Salespeople are frequently bogged down with manual tasks, so using automation to eliminate the more mundane ones can save your company time, money, and perhaps even a little sanity.
When it comes to cold calling—or any outbound calling, really—using a sales dialer will help you do just that. So with that in mind, we’re here to offer everything you need to know about sales dialers: What they are, the different types to consider, and a list of top sales dialers on the market.
Oh, and of course, we’ll tell you how using a dialer in real-time can result in more quality calls and—here it comes!—more sales.
What is a Sales Dialer?
A sales dialer is software that automates the dialing process, so sales reps don’t have to type in each number manually.
Instead, reps can upload call lists and focus on building relationships with prospects. Sales dialers aren’t new. But now they’re a must-have tool in every sales professional’s toolkit.
Why?
Technological advancements have made sales dialers more intelligent in the past few years. The cost of sales dialers has also significantly decreased, making them an easy buy for companies wanting to add more automation to their outbound sales workflow.
You've got several different feature options when it comes to a sales dialer to speed up your outreach efforts. Let's look at the three main types:
Preview Dialers
Preview dialers make phone calls one at a time. These dialers allow sales reps to preview a lead before deciding whether to call, rather than auto dialing.
Psst... Tired of headset confusion? Our review of the top 8 sales headsets simplifies your cold calling decisions.
Progressive or Power Dialers
Like preview dialers, power dialers also call one by one, but in this case, sales reps can’t select which lead they want to dial. Instead, a power dialer automatically rings through a contact list of leads. Once one call is finished, it automatically dials the following number from the list. You might also hear them called auto dialer software.
As a result, progressive dialers are better suited for teams with set call scripts for reaching out to leads.
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Predictive and Automated Dialers
Predictive dialers are incredibly efficient and are, therefore, primarily used by structured teams, enterprises, and call centers. With these dialers, sales reps can make automatic calls to several numbers simultaneously and spend less time waiting to connect with prospects.
With predictive dialers, reps are only connected to a call when someone answers.
What Sales Dialers Don't Do
Sales dialers aren’t robo-dialers: It’s essential to recognize that when talking about sales dialers, we’re not talking about the kind of automated calling technology that has made all our lives much worse: the so-called robo-dialers.
Robo-dialers are tools that shady telemarketers use to make thousands of calls daily, with prerecorded messages, often to generate leads for pushy sales teams. In September 2018, the FCC imposed an $82 million fine for one such telemarketer who used robo-dialers to make more than 200,000 calls daily.
Again, when talking about sales dialers here, we’re not talking about robo-dialers that bulk dial numbers and then play prerecorded phone messages.
We are talking about dialers that minimize the manual work required to make a call so that an actual human sales rep can speak with a prospective customer.
What are the Benefits of Using Sales Dialer Software?
Good sales dialers have significant benefits that can help your sales reps make more calls faster and streamline the sales processes with features like automatic call routing, prerecorded voicemail drops, and click-to-call features.
As we’ve stated, the primary benefit of a sales dialer is the ability to eliminate the manual dialing of calls. Still, as we’ve covered, there are many other benefits, including automatic call logging, the ability for some dialers to trigger follow-up activities based on call results (such as sending out a follow-up email through your CRM), and more. Here are four reasons why you should consider a robust sales dialer.
Integrates with CRM
CRM software is a boon for sales teams because it provides a complete overview of all their sales activities. Most sales dialers either integrate with popular CRM platforms or come pre-packaged as a CRM feature. With the latter, as in the case of Close, sales reps can call directly from the CRM.
A natively built-in sales dialer has the advantage that it often creates a more streamlined sales workflow, and removes friction you’d typically encounter with a 3rd-party add-on to your CRM.
What’s more, data is more accurately captured in your CRM, leading to better data, more meaningful insights, and faster organizational learning for your sales team.
The bottom line: Used in tandem with your CRM, a sales dialer will accelerate your sales process.
Helps Boost Conversion Rates
Sales dialers connect reps with customers faster. The time that reps waste listening to the phone ring or manually dialing numbers may not seem like a lot—but when you total up that time over a year, your team is spending hours (if not days) on these unnecessary actions.
The point of a sales dialer is to get reps talking to customers. More conversations = more conversions.
Minimizes Human Error
It’s normal for human error to occur while you’re making a call, like punching in the wrong number from a spreadsheet or calling the same person twice. Sales dialers automate the whole process to prevent those miscues.
Frees Up Time for Other Tasks
Because sales dialers can call multiple numbers at once, your sales rep can make more calls in less time. Predictive dialers can cut the gap between calls to just 3 seconds, saving your sales reps an average of 45 minutes daily.
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Imagine what they could do with all that time!
For starters, they could follow up with more warm leads, boosting your sales engagement.
