phone room sales

[mort2610]

whats the easiest way to set up a phone room? i want to start a publishing company and i need a phone room with dedicated sales professionals for my advertising department. i can have my art department and printing outsourced. i have the empty office space available. i have my distribution channels in agreement....

i dont want to run 5 land lines complete with wall mounted phones...i was skype for convenience and cheap phone bill....anybody use voip for their sales department?

[Sarenokai]

As for your office, make it well lit, free from distractions (no distracting pictures on the walls), and a decent table and chairs so the sales staff feels comfortable. Oh and be sure to have it away from other noisy offices or distracting environments.

I would suggest setting up a computer or two and use Skype or other virtually free services. Skype, for instance, can cost you only $60 a year to call any landline or cell phone in the United States and Canada. If you need to go broader it can cost you a bit more, but way less than a conventional phone would.

Also, be sure to have the materials such as fact sheets and reference material for the sales or maketing staff to have quick access too. If they can don't know something it's a good idea to have the information readily available.

I hope that gives you something to go off of. Just always be looking for new methods and be sure to ask the sales staff for t heir input. They will tell you what they need to keep them the most productive. If they ask for better lighting or complain about heating/cooling issues, it could be a red flag for something that could reduce their productivity.

Best of luck in setting up your sales office!

[questeds]

VOIP is beginning to take off in the commercial world, but I would steer away from Skype - there a big quality issues there, and if you are running a professional company, you need to sound professional too.
I have managed call centres in the past, so have some experience in the area you are asking about. Headsets are a must, wether VOIP or normal. You also need to think about where you are going to source data for your sales team to call. Do not skmip on this, as you will waste more money on wages then you save buying cheap lists!
Call centre staff are notoriously hard to keep and motivate, so you need to be mindful of this. Make sure there are plenty of incentives, prizes etc. for them to win. Also, make sure there is a buzzing atmosphere - Have background music etc.
Above all, you need to monitor this team. There are so many tricks in this trade to make you think call centre staff are busy. One example is ringing known fax numbers and then pitching for 20 minutes. I would strongly suggest you employ a sales manager with a background in call centre. Feel free to shoot me a message if you want any other advice.
Cheers