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The inbound call center is often the first point of contact between a customer and a company offering products or services, extending the importance of the customer experience when interacting with the agent. When these services are outsourced, the value of that customer experience is generated by the outsourcing provider, a responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly. For Ameridial, building the value of the brand through the customer experience is a primary focus.

A recent case study highlighted just how this inbound call center provider approaches its customer care. Working with one of the country’s largest franchised commercial lawn care companies, Ameridial is lending integrated customer contact support within the inbound call center, contributing to the growth of the organization from 65 franchised locations in 1998 to more than 185 in 2008.

Franchise owners have certainly benefitted from this inbound call center partnership as Ameridial, along with its partners, provides highly targeted prospecting lists that can be used for calling, mail and even local prospecting. A key element within the client’s strategy is to understand the target market and keep data clean for accurate prospect lists. With roughly 25 percent new businesses and/or contact names each year, the company is able to enjoy steady growth.

Direct mail is also proving to be a solid strategy when combined with the inbound call center. This marketing approach is not only more effective, but also yields better returns when used with a high-quality list. The lawn care company estimates that it will an increase in response from 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent and a 5 percent reduction in the overall cost of this marketing channel, the bottom line is growing healthier at a steady pace.

By integrating its inbound call center with Ameridial, the organization ensures that those prospects who do not call as a resort of other communication outreach are called for appointment setting. Ameridial also calls the potential client two days before the set appointment to verify time and location, creating an additional opportunity to verify information and build the value of the brand for the potential customer.

The Ameridial partnership also allows for clear transparency and visibility. Each franchise under the brand has an online appointment calendar with easy access to personalized calendar defaults and unavailable times. Recorded calls can also be accessed through a secure FTP site so franchise owners can capture any additional information necessary from the call before meeting with the prospect.

Once an appointment has been completed, franchise owners can objectively measure the performance of the calling prospect, gleaning from their appointment whether or not the prospect had clear expectations about the interaction. At that point, the owner has the opportunity to make changes within the calling process or the script to achieve the desired results.

While working with Ameridial to provide the inbound call center solution not only eliminates the need to deploy its own in-house platform, it also provides the commercial lawn company with complete transparency and control over the process within a low-cost business model. And, a 10 percent conversion rates with a centralized marketing resource, each franchise is able to more effectively grow their business at a very low cost.