Understanding Salesforce Dialers: Preview Dialing, Power Dialing and Predictive Dialing
5 min
A dialer is a piece of software that helps automate the outbound dialing process, eliminating the need to sort through a list of contacts and manually dial out to them.
Since their inception, dialers have helped teams boost productivity by dramatically increasing call connection ratios, which translates to more time spent by reps on the phone talking to prospects and customers. With the rising complexity of business needs, and the search for endless efficiency, a variety of automated dialing systems have emerged.
Choosing the right Salesforce Dialer is key for every manager handling outbound campaigns.
Below we’ll explain the main differences between them, and help you decide which of these dialing systems is the best fit for your team.
Preview Dialer
When using preview dialing mode, a rep will be presented with a list of contacts which she can manage and modify, but it is up to her to decide when to initiate the next call. When paired with Salesforce, a good preview dialer will enable the rep to quickly screen pop into the correct record either during, or before each call, to conduct research.
Best suited for:
Complex sales scenarios like Enterprise sales, where some research is required before each call.
Power Dialer
A power dialer is an automated outbound dialing system. It removes the option for your rep to decide when the next call is dialed. The dialer will automatically initiate the next call in the list once the “wrap up time” allocated for after call work tasks is completed. This removes the wait time between calls and will significantly increase the rate at which your call center dials out.
Best suited for:
Reps handling calls that are very similar in nature and would benefit from having the system deliver the calls automatically to them.
Predictive Dialer
Predictive dialers are the most aggressive type of outbound dialing systems. The main difference between them and power dialers, is that a predictive dialer will initiate a call even if no agents are available to handle it, in hopes of saving time related to ringback and hitting voicemail boxes. Predictive dialers use complex algorithms to
a) Determine when agents will become available, adjusting dialing rates based on agent availability.
b) Determine if a call was answered by a voicemail machine or an actual person.
These combination of factors usually lead to awkward silences caused by the delay between the customer answering her phone and the dialing system determining if it’s a live person or a prerecorded message and then connecting the customer to the next available live agent.
These dialing systems are often used in very low margin call centers, where the leading KPI is cost per call. Managers implementing predictive dialers should be aware of the risks associated with them. Companies in the US can face hefty fines if they exceed the 3% limit of dropped calls caused by “over dialing” and having no agents available to handle these calls.
Best suited for:
Low margin call centers, e.g.: debt collection call centers.
Which Outbound Dialer should I pair with my Salesforce instance?
Whichever dialing system you choose is going to dramatically boost your teams productivity. For sheer efficiency and speed predictive dialers have the edge, but when taking into account dropped calls, awkward silences, rep proficiency when handling conversations and potential business liabilities their attractiveness dwindles down.
Power and preview dialers put the rep in control, and when paired with well defined goals by management they will lead to an increased number of relevant conversations with prospects and customers.
- Make sure that whichever dialer you choose, it includes this key Salesforce integration features:
- Screenpop
- Click to Dial
- Automatic Call Logging
- Workflow Automations
If you want to test out the most complete dialer and CTI solution for Salesforce Lightning, signup for your PhoneIQ free trial. No credit cards or commitments.
