There are 3 types of sales dialers. They’re all designed to increase sales team efficiency by using different dialing methods to reach as many prospects as possible:
1. Auto dialers calls as many phone numbers as possible. When someone picks up the cold call, the Dialer will either play a recorded message or connect the call to an available customer service agent.
The benefit of auto dialing is you can reach a large volume of people, but the downside is, the call agent who picks up may not be prepared with the specific sales or support information regarding that call. When choosing an auto dialer, make sure you’re abiding by your country’s compliance laws.
2. Power dialers focus on one call at a time, leading to more personal conversations. This type of automation is ideal for small and mid-sized teams who want to earn a reputation as reliable and personable. The phone numbers are dialed from a predetermined list. New calls only begin once the previous call has ended. Depending on your provider, there are different features that come with power dialers. Aircall's dialer is a power dialer because we believe that quality, personalized conversations are most important for sales teams.
3. Predictive dialers call multiple numbers at the same time and use machine learning to maximize efficiency. The software only assigns the call to a sales representative once a live person answers the call.
The dialer learns what percentage of calls connect to the intended participant. For example, if it learns that only 25% of recipients pick up, it will dial four numbers at once.
The algorithm studies pauses, opening phrases, and other common conversation traits to either assign a call to a representative or leave a voicemail. The predictive dialer can only know the average number of times someone picks up the call. As with any algorithmic assumption, there is always the possibility of a small margin for error.