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When the success of your organization depends on selling a product or service, you need qualified leads interested in what you have to offer. The best way to qualify those leads is to get the individual on the phone to verify his or her interest. The most effective method for qualifying those leads over time is the predictive dialer.

The environment in which companies compete is very different from that of yesterday. It’s no longer simply word of mouth that gets your name into the market. At best, word of mouth spreads after you have made enough people happy. You need to be able to connect with the right people and fortunately, the wider market has a valuable tool you can use to your advantage.

The Internet has become a world of information readily available with the click of a mouse. Consumers no longer need to rely on the sales person or the carefully constructed marketing materials to make a decision on what you have to offer. They now do their own searching and make decisions based on the information they find. In fact, many a lead already knows what they are going to do before you even get them on the phone.

This world of readily available knowledge can be both good and bad. For marketers, it means consumers aren’t waiting around for the flier to show up, and they must instead think like the consumer with the Internet as their library. When they come upon valuable information and they are willing to share their contact information, this is the perfect opportunity to qualify your lead.

Contact information shared is a goldmine opportunity for you, if you know what to do with the information. The first step is to incorporate it into your contact plan. Step two is to identify how you obtained the information. In other words, if a prospect shared their contact information because they clicked on a demo button, they are interested in the product associated with the demo. Finally, you need to include your follow-up plan and incorporate your predictive dialer so you can complete the live call.

The live call gives you the opportunity to qualify the lead. Was the person really interested in what they found or were they simply bored and decided to give your call center agent something to do? And, regardless of how you capture the customer’s information, asking the right questions can help you qualify the lead or close out the contact as someone that doesn’t want to be contacted again.

In doing so, you effectively organize your contacts according to opportunities, ensuring the best use of your agents’ time. If you’re not using the predictive dialer to accomplish these goals, you’re missing out on clear and proven benefits.