How to Create a Call Step

Call steps allow you to trigger automated outbound calls, or call tasks to prospects or customers in your sequence. This article provides a detailed overview of how to create call steps.

Follow the steps below to get started:

Navigate to Sequences

1. On the side navigation, click on the Campaign dropdown and select Sequences.
2. On the Sequences page, select the sequence you'd like to add a call step to. If you haven't created a sequence yet, you can quickly create a new one.

Add Call Step

1. Click on the Add Step dropdown in the top-right corner of the page, then select Call Step. This will open a multi-step slide-out with Basic Setup and Advanced Settings tabs.

Basic Setup

This tab lets you quickly set up your call step using simple, essential options. It's designed for a fast and easy setup process.

 

Dialing Mode

Dialing modes determine how calls are made in a campaign. There are two dialing options available: Automated or Manual.

• Automated Dialing: We currently offer one automated option called Power Dialing. This mode automatically triggers the next call in the campaign, reducing wait time between calls and boosting productivity.
• Manual (Preview) Dialing: In this mode, team members manually trigger each campaign call one after another. This allows your reps more time to finish conversations and log their notes properly.

Routing Options

If you choose the manual dialing mode, you’ll need to set your routing options to specify how the calls will be distributed among the team members assigned to the sequence. The available routing options are:

• First come, first serve This routing option routes calls to team members based on their availability. When a team member finishes a call, they receive the next one in the queue. This ensures quick handling of calls and efficient use of team resources.
• Split Evenly This routing option distributes the calls evenly across the team members assigned to the sequence. For example, if you have 100 contacts to call in this campaign and 5 teammates assigned to this sequence, each team member will be given 20 contacts to call.

Call From 

Click on this dropdown to select a phone number or number group to make calls from. If no phone numbers or number groups are available in the dropdown menu, you can purchase a number directly in the slide-out by clicking + Buy More Numbers. You can find a detailed step-by-step guide on how to buy phone numbers here.

 

Important Note:

• Multiple phone numbers can be used to make calls for the campaign.
• Ensure that the phone number(s) you've selected for this campaign are assigned to you or the team/team members making the calls.

Call Script

 

In the call script box, compose the script that will be used in your campaign calls to your audience. You can create multiple variants of the same script to be used in your calls. To create multiple variants, click on the + symbol and compose another script.

Select Preferred Call Window

Choose the days and times you want the campaign calls to be made. The options available are:

• Any day at any time: As the name implies, selecting this option will result in the call campaigns being due at any time during the day that you specify. 
• Custom day and time: With this option, you can specify the day(s) and time of the day when you want the call campaign to be due. To configure this option, follow these steps: 
• Select the Custom day and time option.
• Choose a day of the week e.g. Monday, then click + Add new time block.
• Set the start and end times for the call campaign step. Please keep in mind that you can add numerous time blocks to each day. E.g. 9am - 12noon, then 1pm - 5pm. This example leaves a 1-hour gap to mirror a typical work schedule
• Repeat these steps for Tuesday through Friday to set up time blocks for the entire work week.

Set Timezone

Next, select a timezone for the campaign to run in. Ideally, you want to select the timezone that best fits the location of your audience so that calls are made at an appropriate time during the day.

Once you’re done click Save.

 

Advanced Settings

For more detailed control, the Advanced Settings tab offers extra options. Here, you can customize more settings for your SMS step, giving you more flexibility and precision.

 

Disposition

 

In this section, select dispositions from the dropdown menu to be used by your agents to record the outcomes of campaign calls. For example: "Sale closed", "Wrong number", "Call back request" etc. If you can't find the appropriate dispositions to suit your use case, you can create new ones by clicking Create new disposition. For more details on creating dispositions, you can refer to this article. 

 

Exit from sequence based on call disposition(s)

Choose the disposition code(s) to remove contacts from the sequence when selected. For example, if you select "Wrong number" as an exit disposition, all calls logged as "Wrong number" by your reps will be automatically removed from the sequence and won't receive any further follow-ups (email, SMS, or voice).

 

If you don't want to exit contacts from the sequence based on their call dispositions, leave this toggle off.

Daily Start Count

Specify how many prospects or contacts you'd like to add to this step on a daily basis. The two options available are Unlimited and Per day:

• Per Day: This option lets you limit the number of contacts added to the step each day. For example, if you have a thousand prospects but only want to call 100 prospects per day, select the "Per day" option and specify the maximum number of contacts to call each day.
• Unlimited: This option adds everyone in your audience to the step at the same time, subject to the availability of your reps and the specified call window for the campaign each day.

 

After-Call-Work (ACW)

 

ACW gives your reps ample time to complete any tasks related to the just completed call before moving to the next call. A 4-minute default is set for ACW, to change this, simply enter your preferred amount of time in the space provided (in minutes).

 

To give your Reps the flexibility to extend their ACW time when necessary, check the Allow Reps override ACW time check box, then enter the maximum ACW override time in the space provided.

 

Record Calls in This Step

Toggle this option to enable call recording for this step.

 

Transcribe Recorded Calls

Toggle this option to enable transcription of recorded calls. 

 

Smart Dial

With Smart Dial, you can decide how calls in the campaign should be handled based on recent interactions with the prospect. The Smart Dial options available are:

• Last Source: Select this option if you want the campaign call to be made using the phone number most recently used to contact the prospect.
• Last Team Member: Select this option if you want the campaign call to be assigned to the team member who most recently communicated with the prospect.
  

Playbook

Use playbooks to collect relevant data points as your Reps interact with prospects during the campaign call. For example; you can create a lead qualification form based on BANT or any other sales methodology, and have your reps fill in the prospects' responses during the call.

 

Follow these steps to create a playbook:

1. Toggle on the Playbook option
2. Click the + Add Playbook Field button
3. Enter a field label. Your field label is the question you would like your agents to ask your contacts during the call. For example, “How did you hear about us?” etc. If you want this to be a required field, click the Set field as required checkbox
4. Next, click on the dropdown menu and select a data type for the field. For example, if the field label is Age the appropriate data type should be Number.
5. To add multiple playbook fields repeat steps 2-4.

 

When you're finished, click Save.

If you have additional questions regarding call campaigns in Distrobird, do not hesitate to contact us at [e-mail]. A member of our team will be happy to respond to your questions and resolve any issues you might be experiencing.

Happy selling!