Enterprise sales teams still rely heavily on outbound calling.
Yet, the proliferation of robocalls and scams has made consumers cautious of unexpected calls.
Consequently, spam filters and “scam likely” warnings have become commonplace. Sales admins and managers, therefore, face a critical challenge: ensuring their legitimate outreach isn’t mistakenly labeled as spam.
This post explores the strategies your organization can use to keep your phone number out of spam filters and protect your brand’s reputation.
The Problem: Why Do Legitimate Calls Get Flagged?
Before exploring solutions, it’s crucial to understand why legitimate business calls end up flagged as spam.
Several factors contribute to this issue thus hindering call deliverability:
- Caller ID spoofing — Scammers often manipulate caller ID information to disguise their true identity, sometimes even using legitimate business numbers. This practice erodes consumer trust and makes them more likely to flag any unfamiliar number.
- High call volume — Sudden spikes in outbound call volume from a single number can trigger spam filters, even if the calls are legitimate. This is particularly relevant for large enterprise sales campaigns.
- Lack of caller ID reputation management — Phone carriers and third-party apps use algorithms to assess the reputation of phone numbers. If a number has been flagged as spam multiple times, it will negatively impact its reputation, making future calls more likely to be blocked or labeled as “scam likely.”
- Call frequency and timing — Calling too frequently or at inappropriate times (e.g., early morning, late night) can irritate recipients and lead to spam complaints.
- Lack of personalization — Generic, impersonal call scripts can be perceived as automated and spammy.
- Inconsistent number usage — Rotating through a large number of phone numbers can also be a red flag, as it’s a common tactic used by spammers.
- Failure to comply with regulations — Ignoring regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) can result in hefty fines and further damage your brand reputation.
The Impact: The Cost of a Tarnished Reputation
Effective communication is fundamental to sales success.
Every unanswered call and ignored voicemail represents a missed opportunity. But what happens if the very tool you rely on, your phone number, becomes the impediment?
A phone number marked as spam silently sabotages your outreach efforts, creating a domino effect that negatively impacts each stage of your sales cycle.
Reduced contact rates
The efficacy of outbound sales campaigns hinges on the ability to connect with prospects. When a phone number is flagged as “Scam Likely,” it creates a significant obstacle to this connection.
Given the prevalence of unwanted calls, recipients have become increasingly discerning, actively avoiding numbers that trigger spam alerts.
Consequently, contact rates plummet, diminishing the impact of even the most well-crafted sales strategies.
Wasted resources
In sales, time is a precious commodity.
Every minute your team spends dialing numbers that are never answered is a minute wasted, a resource drained. Think of it: your sales reps are highly trained professionals, skilled at building rapport and closing deals.
But if they’re spending their time dialing numbers that are automatically filtered out, their talents are being squandered. This not only impacts individual productivity but also takes a toll on your overall ROI.
You’re investing in salaries, technology, and marketing, only to have your efforts undermined by a tarnished phone number. It’s like pouring water into a leaky bucket — you’re putting in the effort, but seeing little return.
Damaged brand reputation
Being associated with spam calls can leave a lasting stain on your company’s image.
It erodes customer trust, making them hesitant to engage with your brand, even if they were previously interested. From a customer’s perspective, if a company is willing to bombard them with unwanted calls, what else might they be willing to do? This perception can be incredibly difficult to overcome, impacting not only your sales efforts but also your long-term brand equity.
It’s like a bad review that sticks with you, deterring potential customers from even considering your business.
The bottom line
Ultimately, the cost of a tarnished number boils down to lost revenue opportunities.
Missed connections translate to missed sales, plain and simple. Every potential customer who doesn’t answer your call is a potential deal lost, a revenue stream untapped. This can have a significant impact on your company’s financial performance, especially for enterprise organizations with ambitious sales targets.
It’s not just about the immediate loss but the long-term impact on your growth trajectory.
A tarnished number reputation can create a ripple effect, hindering your ability to acquire new customers, expand your market share, and achieve your business goals. In the end, the cost of a damaged reputation is far greater than just a few missed calls.
It’s an investment in your future, jeopardized by a simple, yet critical, oversight.
The Solution: A Multi-Pronged Approach
The following strategies can help you address the challenges discussed in the previous section and protect your brand’s reputation
Caller ID management and transparency
Consider this: a potential customer, anticipating an important call, is met with “Unknown Number” or “Scam Likely” on their caller ID.
The likely response is to ignore the call.
This underscores the critical role of caller ID in outbound communications. For sales teams, effective caller ID management and transparency are essential for establishing trust and connecting with prospects.
Register your numbers
Registering business phone numbers with caller ID registries is a foundational element of a successful outbound calling strategy.
This process, akin to formally verifying your business identity, provides carriers with accurate company information, including name, address, and contact details. Critically, your caller ID itself must be professional and clearly identify your company. Avoid generic or misleading caller IDs, and ensure consistency in what you display.