While most sales dialers do need to be integrated with your CRM, using a platform that already includes a sales dialer has even more benefits. Close is the only CRM to offer Power Dialer and Predictive Dialer software out-of-the-box (no extra add-ons or fees necessary).
This tech allows sales reps to stop dialing and start talking to customers immediately.
How Do Modern Sales Dialers Work?
The latest generation of sales dialers, also known as predictive dialers, integrate with your preferred CRM (or are already built-in, as is the case with our inside sales CRM). They provide deep insights and save your busy sales reps a ton of time. Not only that—predictive dialers automatically limit the number of abandoned calls and are designed to comply with local regulations regarding cold calling.
By using Close’s predictive dialers, MakeSpace has significantly improved its team’s efficiency and reach rate. Watch this video to learn more:
Sales dialers can significantly enhance the effectiveness and productivity of your sales reps, especially when complemented with advanced outbound sales tools. But let’s see exactly how a sales dialer can help you improve your overall outbound sales strategy.
Best Sales Dialers to Drive Growth in 2024
As we look at the sales dialer systems available in the marketplace, we need to toot our own horn a little bit. We’re thrilled to say that Close is the only CRM system offering a built-in virtual phone system (with Power Dialer and Predictive Dialer) into your standard subscription.
The list here includes CRMs that offer dialing functionality for an added cost, or with fewer options than ours. While we may be biased, we’re not ignorant. We realize that for some of you, another CRM may be a good fit; therefore, you’ll need to explore other dialer options.
That’s why this list of providers also includes sales dialers that are good at what they do, but require integrating with your CRM via API. This process exports data from your CRM, imports it into the dialer, helps you make your call, and uploads it back into your CRM. While not ideal, this process does work for some. But like we said, we’re biased about the whole thing, so we’ll start with a rundown of our features. Here we go!
Close Power and Predictive Sales Dialer
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Close is a robust CRM that offers both a Power Dialer and a Predictive Dialer. Close is the only CRM to offer predictive dialing software built into the plan costs without using third-party integrations. (Although Close does have some pretty great integrations!)
Key features include:
- Close’s Power Dialer lets you see who is being called in real-time, along with the full context of that prospect’s research data and past interactions displayed on the screen
- Close’s Power Dialer allows you to work at your own pace, waiting for you to complete notes on one call before moving to the next number
- Close’s Predictive Dialer allows you to dial multiple numbers at once. When a real human answers the phone, it immediately routes the call to an available salesperson in time for the sales rep to hear “Hello?” so the caller will never know a dialer was used, protecting the overall customer experience
- Using the technology behind the Predictive Dialer, sales reps can skip the fake numbers, avoid the prospects that won’t pick up, and significantly increase the number of conversations they have with real leads daily
- Experience the revamped mobile interface with vastly improved navigation, ensuring seamless access to your Inbox, Leads, Contacts, and Pipeline report.
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Close pricing includes Close Power Dialer on the Professional tier for $299 per 3 users/month, while the Predictive Dialer with voicemail drop is included on the Enterprise tier at $699 per 3 users/month. All Close plans include built-in click-to-call abilities.
HubSpot Call Tracker
HubSpot's call tracker automatically logs every call to HubSpot CRM or Salesforce. Your sales rep will need to prioritize important calls and build a list within the call tracker. They’ll then use the software’s click-to-call feature to call through using either HubSpot’s VoIP system or desk phone. If you want to use a predictive dialer, you’ll need to purchase a third-party subscription.
Here are its key features:
- HubSpot CRM allows users at certain tiers to place outbound calls from inside the HubSpot account and forward inbound calls to a personal device. Call files are attached to contact records by the call recording algorithms and auto-logged into your HubSpot database
- Call Tracker allows users to search, review, and comment on 750 to 1,500 hours of transcribed calls (depending on the plan)
Pricing: HubSpot calling features vary by subscription level and call volume. Tiers include Starter (500 minutes at $50 per month/2 users), Professional (3,000 minutes at $500 per month/5 users), and Enterprise (12,000 minutes at $1,500 per month/10 users).
CloudTalk Virtual Call Center Dialer
CloudTalk is the virtual call center system on our list. It can handle thousands of calls across a large sales team, but as a result, it may be overkill for a small or mid-sized business with less than 50 sales reps.
- Easy, user-friendly interface with real-time syncing between devices and other services
- The live coaching feature allows call barging and whispering without disrupting the flow of a conversation
- CloudTalk will require CRM integration and integrates with HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and other CRM systems
Pricing: CloudTalk’s power dialer and predictive dialer features are available with their expert tiered package at $50 per month/user.
Aircall Call Center + Phone System (with Dialer)
Aircall is another cloud-based phone system and call center software that integrates with your CRM, help center, and other apps.
