Reaching out to new prospects is one of the most challenging parts of growing a business. You may have done enough audience research, prepared the right messaging incorporating their needs, your strengths and unique value propositions, but there is still an element of cold outreach that is involved.
Cold calling people on their phones has been a simple technique that has worked for long. It has been a way for entrepreneurs and business leaders to commence a relationship with prospects and gain initial traction in building their customer base. But business owners are finding it increasingly challenging to use cold calling as a way to reach customers these days.
Regulations and changing consumer perceptions
Due to a variety of reasons such as scams, spam calls and robocalls over the years, consumers have become hesitant to entertain cold calls from businesses. And governments and regulatory bodies have responded by taking action to protect customers, introducing privacy laws such as the PDPA in Singapore, including the introduction of a Do-Not-Call (DNC) registry. This is a database that lets consumers opt out of marketing messages, promotional or advertising materials that are directed at their Singapore personal telephone number. If a business or an individual fails to check the DNC registry before cold calling someone, they could be penalised with a fine of up to S$10,000.
In 2014, a tuition agency became the first firm to be penalised under the PDPA regulations for breaking the DNC registry criteria and the organisation, including the director, accrued fines of more than S$39,000. Another instance of a business breaching the DNC rules was when a property agent was fined S$27,000 later in the same year, for sending SMSes via nine telephone numbers using a bulk SMS broadcasting software to advertise two condominiums in Singapore and a London mixed development.
Customer experience during cold outreach
Even when you do manage to speak to a prospect via cold call with their consent, it may not always be productive, or it could even drive prospects away if the experience was not great. And without a clear way to monitor such calls, it will be impossible to improve the customer experience other than by pure trial and error.
Consider the case of an insurance business that wants to generate leads through cold calls from their agents. The agents will have to first check numbers for DNC Registry manually, a process where they could accidentally mistyped numbers or make errors, especially if they are on the move. If they then reach someone who has registered for the DNC checklist, this could result in a bad experience right away, even if the recipient is interested in the insurance product.
If on the other hand, the agents do manage to start a conversation with a cold lead, there is still work to be done. The agents may still have to do follow-up calls to share more information about products, riders and premiums and even transfer to other teams like marketing, product or contact centre. It is crucial to provide a good experience at all these touchpoints and avoid any frustrations for the customer. The business will therefore need ways to monitor the conversations and understand what is working and what isn’t. This is also critical from a regulatory and compliance perspective if there is a need to review call logs.
Mobility solutions for productive, compliant outreach
While it can still be challenging, there are ways to resolve some of these logistical issues and make cold outreach work for your business. The right mobility solutions can allow your business development teams to get peace of mind by ensuring compliance with DNC requirements.
Solutions such as Singtel DNC enables one-touch compliance via mobile calls, making it a seamless user experience compared to manual, fixed-line or app solutions. The DNC checks are automated and done in real-time, as soon as you press your phone's call button, allowing callers to do away with the hassle of manually checking the registry when they are pressed for time. It also supports calls via native mobile numbers along with mobile number portability, a feature that is not common in most DNC solutions in the market.
To maintain and improve the customer experience during cold outreach and nurture of leads, businesses will need a mobile call recording solution. To help with this, Singtel offers Mobile Voice Recording (MVR), a solution that allows you to record mobile calls in real-time and archive conversations. This will help callers carry out their conversations in peace without needing to use external features or apps or manually recording calls. It also helps you retrieve communication trails in the event of any disputes and thereby stay compliant with regulations.
To explore more solutions for your business, visit Singtel Business eShop portal.
