What is a Progressive Dialer and How Does it Work?

The main goal for Sales teams is to build relationships with prospective customers to close deals and increase business revenue. As client expectations and needs constantly change and shift over time, this becomes more and more challenging.

In fact, sales reps spend nearly 15% of their work week on administrative tasks that have little to do with selling.

There is an optimal solution to help teams optimize their time to improve lead conversion rates, all while providing positive, memorable, and consistent costumer experiences.

Innovative features included with cloud contact center solutions, like progressive dialers, can help on both ends of the spectrum. Read on to learn more about progressive dialers and how they can benefit organizations and the clients they serve. 

What is a Progressive Dialer? 

A progressive dialer provides organizations with better customer segmentation strategies and helps improve customer satisfaction.

When making or receiving a call, the dialer displays all the information about previous interactions with the customer for agents to review. This enables a more personal, two-way relationship between the agent and the client.

Progressive dialers are the ideal solution for contact centers with a low or moderate volume of calls, as they help foster a two-way relationship and help sales agents build rapport. They provide calls to agents after they finish previous calls, giving agents time to collect information and prepare for the next call. With previous information readily at hand, sales agents can prepare themselves to close the deal, upsell a current client, and more. Each prospect and existing customer will get a highly personalized experience, fostering brand loyalty and trust. 

What is Progressive Dialing?

With a progressive dialer, each lead or client is assigned a specific agent and only works with them. Every time a client calls or receives a call from an organization, each call is only performed by the specific agent assigned to that client. This is especially helpful for situations where agents may specialize in certain products, services, or even industries.

Progressive dialers can make conversations more fruitful and efficient for both organizations and their customers, as they can help organizations build stronger relationships with customers while providing customers with a consistent experience throughout their journey. 

How Does a Progressive Dialer Work?

First, contact lists are uploaded to the system and contacts are assigned to specific agents.

For outbound calls, progressive dialers allow agents to call clients easily and quickly to increase efficiency and productivity. Progressive dialers may call leads or clients based on purchase history, services they use, urgency, and more.

For inbound calls, when a client calls in, the progressive dialer calls the assigned agent and connects the call. 

Pros and Cons of Progressive Dialers vs. Predictive Dialers and vs. Preview Dialers

While progressive dialers, predictive dialers, and preview dialers operate in similar ways, there are a few differences. Progressive and preview dialers are the most similar. The biggest difference is that preview dialers call any agent available at the time, while progressive dialers have to wait until the agent that is assigned to the client/caller becomes available. Predictive dialers operate differently and automatically predict when an agent will be available to take a call based on average wrap-up time.

Here are some of the main differences between progressive dialers, predictive dialers, and preview dialers:

A progressive dialer is the only dialer that can assign contacts to a particular agent. When making or receiving calls, the dialer will display all the information about any previous interactions with the client. This allows agents to form more personal relationships with clients.

This dialer will also display any known information about leads, which is useful in cold calling applications where the agent will need to know any business information available including the contact’s name, company name, job title of the person they're calling, and more.

Overall, progressive dialers offer the following benefits:

• Maintain a consistent pace of calls.
• Allow for more personalized interactions.
• Improve agent productivity.
• Reduce manual tasks with automation.

How does Progressive Dialer Software Boost Efficiency and Sales?

Progressive dialers use powerful automation to connect customers and agents with ease. This saves time and boosts contact center efficiency overall. With outbound, automated dialing, agents don’t waste time dialing numbers manually, meaning agents spend less time inactive and more time building relationships with customers.

Cloud-based contact center software allows agents to have all the information they need about leads and clients right at their fingertips. In fact, solutions like uContact from net2phone enable agents to manage every interaction from one screen.

Say a customer calls their internet provider wanting to learn more about what their current package includes. With a solution like uContact, their designated agent can have all of the information they need before the call is connected and get a headstart on the interaction. The agent will have access to the entire customer journey, from the initial contact, to the sale, and beyond.

Taking it a step further, omnichannel contact center software allows agents to pull up information about every interaction a potential or existing customer has had with a brand, regardless of the channel they used to contact the organization. With all the information about prospects and clients available at their fingertips, agents can really make the most of every interaction. For example, Customer Support agents can pull up notes from Sales teams and see potential opportunities to upsell clients based on previously mentioned needs or wants. With this type of functionality, data silos between teams are eliminated with a full story of the customer journey.

Organizations can set regular intervals to follow up with prospective clients to ensure sales don’t slip through the cracks. Contact centers can benefit greatly from progressive dialers to ensure consistent, routine follow-ups. Because only 2% of sales are made on the first contact, following up is vital to the sales process. In fact, 42% of clients are more likely to buy from a company with timely follow up, as this builds trust and a positive relationship with a potential customer.

Progressive dialers really can be a make or break solution for teams looking to increase revenue, build strong customer relationships, and foster consumer trust.

Related: What Is An Omnichannel Contact Center And Why It Matters

Progressive Dialers and Beyond

Ultimately, progressive dialers simplify client outreach, increase Sales team efficiency, and ensure agents can make the most of their time to close deals or upsell current customers on special promotions or new products.

While progressive dialers simply put are well… progressive, they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to building stronger client relationships and boosting organizational efficiency. There are many solutions designed to supercharge Sales teams and help them close deals with confidence. And they’re all available with net2phone. 

Check out our business communication solutions for Sales teams to discover how to maximize win rates with cloud solutions that produce results!