- The Aircall Power Dialer saves you time by assisting with manual calling processes like compiling lists of contacts, dialing, and entering contact information into your CRM
- The Aircall dialer can identify a phone number on a prospect’s website and automatically add that contact to your queue and your CRM
- The app allows users to take notes, create tags, and set up follow-up tasks in Aircall, and automatically transfer this information to your CRM
Pricing: Aircall CRM integration and power dialer features are available with its professional plan at $50 per user/month.
Pro Tip: Transform your sales calling experience with Close's Call Assistant. This AI-powered feature offers automatic transcriptions of your recorded calls, allowing you to focus more on the conversation and less on note-taking. With timestamped and speaker-labeled transcriptions, you can easily review and jump to critical points in any conversation.
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RingCentral Sales Dialer
RingCentral is a cloud-based phone system that integrates a power dialer and a predictive dialer. The dialer service is only available if you use RingCentral’s phone system.
- The EngageVoice dialer integrates with some CRM systems to provide quick access to customer information and profiles
- The EngageVoice system is part of RingCentral’s Blended Outbound Cloud Contact Center, which is in itself a limited-feature CRM
Pricing: RingCentral’s CRM integration starts at $25.00 per user/month, but the total price may depend on CRM implementations, add-on subscriptions, and more.
JustCall Communication Stack + Dialer
Built specifically for remote sales and support teams, JustCall’s cloud-based business phone system offers Auto Dialer, Predictive Dialer, and Dynamic Dialer services.
- Integrates with most CRM systems, although the complexity or expense is unknown.
- Features its own basic CRM layout, in which you can import lead data from your CRM, then export back into your CRM with all updated notes after your call time is completed.
Pricing: Sales Dialer by JustCall is available with their $49 per user/month premium level service.
DialPad Intelligence Platform
DialPad is an AI-powered unified communication platform. The DialPad application on a computer or mobile app ties together business telephony and video conferencing.
- DialPad integrates a recording system that allows managers to create playlists for training
- DialPad offers a CRM-integrated power dialer, but not a predictive dialer
- DialPad uses artificial intelligence to transcribe sales calls in real-time, which allows for content analysis and tone/sentiment detection, helping reps qualify leads easier
Pricing: To integrate with CRM systems, subscribers will need the DialPad Sales Pro plan, which costs $25 per month/user.
Ringover
Ringover is another outbound call center software that integrates with most CRMs with click-to-call, preview dialer, and more. They include an integrated power dialer, predictive dialer, and voicemail drop. Key features include:
- Google Chrome extension that automatically detects phone numbers found on any webpage and creates a campaign list from it
- Works with CRMs to push data, meaning you typically don’t need to export and import files
- Integrates with local calling virtual numbers so that your calls will appear to come from a local number, increasing answer likelihood
Ringover’s CRM integration abilities come with their “Power” tier plan at $54 per user/month, however, some software integrations will require a custom plan.
PhoneBurner Power Sales Dialer
PhoneBurner Power Dialer is a cloud-based software that works by having your sales rep call into their system from any phone, and then stay on the line. After connecting, your rep uses the web interface to manage the interactions. PhoneBurner’s CRM handles a majority of the CRM functionality. There is no predictive dialer, only a power dialer.
- Integrated push data between most CRMs so no export-import cycle
- Because you are “on the phone” already there is no delay with connecting after your prospect answers
Pricing: Because PhoneBurner comes with a CRM system, you’ll pay a premium of $127 per user/month for the basic features or $169 if you want to use a softphone, live call coaching and monitoring, or import a large number of contacts.
What to Look for When Choosing Your Sales Dialer
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There are several things to consider when choosing your sales dialer. We recommend assembling your sales management team and having them review these questions as you explore sales dialer solutions.
- What is your main objective as a business, and how can a sales dialer help achieve goals?
- Are you looking for a fully integrated CRM and sales dialer system? Are you keeping your existing CRM and looking for a third-party solution?
- What call quality can you expect from the solution you're considering>
- Are your reps in a call center or physical location, or do they need a cloud-based system they can use to connect from home or on the road?
- Do you have the IT support to integrate the solution?
- How are your sales reps currently logging customer interactions?
- Are you taking inbound calls or just making outbound calls?
- Are you looking to use a sales dialer as a sales tool or for support teams as well?
- What kind of reporting do you want to ensure your sales managers have access to?
- What is your budget?
- What are the pain points your company has that a sales dialer could solve?
Your answers to these questions will narrow your search in finding the right dialing solution for your team and your needs.
Numbers Drive Everything in Sales
The more leads you reach, the more prospects you’ll have in your pipeline. Investing in a sales dialer will improve your sales process, skyrocket your team’s productivity, and help you increase your bottom line!
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