proactively send an alert to your dashboard if there is a high wait time, which
saves you time trying to find the problem in a mound of data.
Monitor your dashboard.

37. 37
Outbound Strategy #1: Incorporate data to drive success
If bad data is bogging down your system, you have two options. You could look
for alternative data sources. Or you could do more with the data you have
by sending it back to the cleansing company so that they can verify the
numbers are valid.
Cleanse data.

38. 38
Outbound Strategy #1: Incorporate data to drive success
When purchasing data, get a
replacement guarantee.
Existing customer databases, business listings, and online lead-generation suppliers
can be great sources of data. That said, when you’re purchasing new data, make
sure there’s a system in place for refunds or replacements when there are bad
leads. And if your calling list contains higher volumes of mobile numbers, remember
that typically around a third of mobile numbers are either unavailable, off or
roaming—potentially leading to significant wasted time and calls.

39. 39
Outbound Strategy #1: Incorporate data to drive success
Collect data at
every opportunity.
Encourage your agents to capture relevant and
accurate information on their calls. Requesting
and recording second telephone numbers or an
email address might increase your average
handling time, but your data quality will be
increased for future campaigns.

40. 40
Outbound Strategy #2:
Use other channels in
your outbound strategies

41. 41
Improve your success rates
with a flexible system.
A flexible system allows you to establish rules based on your unique customer base.
For instance, if many of your customers work nontraditional hours, you can use the
analytics to choose a time where you’re more likely to connect with them versus
someone who works 9 to 5. Choose a provider that has a dedicated client service
team to devise these strategies with you so that your managers can focus on
running your contact center.
Outbound Strategy #2: Use other channels in your outbound strategies

42. 42
Keep agents
productive when the
contact rate is low.
When you have a low contact rate, it’s a
challenge to keep your agents productive while
maintaining their performance levels. Predictive
dialing can help with low contact rates, but
automated campaigns can maximize your
successful contacts.
Outbound Strategy #2: Use other channels in your outbound strategies
• Automated campaigns operate in a similar fashion to
“live” dialer campaigns, only there’s no need for
agents to be logged in to a campaign before the dial
is attempted.
• When a call is answered, a customized recording is
played. If appropriate, the recipient can opt to speak
directly to a human agent.
• This is helpful in more than just generic telemarketing
strategies. It’s also useful in collection campaigns,
because it allows organizations to continue to
pursue older debt when all previous contact attempts
have failed.

43. 43
Statistically,
successful results
occur in the first five
dialing attempts.

44. 44
Analyze patterns for more
successful outcomes.
Analyze the data where you’ve achieved
a successful call outcome in just one or
two calling attempts and look for patterns:
• Time of day
• Title
• Gender
• ZIP code
It’s important to frequently run an analysis on the
volume of successful outcomes that you gain per
dial count so that you don’t run into a situation that
piques the interest of the FCC. Do some analysis
on dial counts versus closed records.
Outbound Strategy #2: Use other channels in your outbound strategies

45. 45
Outbound Strategy #3:
Establish the right KPIs

46. 46
Outbound Strategy #3: Establish the right KPIs
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
and their assessments are critical.
The most important numbers are those
that add to the top line:
• Lead-to-sale conversion
• Converting business
• Booking appointments
• Collecting debt
• Increasing profit
Just because people look and feel busy doesn’t make them
productive or successful. Before you undertake an outbound
campaign, clearly define your KPIs. Success isn’t
necessarily about the number of dials or connects.

47. 47
Outbound Strategy #3: Establish the right KPIs
Review your
processes.
An optimized process adds valuable time to
the agents’ availability to the system for
further calls. Cut your losses to ensure that
your agents know when to close a call and
move on.
With the right processes, your agents won’t
just spend time talking; they’ll spend time
talking to the right people to meet or
exceed their KPIs.

48. 48
Outbound Strategy #3: Establish the right KPIs
Managing data is
different than
managing people.
Cloud-based contact systems manage the majority
of your data and allow your managers to develop
agents and the team as a whole.
Many contact centers have the same person
managing data and agents. This requires them to
have the skills to successfully manage and
motivate agents, as well as the skills to monitor
your real-time statistics and act accordingly. This is
a lot to ask of anyone.

49. 49
What to look for in an
outbound system:
• Legislation and compliance
• Flexibility
• Multiple dialing modes (preview and
progressive dialing can be beneficial for
some campaigns)
• Additional contact features and functionality
• Ease of use
• Real-time and historical statistics
• Integration points
• Easy data manipulation
• Scalability

50. The Most Important Strategy:
Blend inbound with outbound

51. 51
The Most Important Strategy: Blend inbound with outbound
Use skills-based routing for a
better customer experience.
Your agents have different skills when it comes to customer contact, so make sure you’re
maximizing their capabilities if you’re working in a blended environment. Skills-based
routing ensures that an agent with the right skills is serving the customer who needs
those skills the most. The right system will also provide agents with the customer data
they need to provide the best experience possible.

52. 52
The Most Important Strategy: Blend inbound with outbound
Put a callback strategy in place.
Your customers don’t want to wait on hold. And when they have to, you can experience
higher call abandonment rates and lower customer satisfaction. Callback technology
gives your customers the option to be reached by an agent at a later time—allowing you
to give your customers back what’s most important to them: their time. The less time
customers spend on hold, the more productive they and your agents can be.
Callback technology is a cost-effective way to increase customer satisfaction, while also
alleviating spikes in call volume and improving overall contact center efficiency.

53. Our Cloud Contact Center is more than just software. It’s an interaction-oriented cloud
solution that will modernize your contact center to provide an optimal customer
experience and drive your organization’s performance. It’s also a future-proof
investment. It can integrate with your current technology environment, regardless of how
complex. And you’ll be able to leverage new technologies as they come online. Read
more about our Cloud Contact Center Solution.
For more information or to speak to a sales representative, fill out our form. We’ll contact
you as soon as possible.
West delivers communication solutions that help brands create connected customer experiences. We have 30 years of experience strategically improving customer interaction,
enhancing productivity, and increasing profitability with clients in health care, education, utilities, and diverse commercial industries. West Interactive Services solutions include
IVR & Self-Service, Proactive Notifications & Mobility, Cloud Contact Center, and Professional Services. Experience Connected at west.com/interactive.
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