Solutions like VanillaSoft SmartCaller Trust can streamline this process, registering your phone numbers as legitimate with carriers and preventing them from being flagged as spam. This eliminates the need for risky number-shuffling tactics, which can further damage your reputation. Plus, this service also allows you to register the name of your organization, ensuring that your company name is displayed to recipients, enhancing brand recognition and trust.
Beyond registration, regularly monitor your network infrastructure to ensure optimal call quality, minimize disruptions, and prevent dropped calls. Dropped calls not only frustrate prospects but also carry regulatory risks. Exceeding the 3% threshold for dropped calls, as defined by the TCPA, can result in substantial penalties.
To mitigate this risk and improve both agent efficiency and customer experience, consider employing an intelligent progressive autodialer. This VoIP feature automatically dials the next prospect only when an agent is available, preventing both dropped calls and wasted agent time.
While these may seem like simple steps, they significantly impact how your calls are perceived and your compliance with regulations.
Be consistent with your outreach
Consistency in outbound calling is crucial.
The use of varying phone numbers for each contact attempt can appear impersonal and even raise suspicion among recipients. Maintaining a consistent phone number builds familiarity, increasing the likelihood that prospects will recognize and answer your calls.
This practice establishes a consistent brand presence in their call logs. Avoid rotating phone numbers unless absolutely necessary.
If multiple numbers are required for different campaigns or teams, ensure all are registered and clearly associated with your brand.
Establish local presence
When it comes to outbound calling, location matters.
People are generally more receptive to calls from local numbers, as they perceive them as more relevant and less intrusive. If you’re targeting prospects in specific geographic areas, consider using local phone numbers with area codes that match their location.
This simple tactic can significantly increase your answer rates, as it creates a sense of familiarity and connection.
Segment your prospect database
Effective outbound calling isn’t about dialing every number you can find. If you want results, you need to reach out to the right prospects.
A well-segmented and qualified database is the cornerstone of successful outreach.
Focusing your efforts on those most likely to convert maximizes your team’s time and resources, and also reduces the chance of your calls being perceived as unwanted or spammy.
Consider segmenting your prospect database based on several factors:
- Demographics — Age, location, industry, company size, job title, etc. This allows you to tailor your messaging to specific audience groups.
- Behavior — Website activity, email engagement, content downloads, product usage, etc. This helps identify prospects who have already shown interest in your offerings.
- Engagement level — Past interactions with your company, such as previous purchases, support tickets, or event attendance. Prioritize prospects who have demonstrated a higher level of engagement.
- Lead source — Understanding where your leads originated (e.g., online ads, referrals, trade shows) can help you tailor your approach and messaging.
- Sales stage — Where the prospect is in the buying journey (e.g., awareness, consideration, decision). This allows you to deliver the most relevant information and offers.
Segmentation, paired with the following tactic — using dynamic scripts — will make your calls more relevant and help you avoid being marked as spam.
Provide your sales team with effective call scripts
While personalized, natural conversations are ideal, having well-structured call scripts is essential for your agents to maintain consistency, ensure key information is conveyed, and guide the conversation effectively.
Scripts provide a framework for your sales team, especially when dealing with common objections or complex product information. However, it’s crucial to avoid robotic or overly scripted interactions.
The key is to balance structure with authenticity.
Effective scripts balance structure with flexibility, allowing agents to personalize the interaction based on each prospect’s unique needs and responses. In other words, avoid linear scripts that sound impersonal.
To create successful scripts:
- Define the call objective — Clearly outline the purpose of the call — whether it’s setting an appointment, closing a deal, or simply qualifying a lead. This provides the focus for the agent and helps them steer the conversation purposefully toward the desired outcome.
- Incorporate open-ended questions — Encourage prospects to share information about themselves and their needs by including open-ended questions. This valuable information helps agents tailor the conversation and steer it effectively.
- Anticipate objections and FAQs — Prepare responses to common objections and frequently asked questions, which empowers agents to address concerns confidently and relevantly. However, these prepared answers shouldn’t be recited verbatim. Agents should adapt to the specific context of each call.
- Leverage logical-branch scripting — Instead of a linear script, implement dynamic branching. This feature allows the conversation to flow naturally based on the prospect’s responses. For example, if a prospect mentions a competitor, the script can branch to a pre-written section addressing competitive advantages. This adaptability is key to avoiding a generic, spam-like feel.
In Conclusion
The battle against spam flags is more than just about protecting your phone numbers. The main point is preserving your team’s ability to create meaningful business connections. While technology and regulations continue to evolve, one principle remains constant: authentic, well-planned outreach will always find its way through. Every legitimate call that connects is a potential relationship built. In an era where digital communication dominates, meaningful and personalized outbound calls can be your strongest competitive advantage.
