The Power of Call Disposition: Turning Call Outcomes Into Success!

When you work in a call center as an agent, you either receive (inbound) calls or make (outbound) calls and talk to customers.

If you have worked in a call center, you would know what kind of a whirlwind it can be. Countless inbound/outbound calls, irate callers, call notes to take, and call outcomes to log.

At the end of the call, you record the outcome of the call using the call center software that you use. This is called call disposition, which helps lighten the load on your call center. It is a key part of call center software and is used to track how well calls are going.

You assign a label to the outcome of the call so that people find it easy to understand and track how well calls are going. These are called call tags or activity codes.

After an agent completes the call, they allocate a correct disposition code and category that best describes the call.

Some of the Common Call Disposition Categories Include:

• No answer
• Busy signal
• Abandoned in queue
• Disconnected
• Callback requested
• Voicemail left
• Interested
• Not interested
• Demo booked
• Appointment scheduled
• Sale closed
• Requires follow-up
• Do not contact
• Invalid number

What Do These Categories Mean?

Let us look at some of the tags: No answer, Busy signal, Abandoned in the queue, Disconnected, Voicemail left, Do not contact, and Invalid number.

This means that it could be time to do an audit to scrub the list and remove specific leads. You will also have to look at other quality lead sources to ensure you are able to reach the contacts.

Let us look at some of the other tags: Interested, Demo booked, Appointment scheduled, Sale closed.

This means that the campaign is doing a good job of generating high-quality leads that result in closure. It also shows that the agent is doing a stellar job of converting prospects into opportunities.

How Does Call Disposition Help a Business?

Let us assume you make a cold call to a list of people to pitch your product. In one of the calls, the prospect says they are interested in your product.

Now, you choose the call disposition category as ‘interested.’ It doesn’t stop there. Your call center software can automatically send a demo invitation, a thank you or a follow-up email, or a cadence campaign.

Alternatively, if the prospect says they are not interested in your product, you will define the call disposition category as ‘not interested.’ It doesn’t stop there. Your call center software will automatically move that number to the ‘Do not call’ category for a certain amount of time.

Let me give you an example.

I recently ordered a neck rest for my car seat online. The delivery timeline was two days, and they delivered it on time. However, the packaging was so damaged I didn’t even want to open it.

I took a photograph of the packaging and sent it to their customer service by WhatsApp. They immediately called back, sent me another package, and picked up the damaged package from me.

After about 2 months, I again ordered a neck rest for my wife’s car. This time, they have improved their packaging so much that this could not break.

I am sure that multiple customers would have faced the problem of damaged packaging and complained to their customer service.

The agents, after listening to the complaints, would have recorded the call disposition as a ‘damaged packaging complaint.’

This would have prompted them to change the packaging for good.

What Is the Importance and Advantages of Call Disposition in a Call Center?

Call disposition after every customer interaction helps improve the customer’s experience and operational efficiency.

Key advantages of using call disposition are:

1. Categorizes Call Outcomes

Call disposition codes or tags classify the outcome of every call, such as “Issue Resolved,” “Callback required,” or “Invalid number.” With this, the team would be able to understand the results of their efforts and prioritize follow-ups.

2. Identify Next Steps

Call disposition tags easily help you identify the next steps. For example, if a call is tagged “Callback required,” you know the next step, and it ensures the customer issue is not overlooked, leading to faster resolutions and improved customer satisfaction.

3. Provide Actionable Insights

As a manager, when you look at the disposition tags, you would know they are screaming insights. Let us assume if 10% of your disposition tag says, “damaged packaging complaint” or “delivery delay,” you know what you have to do.

They provide the necessary insights that would allow you to change your packaging to protect it from getting damaged. Look at other delivery partners who would ensure successful delivery on the committed date and time.

4. Boost Campaign Effectiveness

Call disposition helps understand engagement levels. For example, in an outbound campaign, knowing how many calls resulted in “Interested customer” versus “Not Interested” can help you improvise your campaigns and improve ROI.

5. Supports Compliance

Industries like financial services and debt collections are heavily regulated, and they require data on call outcomes.

Call disposition provides an audit trail that helps ensure compliance with regulations like TCPA or GDPR.

6. Optimize Resource Allocation

Managers can identify patterns such as peak call types or times by analyzing call disposition data. This insight helps optimize staffing and other resources to meet demand effectively.

7. Enhance Agent Performance

Call disposition tags provide a simple and structured way to evaluate agent performance. By categorizing calls based on their outcomes, managers can identify areas where agents excel and where they need improvement.

This data can be used for upskilling, training, and performance reviews.

Success Story: How a Leading SaaS Company Mastered Call Disposition for Enhanced Success

One of our customers, a SaaS solution provider, leveraged our contact center platform to refine their call disposition strategy.

They unlocked valuable insights by categorizing call outcomes effectively. This empowered their sales team and significantly improved operational efficiency.

The Need

Before using our platform, the SaaS provider faced the following challenges with their outbound sales campaigns:

• Low appointment booking rates
• Inconsistent follow-ups due to unclear categorization of call outcomes
• Poor lead quality stemming from disconnected numbers or wrong contacts
• High rejection rates due to inadequate engagement strategies with gatekeepers
• Lack of actionable insights to optimize campaigns and enhance performance

The Deed

The SaaS provider redefined its call disposition system by introducing specific and actionable categories.

Here’s how they categorized it:

• Need nurturing

They identified leads requiring additional engagement and tagged those calls under “Need nurturing.”

For this category, their sales team could focus on building relationships through targeted follow-ups, personalized content, and drip campaigns.

This led to a 30% increase in conversion rates within three months.

• No longer in service

By tracking and tagging numbers that are no longer in service, the SaaS provider flagged issues with lead quality.

They provided this data to marketing, which reevaluated lead sources and refined targeting criteria.

This led to a 25% reduction in wasted call attempts and improved lead accuracy.

• Appointment or demo booked

This revealed which lead sources generated the most high-quality appointments and demos. They focused their efforts on these sources, achieving a 40% increase in appointment and demo bookings.

• Stopped by the gatekeeper

You know for sure that gatekeepers are the biggest roadblock for the sales team. Using the ‘stopped by the gatekeeper’ disposition tag, they identified calls that didn’t reach decision-makers.

They trained their staff to overcome gatekeeper objections. They did this by referencing shared goals and demonstrating familiarity with the company’s LinkedIn updates.

This led to a 20% increase in connecting with decision-makers within six weeks.

• Lack of connection

I am sure you have come across prospects who become unresponsive or reject calls after a point. The SaaS provider used a ‘lack of connection’ disposition for such prospects.

This allowed them to reevaluate their scripts and outreach methods. They incorporated local insights and personalized messages to enhance their appeal.

This led to a 15% increase in response rates from previously disengaged prospects.

Results

The SaaS provider was able to achieve the following with a data-driven call disposition strategy using our platform:

• Strengthened relationships with prospects through tailored nurturing strategies
• Enhanced lead quality and reduced wasted effort on unqualified leads
• Improved appointment and demo booking rates
• Improved connection with decision-makers
• Increased response rates from disengaged prospects
• Better agent training and performance through actionable insights from disposition data

Instead of considering call disposition as just a reporting tool, you should look at it as a competitive advantage.

It is about driving meaningful conversations, creating stronger relationships, and unlocking long-term success.

By categorizing and analyzing the call outcomes through disposition, organizations can gain insights into customer behavior, lead quality, and campaign performance.

By effectively using a data-driven call disposition strategy, you can ensure that no lead is left behind.